Vikings – Page 238 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Frazier: Ponder to ‘Bounce Back’

Posted on December 3, 2012December 3, 2012 by David Shama

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier was asked about the confidence of quarterback Christian Ponder on KFAN Radio after yesterday’s 23-14 loss to the Packers. “He’ll bounce back,” Frazier said from the locker room on the post game show. “He’s a tough kid. High character kid.”

Ponder threw two second half interceptions, including one ball picked off in the end zone to end Vikings’ drives. The first interception followed a 48-yard run by Adrian Peterson to the Green Bay 12 yard line to open the third quarter. After a Peterson run to the eight yard line, Ponder’s pass was intercepted by Morgan Burnett in the end zone. A touchdown would have sent the Vikings ahead 21-10.

It was also Burnett who intercepted Ponder on the Green Bay 13 yard line to stop another drive. The play ended the third quarter when the Vikings were trying to overcome a 20-14 Packers’ lead. “I can’t let it get me down,” Ponder said at the post game news conference aired on Vikings.com. “I gotta move forward.”

Ponder’s passes were consistently inaccurate for much of the game. The first interception where Ponder appeared to have a good view of Burnett in the end zone seemed almost inexplicable.

Ponder has struggled in his last two games. He has thrown three interceptions, while completing 34 of 68 passes for two touchdowns. His passing ratings have been 58.2 and 41.9.

Frazier’s confidence in the second-year quarterback is the sort of commitment that coaches are expected to voice about struggling players. Yet if it was difficult for the coach to be positive after the game no one could blame him. Not on a day when the 6-6 Vikings could have made a statement about being serious playoff contenders.

Instead the Packers and Bears look to be best positioned to contend for the NFC North title, with the loser possibly making the playoffs. With yesterday’s win, the Packers are 8-4 and so, too, are the Bears after losing to the Seahawks.

The Vikings had led 14-10 at halftime with the highlight being a career-best 82-yard run by Peterson. For the game he ran for 210 yards, the sixth consecutive time he’s rushed for over 100 yards.

Defensive end Mike Neal had predicted in a Saturday Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel online story that Peterson would break long runs. “He’s a monster,” Neal said.

The Packers, playing without injured starters on offense and defense, exhibited poor tackling and a leaky offensive line but Green Bay had both a passing and running game on Sunday and that was too much balance for the Vikings yesterday despite a solid performance by the defense. The Vikings didn’t have anything near the kind of run-pass balance they had hoped for while preparing in practice last week.

“We want to be able to use our entire offensive game plan,” Vikings center John Sullivan told Sports Headliners last week. “Be able to pass the ball effectively. Be able to run the ball to help set up the pass. If we’re able to do those things we should be successful.”

The Vikings, with four games remaining, will try to make the formula work next Sunday at home against the Bears.

Kill Built MAC Champs & Other Notes

Northern Illinois won the MAC football championship last Friday night with a roster of players Gophers coach Jerry Kill and his assistants recruited. The Huskies, with 18 of 22 starters recruited by Kill, won their second consecutive MAC title defeating Kent State 44-37 in double overtime.

Redshirt junior quarterback Jordan Lynch ran for 160 yards and passed for 212 in the win. Lynch was recruited by Kill in 2009 and at that time was rated a two-star player by Rivals.com. He was voted the MAC’s 2012 MVP and the school is promoting him as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Junior tailback Akeem Daniels, 5-foot-7, ran for 128 yards in the win for the top 25 ranked Huskies. Daniels was part of Kill’s 2010 recruiting class and was also a Rivals two-star recruit.

Kill coached at Northern Illinois for three seasons, leading the Huskies to three bowl games with his best season in 2010, a 10-3 record. His successor, former Badgers assistant coach Dave Doeren, has coached the Huskies to records of 11-3 and 12-1. The Huskies will play in the 2013 Orange Bowl, the first MAC team to earn a BCS bowl game invite.

North Carolina State is hiring Doeren as its new football coach, prompting speculation members of Kill’s staff will be considered for the Huskies’ job. But Doeren earned less than $500,000 and the school likely won’t pay his successor much more than that, perhaps less.

