David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

OSU ‘Transformation’ Wows Glen Mason

Posted on January 11, 2015January 11, 2015 by David Shama

Former Gophers head coach Glen Mason predicts Ohio State will win the first ever College Football Playoff National Championship tomorrow night in Arlington, Texas. Oregon is about a six point favorite but Mason spoke with conviction and enthusiasm regarding the Buckeyes during a telephone interview with Sports Headliners.

Mason played football at Ohio State and later was an assistant coach for the Buckeyes. Now he’s a lead analyst for the Big Ten Network. There is no disputing Mason has Ohio State and Big Ten roots but he was convincing the other day when he raved about the Buckeyes’ last two games and the talent coach Urban Meyer has assembled in Columbus.

The Buckeyes were an unexpected entrant in the four-team college playoffs. Despite their 11-1 record going into the Big Ten Championship game on December 6, the Buckeyes didn’t come up a lot in conversations targeting the four teams likely to be invited to participate in the playoffs. In the last regular season game on November 29 against Michigan, starting quarterback J.T. Barrett broke his ankle. Barrett had replaced the injured Braxton Miller as the starter in August. For the Big Ten title game the Buckeyes had to start their third team quarterback from last summer, Cardale Jones.

No problem.

Ohio State destroyed Wisconsin 59-0 to win the Big Ten championship. That stunning performance and score earned an invitation to join Alabama, Florida State and Oregon in the playoffs. Alabama was the most popular choice to emerge as the national champion but the Buckeyes refused a ride on the Crimson Tide bandwagon. In the semifinal playoff game between the two legendary programs, the Buckeyes rallied from a 21-6 deficit to win 42-35.

A lot of college football observers are impressed with the Buckeyes. “They’re on a roll right now,” Mason said. “I’ve never seen a team that’s gone through a transformation in two games like Ohio State. They were a good team this year, now they’re a really good team. They became a really good team against Wisconsin and parlayed it right into the game against Alabama.”

Oregon, of course, hasn’t exactly stumbled in its last couple of games. In the Pac-12 championship game the Ducks avenged their only loss of the season with a convincing 51-13 win over Arizona. Then in the semifinal playoff game against undefeated Florida State the Ducks easily defeated the Seminoles, 59-20. “Both these teams are peaking at the right time,” Mason said.

When Mason coached the Gophers he spoke about “swagger.” After the Gophers earned a big win, he might talk about the program’s confidence. The secretaries in the football office even carried themselves differently, he claimed.

Mason sees that “swagger” with the Buckeyes. He brought that up with Meyer before the Alabama game and the Buckeyes coach agreed his team was different than earlier in the season. “They’ve gotten their swagger back, their confidence,” Mason said. “I don’t think they had it during the year up until they played Wisconsin. …”

Mason described it as “truly amazing” Ohio State can be playing in tomorrow night’s national championship game after not only losing their two top quarterbacks but also seeing seven players from last year’s team become starters in the NFL.

Among the losses from the 2013 team were four starting offensive linemen. Replacing those four and having such an inexperienced line was worrisome last summer regarding national championship hopes but those prospects really seemed doomed when Miller—a leading candidate to win the Hesiman Trophy—injured his shoulder and was ruled out for the season.

“If they win Monday they’ll have a national championship. It’s a testament to the amount of talent that Ohio State (has) and it’s a testament to the coaching job being done by Urban Meyer and the coaching staff,” Mason said.

Jones, a 6-5, 250-pound redshirt sophomore, threw for 243 yards and one long touchdown against Alabama. He also ran for 89 yards. Mason praised Jones’ abilities to “punish” tacklers when he runs and also the inexperienced quarterback’s arm strength. “They call him 12-gauge because he wears No. 12 and he’s got an arm like a shotgun,” Mason said.

Miller, a senior, has twice been the Big Ten MVP. Barrett, a redshirt freshman, was so impressive for most of the 2014 season he finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Jones has turned heads in his two starts against Wisconsin and Alabama.

Mason couldn’t remember one college team ever having three quarterbacks so talented. All three have remaining college eligibility and they could be back with the Buckeyes next season—although transferring to another school perhaps is also in the mix for Miller or Jones. “If they all stayed at Ohio State, you’d have three guys that would be (in) the Heisman Trophy discussion at the same position going into the season,” Mason said.

Tomorrow night Ohio State will have to contend with Oregon’s skilled passing and running quarterback Marcus Mariota. The redshirt junior from Hawaii has thrown 40 touchdown passes in 14 games this season and rushed for 15 more. He has thrown only three interceptions. He was a unanimous first-team All-American and won the 2014 Heisman Trophy.

Winning college football’s most prestigious individual award can be a precursor to something bigger—a national championship. Quarterbacks Cam Newton from Auburn and Jameis Winston of Florida State won Heismans in 2010 and 2013, and then led their teams to national titles.

