Put the Lions Down as ‘1A’ & Label Vikings ‘1B’ after Today

 

It was entertaining and it was close. And it was the Vikings’ first loss of the season in a game where they were outplayed (slightly) by the Lions.

The Lions showed at least for now they’re the “1A team” in the NFC North and perhaps the entire NFC.  Give the Vikings the “1B label” in the division with both teams owning 5-1 records and sharing first place in the North after today’s 31-29 Detroit win at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Minnesota’s offense could produce only two touchdowns against the Lions defense.  The Vikings had three field goals by flawless rookie kicker Will Reichard and a defensive TD run of 36 yards by linebacker Ivan Pace. Pace’s score put the Vikings ahead 29-28 with just under six minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings, though, couldn’t convert on a two-point attempt after Pace’s six points.  And even more crucial the offense couldn’t take time off the clock when it went three and out late in the fourth quarter, prior to the Lions marching down the field to set up their winning field goal of 44 yards by Jake Bates with 15 seconds remaining.

The Lions had put themselves in a first quarter hole when a failed fake punt gave Minnesota the ball on Detroit’s 34-yard line.  Shortly after, RB Aaron Jones ran 34 yards TD to put Minnesota up 6-0.  Reichard converted the extra point and later in the quarter the Vikings went up 10-0 with his 57-yard field goal.

The Viking defense, like the offense, was spotty in a game where Lions running back Jaymyr Gibbs ran for 116 yards on 15 carries including two touchdowns.  Detroit QB Jared Goff, often frustrating the Vikings’ famed blitz efforts, was 22 of 25 for 280 yards and two touchdown passes.  The Lions, during the second and third quarters, put together four consecutive series where they scored touchdowns.

Viking head coach Kevin O’Connell talking on KFAN Radio after the game said there were too many “self-inflicted” things that impacted execution and cost his team the win.  It was penalties and other failures including an illegal formation on the next to the last play of the game that pushed the Vikings even further out of miracle field goal range. With all the faith O’Connell has in Reichard (12 of 12 on field goals this season), he knew that about 70 yards was asking a lot.

The Vikings can feel better about themselves quickly because they are in Los Angeles Thursday night to play the Rams.  That starts a schedule of games against the Rams, Colts, Jaguars and Titans.  Those clubs have a combined record of 7-16 and their pedigrees pale in comparison to “1A”—a Super Bowl favorite who barely escaped with a win today in Minneapolis.

Gophers & College Football Notes

Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman finds it “incredible” to see the high-level true freshman Gopher Koi Perich is playing at.  “He’s going to be a superstar by the time he graduates so I am happy for him,” Cashman told Sports Headliners.

Cashman was a walk-on with the Gophers after Eden Prairie High School and became a 2018 second team All-Big Ten linebacker. He is acquainted with Perich who has impressed with his play at safety and on special teams, already receiving Big Ten Conference and national awards.  “…I got a chance to meet him. He seems like a great young man with a good head on his shoulders.  So, he’s got a bright future.”

There’s been speculation Perich eventually might receive the opportunity to play on offense, running or catching the football—or both.  “That would be amazing,” Cashman said.  “You don’t often see that.  That would be cool.”

Condolences to family and friends of Dick Larson who passed away unexpectedly earlier this month. Dick was a prominent quarterback for the Gophers in 1956 and 1957.  The Roosevelt High School alum was a favorite of head coach Murray Warmath and Dick was an assistant coach for Warmath from 1958-1965.

Warmath and Dick were like father and son.  He looked after Warmath’s affairs up until the time the national championship coach died in 2011 at age 98.

Dick had a sharp football mind and was highly personable.  If he had stayed with coaching, instead of committing to a long business career, he might have been a great college head coach.

Members were beaming last week at the Twin Cities Dunkers program when 103-year-old Tom Swain, the oldest Dunker, came to hear new University of Minnesota president Rebecca Cunningham.  Swain, still sharp and remembering friends, was the first academic advisor for athletics at the U.

There are 618 athletes on the Gophers 22 sports teams this school year, with close to an even female-male split.

Undergraduate newcomers at the U Twin Cities campus total about 10,000 this fall, a source told Sports Headliners. That’s the highest such total, he said, since right after World War II.  About 7,800 are freshmen, with the balance being transfers.

It was five years ago that LSU was making its way toward the national championship, eventually finishing 15-0 with a domination of foes that prompted admirers to say the Tigers are the greatest team in college football history.  Vikings guard Ed Ingram told Sports Headliners that team could have won “one or two NFL games.”

“Great everything (offense, defense, special teams), we put everything together,” said Ingram who was on that LSU team with Vikings superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson and quarterback Joe Burrow, now a franchise record setter with the NFL Bengals.

Indiana is the envy of every fan who annually supports a hapless college football team.  The Hoosiers, mostly a football graveyard forever, are 7-0, top 20 ranked and setting school records.  Their season is a result of superb coaching, an influx of talented and experienced transfers and ideal scheduling.

First-year coach Curt Cignetti, 63, had been a big winner at lower stops before he reached Indiana and the Big Ten.  Upon arrival he said: “I am excited to lead this program forward and change the culture, mindset, and expectation level of Hoosier football.”

And, man, has he.  With a roster that includes transfers from his previous stop at James Madison, the players have responded to the demands of their coaches and executed at a high level.  It’s also been a confidence builder that the nonconference foes were FIU (2-5), Western Illinois (3-4) and Charlotte (3-4).  The Big Ten schedule, after four games, includes two teams with overall records above .500—Nebraska at 5-2 and Maryland, 4-3.

Vanderbilt, with its improbable 2024 win over then No. 1 ranked Alabama, is another “believe in miracles” story with beloved former Golden Gophers head coach Jerry Kill playing a big role.  Kill is senior offensive advisor and chief consultant to head coach Clark Lea who led his Commodores over Alabama in one of the most notable upsets in college football history. Vandy’s drama specialist is quarterback hero Diego Pavia who played for New Mexico State last year when Kill was head coach there.

Aggie fans learned about miracles in 2023 when New Mexico State, historically even a worse program than Indiana or Vandy, defeated Auburn on the Tigers’ home field in another upset for the ages. Vandy is off to a 5-2 start to the season.