Former Vikings assistant coach Monte Kiffin resigned last week as USC’s defensive coordinator. His reported $1.5 million salary at USC is more than the $1.2 million that Kill is believed to earn with the Gophers.

Kill said the Gophers will start bowl practices on Friday and continue on Saturday and Sunday. The Gophers will play in the December 28 Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston and have 15 practices to prepare.

Kill said injuries will prevent defensive tackle Roland Johnson and linebacker Brendan Beal from playing in the bowl game.

The Gophers have a history of playing in bowls that don’t pay a lot of money like the Meineke bowl. But former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said his department never lost money because of cost saving measures like sending the marching band to the game by bus.

Vikings center John Sullivan talking about playing in small town Green Bay including historic Lambeau Field: “It’s got a cool feel. They’ve got a great fan base. Obviously they really care about their team there. It’s got a little bit of a different atmosphere than a normal NFL stadium. Little bit of a college atmosphere to it. It’s definitely a fun place to play.”

The Packers radio network includes 1220 KLBB AM in Stillwater, plus stations in Bismarck, North Dakota; Des Moines, Iowa; Sioux Falls, South Dakota and four stations in Michigan, according to Packers.com.

Joe Mauer, who married Madie Bisanz on Saturday in St. Paul, had his name rumored on the Internet last week speculating the Twins catcher will be traded to the Red Sox (Bleacher Report) and Yankees (Sports World Report). To complete a Mauer trade the Twins would require an extraordinary deal with not only the right players but right salaries to fit team payroll. Would Mauer be intrigued about playing for a storied franchise and a better chance of earning a World Series ring?

The Gophers basketball team was one of six Big Ten teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25 last week. Indiana was ranked No. 1 followed by Michigan No. 3, Ohio State No. 4, Michigan State No. 13, Minnesota No. 21 and Illinois No. 22. Former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher was asked when the Big Ten has appeared this strong. “Never,” he said.

Gophers radio play-by-play announcer Mike Grimm said the Big Ten Conference Tournament could be more difficult to win than the Final Four.

The Gophers hockey team became the first WCHA team to earn 10 points with a win over Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday night. The Mavericks, who beat the Gophers on Friday night, have players from 21 states including five from Minnesota, plus five from Canada and one from the Czech Republic.

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Linebackers U Recruiting Priority

Posted on November 30, 2012November 30, 2012 by David Shama

Ask prep recruiting authority Zach Johnson where he thinks the Gophers personnel priorities are for 2013 and he emphasizes junior college linebackers. The Gophers are losing two of their three starting linebackers, seniors Mike Rallis and Keanon Cooper. Junior Aaron Hill returns next season but Spencer Reeves, a key reserve behind Hill, is also a senior.

Jerry Kill and his coaches have long known about those departures but they didn’t expect to see reserve junior linebacker Brendan Beal, Rallis’ backup, suffer yet another knee injury this month which prompted speculation about his future.

“The key (for 2013 recruiting) is finding a running back, and finding linebackers, and not only linebackers but linebackers that are ready to play next year,” said Johnson, the publisher for Gopherillustrated.com. “When you look back at last year (2012 recruits), they (the coaches) went and got what? Three or four defense backs. I think they’ll go and get probably two juco linebackers, a juco defensive tackle, and that might be about all they need out of the juco ranks.

“If they could find the right juco receiver and juco running back that falls in their laps, they might take them. But as far as need goes, I think they need to go get a junior college defensive tackle and two junior college linebackers.”

Johnson said last weekend in an interview with Sports Headliners that the linebacker unit in 2012 wasn’t all that outstanding and if the coaches had reserves who were better they likely would have put those players on the field. Kill lifted the redshirt status off freshmen in other positions who could help the team.

Rivals.com lists nine players who have made verbal commitments for Minnesota’s 2013 recruiting class. Only one, Wayzata’s Chris Wipson, is a linebacker. But before National Signing Day on February 6, the Gophers will finalize a lot more than nine players and for sure more than one linebacker.

Six of the players on the Rivals list are three-star recruits while three others receive two-stars. “I don’t see any major four-star guys even on our (the Gophers) radar right now,” Johnson said.

