Vikings rookie quarterback Christian Ponder makes his second career start on Sunday. Ponder was the No. 12 pick in the 2011 NFL draft while Newton was the No. 1 overall choice. Sunday will be the first time in the 51-year history of the Vikings franchise that two rookie quarterbacks have started a game.
Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said his Minneapolis home has been on the market for about a month. He characterized the potential sale as a downsizing move by him and wife Lois. The sale isn’t related to his future as athletic director, he said.
Now that he and new University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler have been working together for awhile, the two must determine intentions on whether Maturi continues as athletic director when his contract expires in June next year. Maturi said both he and Kaler need to say “yea or nay” but wouldn’t predict whether an announcement will come before year-end, nor would he say what he wants to do beyond June of 2012.
Maturi said the Memorandum of Agreement that initially bound football coach Jerry Kill to the Gophers before signing a contract this fall was a legal document. The agreement was only a “couple pages” while the contract is about 16 pages, according to Maturi. Kill’s annual compensation of $1.2 million is the same in both documents.
Minnesota native Justin Gaard, who attended the University of Iowa, will be working the sidelines for the Gophers football radio network when Minnesota hosts his old school at TCF Bank Stadium. But he doesn’t “expect too many emotions” on Saturday and he will be there to do his job – “eavesdrop on the coaches,” report on injuries and more.
Gaard, who played tennis for the Hawkeyes after graduating from Edina High School in 2001, grew up following Gophers and Iowa teams. Both his parents are Iowa natives. His first Iowa bowl experience came at the 1991 Rose Bowl. “I was a little spoiled early,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it.”
Gaard, who followed the Gophers basketball team to the Final Four in 1997, said the 1998 Vikings are “probably” his all-time favorite sports team. “I am a bandwagon guy,” he said. “I kind of go with the wind.”
He makes his feelings about Wisconsin clear: “I want the Hawks to win. I want the Gophers to win. I never want Wisconsin to win. …”
Through seven games the 1-6 Gophers have established themselves among the least productive teams in major college football and their national statistical rankings support that view. Minnesota ranks 109th in passing offense, 114th in pass efficiency, 112th in total offense and 110th in scoring offense. The Gophers are 115th in scoring defense and 100th in total defense.