The Ducks are known for their speed and Big Ten teams have long been considered a plodding bunch but don’t get too caught up in stereotypes. When Mason coached the Gophers they defeated Alabama and Arkansas, two programs from the speed-based Southeastern Conference. After those games opposing coaches told Mason they had underestimated the Gophers’ speed.

Mason didn’t even think the Gophers were a fast team but Ohio State is. He watched the Buckeyes against Alabama and thought, “Ohio State is the fastest team out here.”

Oregon is second in the country in scoring at 47.2 points per game while the Buckeyes are fifth at 45 points. OSU ranks at No. 26 in scoring defense allowing 22.1 points. The Ducks are No. 27, allowing 22.3 points.

Comparable stats for two 13-1 teams who have apparently saved their best football for the biggest stage. No wonder Mason predicts it will be a “heck of a contest.”

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U Needs Another ‘Echelon’ on Road

Posted on January 9, 2015January 9, 2015 by David Shama

The Gophers basketball players have been reminded the Big Ten schedule is a different “neighborhood” than the “walk-in-the-park” nonconference games they experienced during November and December. The Gophers, for example, still rank second nationally in both steals and assists per game—11.7 and 18.6 averages—but in Big Ten games only, those numbers are 8.7 and 11.3.

Other stats including overall field goal percentage are down in conference play, too, but the most important number is this: 0-3 in the Big Ten heading into tomorrow’s game at Michigan. Instead of playing inferior nonconference teams like Franklin Pierce, Seattle and Southern, Minnesota has of late been dealing with Big Ten opposition including nationally ranked Maryland and Ohio State. The Gophers were 11-2 in nonconference games and are now 11-5 overall.

Gophers point guard DeAndre Mathieu credits Big Ten teams with impressive preparation for his team. “Teams are really scouting us. I think (when) we played Purdue they said they practiced…seven guys on the court at one time. Teams are (also) doing a good job of challenging our shots. Things like that.”

A loss tomorrow and the Gophers will start 0-4 in the Big Ten for the first time since the 2011-2012 season. Two of the three losses have been by a total of six points and the schedule makers have given the Gophers only one home game (last Tuesday night) among their first four games.

“It’s the best league in the country for a reason,” said Gophers center Elliott Eliason. “It’s just if you don’t bring it every night you’re gonna get beat. We’ve played some really good teams. They’ve made the plays. You gotta give them the credit. They beat us.”

Eliason said the Gophers are playing with determination and want to win, but he won’t guarantee a victory in Ann Arbor against 2-1 Michigan. “It’s really tough on the road. You gotta play even another echelon above when you play at home, because things aren’t going to go your way. Breaks are just not gonna happen, seems like on the road.”

The Gophers lost by four points at Purdue and by 12 at No. 9 ranked Maryland. Tuesday night Minnesota lost by two points in overtime to No. 20 ranked Ohio State. Senior guard Andre Hollins said the Gophers “definitely” are the equal of the teams who have defeated them. “(We’re) just taking ourselves out of the game, not making winning plays, is what’s wrong with us.”

Worth Noting

Hollins, who last season was the team’s leading scorer but now is third at 12.4 points per game, missed all six of his first half field goal attempts against Ohio State and was scoreless. He came into the game converting three of 19 shots in his previous two games. In the second half Tuesday night he was three of seven on field goal attempts and finished with 12 points. “I was shooting the same way (in both periods),” Hollins said. “It was just going in.”

Eliason grew a thick beard for six weeks that drew attention from fans and media when the Gophers played at Purdue on December 31. But he said coach Richard Pitino put the “kibosh” on the beard and he shaved it off. What was the coach’s reasoning? “I don’t know,” Eliason said. “He just said get rid of it and I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ “

Sports historian Dana Marshall e-mailed that on January 5, 1957 the Gophers pompom girls, “organized by Bob Patrin,” made their debut at Williams Arena in a game against Illinois. Marshall, the student manager on the Gophers 1960 national championship football team, also noted Minnesota won the game.

The Gophers men’s hockey team also will be in Michigan this weekend. Coach Don Lucia’s team (10-5-1) has games in Ann Arbor tonight and Saturday against the Wolverines (10-7). The series between the two programs dates back to January 23, 1923.

Michigan coach Red Berenson has 798 career wins while Lucia has 661. They rank second and third in Division I wins among active coaches. Boston College’s Jerry York has 974 career wins—the most among both active and former coaches.

Club president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners “never say never” but the Twins are unlikely to add additional free agents to their roster. Their major free agent signings since the end of last season include pitcher Ervin Santana and outfielder Torii Hunter. “Our roster is pretty well set,” St. Peter said.