The Gophers 2012 recruiting class was ranked last in the Big Ten by Rivals. Johnson thinks the 2013 class might also finish 12^th among the conference programs.

“Until they turn into a Big Ten legitimate team—you’re talking eight, nine wins—I think you’ll see Kill’s recruiting continue to be under the radar guys—sleepers, guys that might be an inch or two shorter than what the big teams want at their positions. And just using their (Gophers coaches) connections to find these guys that are not on the typical recruiting trail.

“I think you can win to a point in the Big Ten with that. I think you can go 6-6 and 7-5 and maybe on a good year get to 8-4, but I don’t think you can win consistently in the Big Ten when you’re competing against the likes of Wisconsin and Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State. …”

There’s hope and optimism among the Gophers faithful the 2012 class will ultimately prove it was judged way too low in comparison with other conference recruits. Johnson is not ready to conclude it will happen.

“I mean we know that they can win at Southern Illinois and at Northern Illinois but we don’t know if they can recruit (outstanding) under the radar guys (at Minnesota). Sure we’ve got some nice players but we don’t have any proof that they can find those guys and turn them into eight, nine win teams.

“We don’t even know if we can turn them into six win teams because a lot of the top players on the team right now are (former coach Tim) Brewster’s guys, at least defensively. So we really don’t know if they (Kill and his coaches) can use the same (under the radar) formula and compete at the Big Ten level. We’re assuming they can. But we’ll see what happens.”

Gophers coaches are recruiting this week while the team has the week off before bowl preparations begin. Johnson said Fairhope, Alabama cornerback Nate Andrews is expected to visit here this week. The 6-foot Andrews reportedly has offers from Florida State and Mississippi.

Gophers, Vikings & Other Notes

Former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi told Sports Headliners he was aware of Jerry Kill’s health history before he hired Kill away from Northern Illinois in 2010. While Maturi did his “due diligence” about Kill, he said the health factor didn’t give him pause before making him the new Gophers coach.

“I knew he had seizures and was a cancer survivor. We checked with the medical people at Northwestern (where Kill was treated) and with doctors here,” Maturi said.

Maturi was told Kill is healthy enough to coach. Since coming to Minnesota Kill has experienced three game day seizures but has missed minimal coaching time at games and practices.

The Big Ten will add to its 12 schools membership with Maryland and Rutgers joining the conference in 2014. Maturi wouldn’t be surprised to see further expansion to 16 teams. Who might the next two schools be? “You have to look at who brings in television sets,” Maturi said.

Speculation about additional Big Ten members includes Boston College, Kansas, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia Tech.

ESPN.com’s November 20 Big Ten Blog, using USA Today as its source, lists annual salaries of Big Ten football coaches. Now fired Purdue coach Danny Hope was last at $970,000 while Kill was 11th at $1.2 million. Indiana’s Kevin Wilson and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald are just ahead of Kill at $1.26 million each. Ohio State’s Urban Meyer earns a league-leading $4.3 million.

The Vikings and Packers make history on Sunday when the two teams play in Green Bay. Never before have the two rivals played their first game of the year against one another in December. When the Packers come to Minneapolis on December 30 for a second game, it will be the first time the two franchises have played both games in December.

Adrian Peterson’s 1,236 yards not only leads all NFL runners, but his yardage is more than the totals of 18 other league teams. He has rushed for over 100 yards in five consecutive games and is now tied with Robert Smith for the Vikings franchise record.

Peterson said “he’s been preparing as if” Packers All-Pro linebacker Clay Matthews was playing on Sunday but an ESPN report yesterday morning predicted Mathews will be sidelined. “He’s one of their playmakers on defense,” Peterson said. “He’s a talented guy. It will definitely be easier with him not out there.”

Peterson missed the team bus from the hotel on Sunday when the Vikings travelled to Soldier Field for their game against the Bears. He said he slept through his wake- up call.

Defensive end Jared Allen said he doesn’t expect the Bears to pursue revenge against him when Chicago plays here a week from Sunday. Although Allen said there was “no ill intent in it,” the NFL fined him $21,000 for the blow he delivered to Chicago offensive lineman Lance Lewis who suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season. “You never want to injure anybody,” Allen said.

