The Bowling Green team the Gophers play on Saturday (6:30 p.m. start, ESPN U) is coached by Gregg Brandon. He’s in his sixth season after succeeding Urban Meyer who left for Utah and is now head coach at Florida. The Falcons, who lost 63-7 to Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl last January, return eight starters on offense and defense, and are favorites to win the Mid-American Conference East Division championship. Bowling Green, 8-5 last season including the bowl loss, beat an underachieving team in Pittsburgh last Saturday.
Former Minneapolis Patrick Henry High School football coach Don Swanson hosted his 53rd Coaches and Captains Crying Towel banquet last week. The event is for Minneapolis football schools and Swanson good-naturedly provides crying towels so coaches can down play their chances for the coming season. Don Swanson Awards and the Vikings are sponsors. Swanson was pleased to see players from various schools become acquainted and express appreciation for the event.
The two MIAC players who received the most preseason national football publicity are Saint John’s senior defensive lineman Nick Gunderson and Augsburg College senior wide receiver Royce Winford. Both were named to multiple All-American teams.
Former Gopher football coach Glen Mason, now a color commentator for the Big Ten Network, picks Ohio State to beat USC in Los Angeles on September 13 if Buckeye running back Chris Wells has recovered from his right foot injury.
Gopher athletic director Joel Maturi said there isn’t enough support among Big Ten Conference athletic directors to add a ninth league football game. Because there are 11 teams in the conference, one team every season would play eight league games, while the others played nine.
Maturi said a more recent generation of FieldTurf than what is used at the Metrodome will be the playing surface in the Gophers’ new TCF Bank Stadium opening next year.
Gopher football coach Tim Brewster describes true freshman Troy Stoudermire from Dallas as “dynamic” and not only will continue to use him on kickoff returns but possibly punt returns.
Wisconsin transfer Kim Royston, the former Cretin-Derham Hall player, has been given the weekly Teammate award by the Gophers. Royston, a defensive back who has to sit out this season before being eligible in 2009, has shown an “unbelievable’” attitude in practice, Brewster said.
He also said the Gophers will use true freshmen running backs Shady Salamon, also from Cretin-Derham Hall, and DeLeon Eskridge from San Francisco, in the Bowling Green game. Neither played against Northern Illinois in the opening game.
Speculation is persistent that within two years or less, Minneapolis-St. Paul will have one major daily newspaper, not two.
WCCO Radio’s Steve Thomson created a spoof called the “Batista award,” according to talk show partner Eric Nelson. “Minnesota’s infamous signing of Tony Batista a couple years ago fostered the award,” Nelson wrote in an e-mail to Sports Headliners. “As you know, Batista is one of many coupon-clipping deals that have not worked out. Others include Sidney Ponson, Tony Clark, Ramon Martinez, Livian Hernandez, Craig Monroe, Mike Lamb, Adam Everett and Bret Boone. Steve and WCCO studio coordinator Craig ‘Hammer’ Schroepfer chose Craig Monroe as this year’s Batitsta award winner. My selection is Mike Lamb.”
The Twins are eight games below .500 on the road this season, 31-39. In 2006 when they won the Central Division with a 96-66 record, their road record was 42-39.