How could it be any better for Tim Brewster? The Gophers’ coach celebrates his 48th birthday today after returning to his alma mater last Saturday and throwing himself a never to be forgotten homecoming party as Minnesota upset Illinois, a 12 point favorite, in Champaign.
A visitor wished the Gophers’ second-year coach happy birthday last Tuesday and Brewster said, “Not yet.” Well, he can celebrate now as the Gophers go back to work during a bye week where they don’t play again until October 25 at Purdue.
Don’t get the idea that Brewster, staff and players will be partying today and the rest of this week. No, they’ll be working to build on their 6-1 start, 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference. On Saturday, the Gophers earned their first Big Ten Conference road victory since November 11, 2006 and Brewster told Sports Headliners yesterday that he’ll be in his office today at work after a birthday celebration with his wife Kathy last night at a local restaurant.
It’s preparation, hard work and better personnel that has the Gophers, so far, reversing last year’s disastrous 1-11 season. Yes, you better add confidence to that list of success factors, too.
Looking at a 10 game losing streak dating back to 2007, the Gophers had the confidence to try for and score a late fourth quarter touchdown against Northern Illinois to win their opening game of the season. Instead of the touchdown, the Gophers could have attempted a field goal to tie the game and likely send it into overtime. That gave the Gophers momentum and helped inspire a second game win over Bowling Green and eventually a 4-0 start to the season.
Brewster had the Gophers believing they could beat Ohio State in Columbus in the Big Ten opener two weeks ago. They didn’t but the Gophers played with confidence, didn’t quit when they fell far behind, and some players were reportedly in tears in the locker room after the 34-21 loss to the Big Ten pre-season favorite.
Saturday in Champaign, the Gophers were facing an Illinois team that had some of its best players returning after playing in the Rose Bowl in January. Few people expected a Gopher win, except Brewster, staff and players including defensive lineman Willie VanDeSteeg who caused a fumble that set up a touchdown run by linebacker Simoni Lawrence and VanDeSteeg also made Illinois quarterback Juice Williams throw a late fourth quarter interception that helped end an Illini comeback.
There were plenty of other Gophers who made plays, too, like freshman DeLeon Eskridge who ran 46 yards for a second half touchdown, quarterback Adam Weber who never turned the ball over while completing 18 of 26 passes including a touchdown pass of 25 yards to (who else?) Eric Decker who had a total of nine catches in the game, 59 on the season.
The list of names, including assistant coaches, could be made much longer in tribute to this 27-20 win. But, hey, lots of contributors are what you would expect when the Gophers did the unexpected in Champaign. “I just love our team,” said Brewster who is constantly talking up a collective, not individual, approach.
And, one more thing, the Illini had designated the day as their 2008 Homecoming celebration. Nobody on the planning committee checked first with Brewster.