J Leman, former Illinois linebacker and now a football reporter for the Big Ten Network, has twice seen both the Illini and Gophers play this season. Who will win tomorrow’s game in Champaign? “I would think the Gophers would win,” Leman told Sports Headliners this week.
The Illini are 0-5 in the Big Ten and are rebuilding under new coach Tim Beckman. The Gophers, 1-4 in conference games, are rebuilding too, but Leman said Minnesota is “the better team.”
The Illini are 2-7 overall and don’t have the incentive of qualifying for a bowl game. Leman, though, is familiar with his old program and said Gophers fans shouldn’t expect a demoralized Illinois team. “I expect a full effort,” he said.
In various aspects of football the Illini haven’t been able to execute, despite having talented players and preseason expectations by some observers that Illinois would qualify for a bowl game. Leman said the team strength is the front seven on defense, particularly the four down linemen. The Gophers have an inexperienced offensive line and for the Illini to win the game, the front four probably has to “dominate,” Leman said.
The Gophers, 5-4 overall, can qualify for their first bowl game invitation since 2009 with a win tomorrow. Freshman Philip Nelson, who Leman predicts can become a “special quarterback,” talked about the game’s importance.
“Being at five wins right now, we want to get that sixth one and get those seniors to a bowl,” he said. “Every week is very important to get a victory but this one does have a little more meaning to it, just like last week (a loss to Michigan).”
Senior linebacker Mike Rallis is focused on the Illinois game and didn’t want to look at tomorrow’s game as more winnable than Minnesota’s last two games against Nebraska (7-2) and Michigan State (5-4). “We can’t get caught up too much in what the sixth win means,” he said. “We gotta prepare for this game, one single game. If we get too big picture minded, it’s going to hurt us.”
Worth Noting
Gopher football players shaved their heads last week in support of teammate Connor Cosgrove who has cancer. Rallis had shoulder-length hair prior to the trim. How does he like the new hairdo? “I am a little bit lighter and quicker on the field,” he joked.
Nelson is a primary runner in the Gophers’ offense. Although he’s a quarterback, he doesn’t foresee sliding to the ground to avoid contact in future games, and he referenced quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski.
“The way coach ‘Z’ teaches us, there’s no sliding allowed,” Nelson said. “We want to run physical. We want to split defenders and fall forward, and get extra yards. That’s the philosophy that we’re taught and that’s what we go by.”
Former Gophers quarterback Tim Salem is the Illinois running backs coach and special teams coordinator. Salem’s dad, Joe, was the Gophers head coach from 1979-1983.
Mike Dunbar is offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois for the 9-1 Huskies. Dunbar was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator in 2007.
Here are Sports Headliners’ Big Ten football power rankings: Ohio State, Nebraska, Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue and Illinois.
The Vikings will try to defeat the Lions for a second time this season when the teams play on Sunday at Mall of America Field. But it’s not at all probable the Vikings will have the same kind of special teams success they achieved in a 20-13 win in Detroit on September 30. In that game Percy Harvin had a 105-yard kickoff for a touchdown and Marcus Sherels ran 77 yards to score on a punt return.
Harvin leads the NFL in receptions with 62. He’s caught a pass in every game of his NFL career, 62. He also leads the league in kickoff return average at 35.9 yards.
Adrian Peterson, who has run for over 100 yards in each of his last three games, leads the NFL in rushing with 957 yards. He’s second in yards per carry at 5.7.
Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave was asked yesterday if Peterson, who rehabilitated in the off-season from ACL surgery, is capable of a continued heavy workload. “I think he’s back up to full speed. I think he is. He’s doing a terrific job and we’re doing a good job of blocking and creating some air in the defense for him to do his thing.”
Musgrave also said it wasn’t known yesterday if Harvin’s sprained ankle would allow him to play on Sunday.
The Vikings have 74 sacks since the start of the 2011 season, the most in the NFL. During that period the Vikings have the second most forced fumbles, 25.
Former Vikings receiver Nate Burleson is on injured reserve and won’t play for the Lions on Sunday. He has a broken leg and is out for the season.
Silas McKinnie, a regional scout for the Lions, had the same responsibilities with the Vikings from 1997-2002. He was once an assistant basketball coach for Clem Haskins with the Gophers.
Former Gophers tight end Charlie Sanders is assistant director of pro personnel with the Lions.
Gophers hockey coach Don Lucia told Sports Headliners he believes his team was probably a “little overrated to start the year.” The Gophers have been ranked No. 1 or 2 in the country dating back to last month but he said the team needs time to work in new players, particularly goalies.
The Gophers (5-2 overall) are at Alaska Anchorage (2-2-2) for WCHA games tonight and tomorrow night. A week from this weekend the Gophers play Wisconsin at home. The Badgers are celebrating their 50th season of hockey and 40th anniversary of the 1973 national championship team.
The Timberwolves are off to a 3-1 start for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. The Wolves play the Pacers at Target Center tonight.
Gophers baseball players will lay 40 square feet of sod at the new Siebert Field on Saturday. Players were told to wear their “oldest and dirtiest clothes,” assistant coach Rob Fornasiere said. One player responded: “That’s my daily wardrobe.”
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