The Gophers may never come closer to playing themselves than Saturday when North Dakota State comes to the Metrodome.  The Bison have 18 players among their 22 offensive and defensive starters who are from the five-state area.  The Gophers have nine.  North Dakota State has six starters from Minnesota, while the Gophers have eight home state regulars (none from North or South Dakota).  Among second team offensive and defensive players from the state of Minnesota, the Gophers have 12 and NDSU eight.

Gopher co-captain Tony Brinkhaus, the senior center from Bloomington Jefferson, said he knows a lot of the Bison by name, but few personally.  Sophomore Tyler Henry is a reserve linebacker for NDSU from Jefferson.  Henry was a couple years behind Brinkhaus at Jefferson.  He described him as “a very tough kid” who became Jefferson’s best player.  Has there been a verbal rivalry between the two Jefferson alums when they see each other?  “There was really no trash talking going back and forth,” Brinkhaus said.  “He’s more of a mild mannered guy and so am I. So we weren’t jabbing at each other or anything like that.”

With a 1-6 record, 0-4 in the Big Ten Conference, Brinkhaus and his teammates are frustrated.  Asked if losing to former Division I-A North Dakota State would be the ultimate frustration, Brinkhaus said he won’t take that attitude. “I am not going to say that because you got to respect every opponent you play,” he said. “I don’t want to put them down because they’re a good team.  There’s no doubt that I am going to go into this week expecting to win.”

The Bison are a good team as demonstrated by the close loss (10-9) last season to the Gophers in the dome and a 10 game winning streak since then that’s made NDSU the No. 1 team in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision rankings.  That kind of success and the proximity of Fargo to Minneapolis means a lot of support in the dome on Saturday for the Bison.  Vocal support for NDSU may exceed fan noise for the Gophers.

Brinkhaus knows that could happen. “It’s tough but at the same time you would rather have a full stadium with opposing fans than somewhere that’s maybe half full,” he said. “Because you know if we’re not going to sell it out with our own fans, then the money’s got to come from somewhere. So it’s just one of those things that I’ve been accustomed to the last couple years with Iowa and Wisconsin coming in here and now obviously NDSU fans are making a name for themselves too.”

A crowd of more than 60,000 will attend the game, the last in a two game series with North Dakota State.

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There are about 3,000 tickets remaining for the Timberwolves home opener on Friday, November 2 against Denver, according to a club spokesman.

Paul Allen has been puzzled about the scarcity of callers with questions for Viking coach Brad Childress on their KFAN radio show Thursday nights.  Allen told Sports Headliners that typically during the first five weeks of the show there have been three or four people contacting the station and one or two questioners going on the air.  With all the fan criticism of Childress, much of it concerning his offense, Allen has been “surprised” that more people aren’t calling and he speculates it’s an example of the “Minnesota nice” public, unwilling to directly confront the coach. Allen said after Sunday’s performance of four touchdowns and a 34-31 win over Chicago, it will be interesting to see if the call volume picks up.  Allen talks to Childress each Thursday between 6 and 7 p.m. 

Childress said Monday that Anthony Herrera has established himself as the starting right guard over Artis Hicks.  

The Gophers have two players rated with four stars among their 14 verbal commitments, according to rivals.com.  The two are wide receiver Vincent Hill of New Berlin, New York and linebacker Sam Maresh of Champlin, Minnesota. 

South Florida, the No. 2 ranked football team in the country, has been playing football since 1997.  That was Glen Mason’s first season as Gopher coach, having succeeded Jim Wacker.   

Did you hear about the quarterback who had five interceptions last weekend?  The next morning he ordered a turnover for breakfast. 

The Wild’s next game is in St. Louis on Saturday night (no local TV) and Minnesota may see former Gopher star defenseman Erik Johnson who gave up his final three years of college eligibility to play for the Blues this season. Johnson has missed some games because of a foot fracture.  Other Minnesota natives on the Blues’ roster are forwards David Backes (Minneapolis) and Dan Hinote (Elk River).  The Wild won three of the four games against St. Louis in 2006-07, outscoring the Blues 18-9. Minnesota is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games against St. Louis.    