The team’s full season ticket equivalents sale was 17,500 last year and St. Peter predicts by the start of the 2015 schedule the total will be in the 13,000 to 14,000 range. Twins spring training tickets go on sale tomorrow. The club expects to sell 100,000 or more tickets for its home games in Fort Myers.

The 19th annual Timberwolves Shootout is tomorrow at Target Center and fans can watch four high school basketball games. Central High School of Omaha, Nebraska plays Apple Valley in the first game starting at 9:15 a.m. North Scott from Eldridge, Iowa faces Cretin-Derham Hall at 11 a.m., followed by Morgan Park of Chicago and DeLaSalle at 12:45 p.m. The last game at 2:30 p.m. has Rice Lake, Wisconsin against Champlin Park at 2:30 p.m.

Twenty-seven future NBA players have participated in past Shootouts including Jrue Holiday, DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Love and Josh Smith. More than 200 participants went on to play Division I basketball.

Condolences to former Gophers football player and Minneapolis businessman Mark Sheffert and wife Jennifer after the death this week of Jennifer’s mother Orlu Severson. Orlu was the wife of former St. Cloud State basketball coach Red Severson.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association will honor coaches of the year at its awards banquet on March 28 at the DoubleTree in St. Louis Park. The award winners and their football classifications are: 9-Man, Gary Sloan, Grand Meadow; Class 1-A, Charles Adams, Minneapolis North; Class 2-A, Luke Mitchell, Holdingford; Class 3-A, Mike Kesler, Rochester Lourdes; Class 4-A, Dwight Lundeen, Becker; Class 5-A, Rex King, Simley; Class 6-A, Jeff Ferguson, Totino-Grace. The state Coach of the Year representing all classes will be announced at the banquet.

Ferguson, along with Paul Miller from Apple Valley and Steve Solem of BOLD, will also be recognized as new coaching members of the MFCA’s Hall of Fame. John Sherman of Sun Newspapers will be honored in the Hall of Fame citation division.

The City of Edina will hold an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Braemar Golf Course Clubhouse to share the draft Braemar Golf Course Master Plan and receive feedback. The presentation is open to anyone interested in the plan. Braemar’s address is 6364 John Harris Drive.

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Don’t Bid Adieu to Gophers Football Yet

Posted on January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 by David Shama

North Dakota State plays Illinois State for the FCS national title on Saturday and Ohio State faces Oregon for the College Football Playoff National Championship next Monday but otherwise the 2014-2015 college season, including for the Gophers, is history. Here are one man’s random observations about the Big Ten and Minnesota.

Big Ten Power Poll ranking teams? Let’s go six-deep: Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and Penn State. Power polls of teams are common but here’s a ranking in order of the conference’s best half-dozen coaches:

1. Urban Meyer, Ohio State. In three years in Columbus he is a preposterous 37-3, including 24-0 for Big Ten regular season games. Many college football authorities will argue he’s the best coach in the land. Need more be said?

2. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State. The Spartans’ stunning fourth quarter rally to defeat point-a-minute Baylor in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day is just a snapshot of Dantonio’s success at MSU, a program that historically has underachieved. The Spartans are 75-31 under Dantonio and MSU has become more than a basketball school.

3. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan. He announced years ago at then-lowly Stanford that his program will bow to no one. The Cardinal became a national power and is still feeling his impact. Imagine now what he can do at Michigan, college football’s winningest program.

4. Jerry Kill, Minnesota. In four years at Minnesota Kill has become a poster boy for program turnarounds. The Gophers have won nine Big Ten games during the last two years, the best run like that since 1999-2000.

5. James Franklin, Penn State. Check the Rivals.com recruiting lists since last January when Franklin took over in Happy Valley to get one measure of his impact at this scandal torn program. Now look at his impressive 24-15 record at Vanderbilt—where nobody wins—to understand why Franklin is placing the roar back in the Nittany Lions.

6. Kyle Flood, Rutgers. Bet you never would have guessed the Scarlet Knights head coach gets the No. 6 spot. He is the lowest paid head coach in the Big Ten but far from the worst. In three seasons in Piscataway he is 23-16 including a win in the recent Quick Lane Bowl. He does more with less including hiring quality staff like former Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen as offensive coordinator. Other assistants include Mitch Browning who coached for the Gophers and Norries Wilson who played for Minnesota.

Among those who didn’t make the super six list are Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Nebraska’s Mike Riley and Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst. The Iowa program has grown stale under Ferentz and that’s not a good thing when you earn about $4 million per year. Riley is a solid coach who proved his worth over and over at Oregon State—Oregon’s poor sister. Don’t expect him to be Tom Osborne, though. And another new head coach in the Big Ten, Chryst, will operate in the large shadow of Badgers athletic director Barry Alvarez. Badgers fans will expect a lot more than Chryst delivered as head coach at Pittsburgh where he was 19-19 in three years.