Asked whether he budgets for NFL fines, Allen said he will check to see if the money can be deducted under the “tax code.”

Wide receiver Percy Harvin is 12^th in league receptions with 62 despite missing two games. It’s uncertain whether he will play against the Packers because of his injured ankle.

Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway is second in the NFL in tackles with 107. He should be a Pro Bowl selection for the second time in his career.

Center John Sullivan and other Vikings Notre Dame alums will take a private jet to Miami for the January 7 BCS title game to watch the Irish play if there’s not a conflict with the Vikings’ playoff schedule.

The North Florida team the Gophers play in basketball tomorrow afternoon at Williams Arena is 2-4 including a 15 point loss to Memphis and eight point defeat against Florida State. Minnesota, 7-1 and ranked No. 21 nationally by Associated Press, has played four teams highly regarded by Sports Illustrated in its November college basketball preview issue. The Gophers lost to Duke, but have wins over Memphis, Stanford and Florida State.

The Nebraska-Omaha team that plays the hockey Gophers tonight and tomorrow night at Mariucci Arena is 2-0 in road games this season while Minnesota is 5-0-1 at home. Mavericks head coach Dean Blais is a 1973 Minnesota graduate while assistants Steve Johnson and Troy Jutting have previous experience coaching respectively at St. Cloud State and Minnesota State.

When the Twins acquired right-handed pitcher Alex Meyer yesterday from Washington in exchange for center fielder Denard Span they received a player ranked earlier this year as the sixth best prospect in the Nationals organization by Baseball America. The 22-year-old Meyer pitched collegiately for Kentucky and was drafted 23rd overall by the Nationals in 2011. The 6-foot-9, 220-pound right-hander was 10-6 with a 2.86 ERA, 45 walks and 139 strikeouts in 25 starts with Single-A Hagerstown and Single-A Potomac last season.

Outfielder Nate Roberts and pitcher Kyle Gibson from the Twins organization were included on the 22 member Arizona Fall League’s Top Prospects Team announced this week, according to mlb.com. Roberts led the AFL in batting with a .446 average. Gibson, who had a 3-2 record, was among the league’s winningest pitchers.

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Vikes Receivers ‘Huge Disappointment’

Posted on November 26, 2012November 26, 2012 by David Shama

If the Vikings (6-5) are going to qualify for the playoffs they will need much more production from their pass receivers than Minnesota had yesterday in a 28-10 loss to the Bears in Chicago.

The receivers, led by Jerome Simpson’s three drops, couldn’t catch numerous passes. The Vikings had 159 yards in passing offense while rushing for 114 yards. The offense converted on only 37 percent of third down plays (33 percent on fourth downs). The team played without injured wide receiver Percy Harvin who has been the most effective Viking this season making longer receptions.

“I put this loss on the receiving corps not making enough plays down the field,” said Dean Dalton, the former Vikings assistant coach who now has an NFL show on Sirius Satellite Radio. “In a passing league, if you don’t have that threat you become one dimensional no matter how great Adrian Peterson is.”

Second-year quarterback Christian Ponder completed 22 of 43 passes and threw one touchdown pass and one interception. His stats probably looked worse than how he performed. “I think Christian Ponder made reasonably good decisions today,” Dalton said. “The receiving corps has been a huge disappointment (this season) because they haven’t been able to make explosive plays. They (the Vikings) have got to find a way to get production out of the vertical passing game. Peterson can (then) be even more productive.”

Simpson’s first drop yesterday came in the opening quarter. On a third down and four yards to go he couldn’t catch a ball that would have sustained a drive, and the Vikings then settled for a field goal.

Simpson, an offseason free-agent acquisition, has caught just 12 passes for 138 yards and no touchdowns in seven games this season. “He’s a leader of the clubhouse,” Dalton said. “This kid has great speed. He has great athleticism. We have not seen that productivity, that consistency (needed).”

Tight end John Carlson (a more costly 2012 free-agent acquisition) and wide receivers Stephen Burton and Michael Jenkins also dropped balls yesterday. The best receivers were tight end Kyle Rudolph and wide receiver Jarius Wright who combined for 12 receptions and 104 yards.