Junior forward Ryan Stoa, the left wing on the Gopher hockey team’s top line last weekend, will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury suffered in Saturday’s win over Michigan. He ranked seventh on the team with 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points during 2006-07.

The MIAC has selected three players for its Offensive Player of the Week award, honoring three quarterbacks. Saint John’s senior quarterback Alex Kofoed broke two school records in his team’s 40-0 win over Gustavus Adolphus last Saturday.  He set the school’s all-time mark for touchdown passes (88) and had his ninth career 300-yard passing game, also a new Saint John’s record. He has been honored seven times with the Offensive Player of the Week award.  Concordia junior quarterback Jesse Nelson ran for two touchdowns and threw three touchdown passes in the Cobbers’ 52-51 loss at St. Olaf on Saturday. Nelson had a career high 329 total yards, rushing 23 times for 104 yards and completing 18-of-26 passes for 225 passing yards. St. Thomas junior quarterback David Sauer threw for three touchdowns, had a career-best 441 passing yards, had no interceptions and ran for a score in Saturday’s 50-33 comeback win over Augsburg.

Saint John’s junior defensive tackle Nick Gunderson made five tackles (three solo), including 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one fumble recovery against Gustavus to win MIAC Defensive Player of the Week.  St. Olaf senior kicker/punter Paul Fortman was 7-for-7 on extra points to extend his streak to 45 without a miss. Fortman added two punts for a 48.0 punt average and threw a pass on a fake punt for a 20-yard gain in St. Olaf’s win over Concordia. He was recognized as Special Teams Player of the Week, the eighth time he has been honored.

There are about 3,000 tickets remaining for the Timberwolves home opener on Friday, November 2 against Denver, according to a club spokesman.

Paul Allen has been puzzled about the scarcity of callers with questions for Viking coach Brad Childress on their KFAN radio show Thursday nights.  Allen told Sports Headliners that typically during the first five weeks of the show there have been three or four people contacting the station and one or two questioners going on the air.  With all the fan criticism of Childress, much of it concerning his offense, Allen has been “surprised” that more people aren’t calling and he speculates it’s an example of the “Minnesota nice” public, unwilling to directly confront the coach. Allen said after Sunday’s performance of four touchdowns and a 34-31 win over Chicago, it will be interesting to see if the call volume picks up.  Allen talks to Childress each Thursday between 6 and 7 p.m. 

Childress said Monday that Anthony Herrera has established himself as the starting right guard over Artis Hicks.  

The Gophers have two players rated with four stars among their 14 verbal commitments, according to rivals.com.  The two are wide receiver Vincent Hill of New Berlin, New York and linebacker Sam Maresh of Champlin, Minnesota. 

South Florida, the No. 2 ranked football team in the country, has been playing football since 1997.  That was Glen Mason’s first season as Gopher coach, having succeeded Jim Wacker.   

Did you hear about the quarterback who had five interceptions last weekend?  The next morning he ordered a turnover for breakfast. 

The Wild’s next game is in St. Louis on Saturday night (no local TV) and Minnesota may see former Gopher star defenseman Erik Johnson who gave up his final three years of college eligibility to play for the Blues this season. Johnson has missed some games because of a foot fracture.  Other Minnesota natives on the Blues’ roster are forwards David Backes (Minneapolis) and Dan Hinote (Elk River).  The Wild won three of the four games against St. Louis in 2006-07, outscoring the Blues 18-9. Minnesota is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games against St. Louis.    

Junior forward Ryan Stoa, the left wing on the Gopher hockey team’s top line last weekend, will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury suffered in Saturday’s win over Michigan. He ranked seventh on the team with 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points during 2006-07.

