Gone are the days when the Gopher football program could keep almost every outstanding player in the state here. Last week Notre Dame tight end John Carlson, from Litchfield, gained nearly 100 yards in pass receptions in the first half against Penn State. Before the season started Notre Dame had three Minnesota starters, including Carlson, listed on its depth chart and the back up to Carlson is Marcus Freeman from St. Paul.
Jim Laurinaitis, from Wayzata High School, was so good playing for Ohio State last Saturday he was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. The sophomore linebacker had a career-best 13 tackles and added a tackle for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception leading a rebuilt Ohio State defense to a win over Texas solidifying the Buckeyes’ No. 1 ranking.
Laurinaitis was expected to play for the Gophers but changed his mind and became the first Minnesotan in memory to start for Ohio State. Buckeye coach Jim Tressel is optimistic about Laurinaitis’ future. “He is a bright young man,” Tressel said earlier this week. “He studies the film hard. He knows what we expect of him. He has a lot of desire to uphold that tradition of the excellent linebackers in Ohio State history. With all those things being said, he also has some very good God given talents and we think he is going to end up being a good one.”
Eden Prairie High School coach Mike Grant will see two of his seniors, linebackers, Bryce McNaul and Blake Sorensen, accept scholarships to Northwestern. He said compared with years ago, parents and players are so much more “savvy” about the many assets schools offer because of the Internet and TV. “And the movie Rudy doesn’t help because you watch that movie and you get so excited about Notre Dame,” Grant added. He recalled that Mark LeVoir, who played for him before going to Notre Dame, grew up wanting to play there.
Grant thinks the Gophers’ new on-campus stadium, scheduled to open in 2009, is likely to help in-state recruiting. “They just gotta get a few more of those (quality) recruits and hopefully this new stadium is going to attract some of those kinds of kids who love that kind of atmosphere,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest thing they are missing is that atmosphere on Saturday afternoons.”