The Big Ten can thump its chest (for a change) about its bowl results. League teams are 5-5 in bowl games this season and the Buckeyes can give the Big Ten a winning postseason record if they win the national title. The Big Ten was 10-21 the previous four years in bowls. No team from the conference has won the national championship since Ohio State in 2002.

Rich Exner, writing on Monday for Cleveland.com, pointed out the Big Ten has more bowl wins in 2014-15 against ranked opponents than any other conference. The Pac-12 has the best bowl record at 6-2 while the SEC is 7-5.

It’s unique that Ohio State has three quarterbacks as talented as sophomore Cardale Jones (now the starter), freshman J.T. Barrett (No. 1 most of the season) and senior Braxton Miller (injured all year but a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate). Can’t think of another college team that ever had the collective skill set of the Jones, Barrett and Miller trio.

After the January 1 Citrus Bowl loss to Missouri, the Gophers are now winless in their last seven bowls, including 0-3 under Kill. Ball State and Minnesota have the longest bowl losing streak in the country at 0-7.

That’s something Kill and his staff will fix. The Gophers have been 8-5 the last two seasons and Kill expects to have his best team in 2015. Recruiting and coaching are paying off with more talent and production. The defense has been rebuilt and the special teams are usually solid if not exceptional. The way Missouri caught Minnesota unprepared at the Citrus Bowl on a fake punt and onside kick was unusual for the Gophers and not the norm.

The offense is still a project in Kill’s brick-by-brick rebuilding of the rubble he inherited in 2010. Against top 20 teams like Missouri, having an offense that produces 17 points isn’t going to generate a “w” very often. The staff still has to solve personnel challenges at quarterback, receiver and perhaps in the line.

Even if Mitch Leidner has arrived at being the program’s first consistent quarterback in awhile, a reliable backup who can pass is needed. Quality and depth at wide receiver has been an ongoing issue and that needs to be solved in 2015. Line play has been inconsistent during the Kill regime but improved last fall. That maturation should continue this spring and beyond.

Leidner’s 21 of 31 passing for 258 yards in the bowl game was impressive. The Gophers are 2-25 under Kill when trailing at halftime but a better passing game led by Leidner, a junior in 2015, will help change that stat. (Kill’s record when leading at halftime is 20-1).

Leidner, Gophers teammates and fans will obviously miss tight end Maxx Williams who is leaving for the NFL Draft with two seasons of eligibility remaining. The All-American simply was the best big play tight end in school history. His spectacular 54-yard touchdown against Missouri, after catching a Leidner pass, will be archived in the school’s football highlights vault for decades.

During spring practices eyes will be on the running back spot to see who can replace school-record setter David Cobb. Promising freshmen Jeff Jones and Rodney Smith will get plenty of stares but don’t be surprised if senior Rodrick Williams uses his experience, power and straight ahead speed to win the job. What about sophomore speed-man Berkley Edwards? Edwards must show he can avoid injuries and have an all-around game.

Defensively the Gophers’ best unit could again be the secondary. Senior cornerbacks Eric Murray and Briean Boddy-Calhoun will be All-Big Ten candidates, and there’s plenty of other help on defense too in the secondary, and among the linebackers and linemen. It will be interesting to watch several defensive players in the spring including linebacker junior college transfer Cody Poock who looked like a starter before tearing an ACL and also fireplug sophomore defensive tackle Steven Richardson who impressed so much as a freshman.

Special teams players include junior Jalen Myrick who finished second in the Big Ten on kickoff returns by averaging 28.2 yards. Senior punter Peter Mortell was second in conference punting average at 45.1 yards and junior placekicker Ryan Santos excelled in kickoffs, field goals and extra points. The three returnees help form the nucleus of outstanding special teams.

Offensive, defensive and special teams players all benefit learning from a staff that has remarkable longevity with Kill. Seven assistants have been with him 14 years or more. Leading the list are strength coach Eric Klein, 21 years, and defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys, 20.

The biggest offseason Gophers’ story seems likely to be the announcement of a new football complex expected to cost $25 million or more. Ground breaking and construction on the much talked about and coveted new facility is anticipated this year.

Season ticket holders and other Gophers fans will have a home nonconference game in 2015 to get excited about. The September 3 opening game at TCF Bank Stadium is against TCU, a team that looks like a cinch to be ranked somewhere between No. 1 and No. 5 nationally in the preseason polls. Every seat will be sold and hopefully occupied for that game because a Gophers upset could set the pace for a special season.

The season closes with two of the later fall home games in program history—November 21 with Illinois and November 28 against Wisconsin. Bundle up!

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