The MIAC has selected three players for its Offensive Player of the Week award, honoring three quarterbacks. Saint John’s senior quarterback Alex Kofoed broke two school records in his team’s 40-0 win over Gustavus Adolphus last Saturday.  He set the school’s all-time mark for touchdown passes (88) and had his ninth career 300-yard passing game, also a new Saint John’s record. He has been honored seven times with the Offensive Player of the Week award.  Concordia junior quarterback Jesse Nelson ran for two touchdowns and threw three touchdown passes in the Cobbers’ 52-51 loss at St. Olaf on Saturday. Nelson had a career high 329 total yards, rushing 23 times for 104 yards and completing 18-of-26 passes for 225 passing yards. St. Thomas junior quarterback David Sauer threw for three touchdowns, had a career-best 441 passing yards, had no interceptions and ran for a score in Saturday’s 50-33 comeback win over Augsburg.

Saint John’s junior defensive tackle Nick Gunderson made five tackles (three solo), including 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one fumble recovery against Gustavus to win MIAC Defensive Player of the Week.  St. Olaf senior kicker/punter Paul Fortman was 7-for-7 on extra points to extend his streak to 45 without a miss. Fortman added two punts for a 48.0 punt average and threw a pass on a fake punt for a 20-yard gain in St. Olaf’s win over Concordia. He was recognized as Special Teams Player of the Week, the eighth time he has been honored.

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October 20 and 21 will be a once-in-a-lifetime football weekend for the Barber family of suburban Minneapolis.  On Saturday Dom Barber, a senior, plays one of his last games for the University of Minnesota against North Dakota State in the Metrodome.  On Sunday former Gopher and older brother Marion Barber III plays against the hometown Minnesota Vikings in Dallas.

All the focus on Dom and Marion will make a statement as to how exceptional these former Wayzata High School stars have become.  Dom, among the better strong safeties in college football, will have four games remaining in his Gopher career after Saturday.  Marion, now in his third season with the Cowboys, has been enhancing his reputation as one of the NFL’s best young running backs and will play Sunday against the Vikings for the first time in a regular season game.

Success in football, of course, is associated with the Barber name.  Dad Marion II was one of the best running backs ever at the University of Minnesota.  He ranked second in all-time career touchdowns at Minnesota with 34 before his son scored 35 to come within five touchdowns of tying Darrell Thompson’s record total of 40.  Marion II played several seasons in the NFL.

The Vikings and the rest of the NFL missed out when they didn’t choose the younger Marion in the 2005 draft.  The Cowboys used a fourth round pick to select him, who along with Laurence Maroney made up the Gophers’ best one-two running back combo in school history.

Marion had to experience the challenge of not only learning the pro game but doing it under tough guy coach Bill Parcells.  In a surprising rookie season, Marion played in 13 games (started two) while rushing for 538 yards and five touchdowns.

Last season he played in all 16 regular season games (started one) while rushing for 654 and 14 touchdowns.  Through the early part of this season only three NFL players had scored more touchdowns than Marion’s five, although as in the past he is still sharing playing time with Julius Jones and had not started a game.

“I think Marion Barber right now is truly one of the great young backs in the National Football League,” Gopher football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners last week.  “I think he’s got a chance to be a featured back now.  He can be an every down back.  He’s an outstanding pass receiver.  He’s a blocker.  He’s one of the more complete backs that I see in the National Football League.”

First as a Gopher and now as a Cowboy, Barber is still running for tough yards, showing emotion and strength as he moves toward the goal line.  Among his roles with the Cowboys has been as a third down rusher.

Brewster followed Marion when he was an assistant coach in the NFL. “I know this, when we were in San Diego (as an assistant coach to Marty Schottenheimer) we loved him,” Brewster said. “I was in Denver (and) Mike Shanahan loved Marion. Absolutely loved his ability.

“Every time he touches the ball he’s productive.  He doesn’t lose yards.  He’s a guy that moves the chains. Strong, powerful. …”

Where does Brewster rank Marion among NFL backs?  “If you’re trying to figure out I want one of the top 10 backs in the National Football League, I certainly believe Marion’s got to be one of them. …I think he’s on the cusp of doing something, really break out type stuff. …”

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