Dalton said the Vikings “defense can be outstanding” and the “rushing game excellent” but the downfield threat in the passing game has to emerge in the team’s remaining games. He also said receivers coach George Stewart is “outstanding” but the players have to execute better including the most basic of fundamentals like looking the ball into their hands.

Yesterday the Vikings did give up 28 points but the Bears sometimes only had to move the ball short distances to score. The defense, Dalton said, was also on the field too long because the offense couldn’t sustain drives.

With five regular season games still on the schedule, the offense, including Ponder and the receiver corps, will have some make-good opportunities including next Sunday in Green Bay against the Packers.

Worth Noting

Dalton’s son Devon Dalton plays the tuba in the Auburn marching band. Dalton is a season ticket holder for Tigers’ home football games and said it was hardly a secret this fall that head coach Gene Chizik was going to be let go despite winning the national championship only two years ago. Dalton was amused recalling some band members were promoting his name as Chizik’s successor. “They’ll find a southern fella,” Dalton said.

An NFL college scouting executive told Sports Headliners he doesn’t think Gophers senior MarQueis Gray will be drafted by an NFL team. The 6-4, 250-pound Gray is unlikely to have a professional opportunity to play quarterback but might get a free agent look as an H-back, or tight end, according to the authority.

He projects 50 or more underclassmen leaving school early for the 2013 NFL Draft. He said defensive tackle has the potential to be a particularly deep position.

Here are Sports Headliners’ final Big Ten football power rankings: Ohio State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois.

Look for the Gophers coaches, with the players off this week before beginning preparations for their bowl game, to emphasize recruiting including junior college prospects.

John Revere, father of Twins outfielder Ben Revere, has been named Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association among schools in the Football Championship Subdivision. He is the running backs coach at Eastern Kentucky.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association will announce its 2012 Mr. Football winner on December 9. The 10 finalists are Marley Allison, Edina; Jake Disterhaupt, Moose Lake-Willow River; Chase Morlock, Moorhead; James Onwualu, Cretin-Derham Hall; Noah Scarver, Washburn; Shaun Schindler, Hutchinson; Bridgeport Tusler, Osseo; Brett Watercott, Becker;Jake Wieneke, Maple Grove; Alex Wood, Lakeville North.

Noel Mazzone, who was an assistant coach for the Gophers from 1992-1994, is in his first season as offensive coordinator at UCLA and is being credited with the Bruins’ turn-around season that includes a Pac-12 South Division championship. UCLA plays at Stanford for the Pac-12 championship on Friday night.

John Gagliardi, who retired earlier this month as the winningest college football coach of all time, has seen his Saint John’s teams struggle the last few seasons but as recently as 2007 was the Liberty Mutual Division III College Coach of the Year.

The Gophers basketball team plays at Florida State (4-1) tomorrow night on ESPN2 as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge series. The Seminoles are a potential top 25 team led by senior Michael Snaer who is making almost 41 percent of his three point shots and could be one of the nation’s best shooting guards. The game starts at 6:15 p.m. Minneapolis time.

Minnesota (6-1) won fifth place in the Battle 4 Atlantis with an opening game loss to top 10 ranked Duke and victories over Memphis and Stanford. Minnesota’s good fortune against Stanford included more than Andre Hollins being fouled on a desperation shot from near mid-court at game’s end, and then converting three free throws for a 66-63 victory. Maverick Ahanmisi, Hollins’ backup at point guard and a 5.4 points per game scorer, came off the bench in the first half to make five free throws by throwing his body into the Cardinal defense and drawing fouls.

Apple Valley High School’s Tyus Jones is one of only two juniors included on the preseason prep All-American team announced earlier this month by USA Today High School Sports. Jones is one of three point guards on the 10-player roster. The Eagles open their season on December 4 at St. Louis Park High School.

Former Timberwolves assistant coach Eric Musselman is now an assistant at Arizona State.

Gophers baseball coach John Anderson said his team has 38 games scheduled for next year, with 22 at the Metrodome and 16 at the new Siebert Field including the opener on April 5. The $7.2 million facility will seat about 1,500 fans.

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