SB Nation User Blog: HutchLeaderGuy

White, Bostick suspended

HutchLeaderGuy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:06:40 -0000

From the Trib:

"Freshman Royce White and senior Devron Bostick have been suspended indefinitely from the Gophers men's basketball team for a violation of team rules, coach Tubby Smith said Tuesday morning. Smith provided no additional details about the disciplinary action.

The Gophers open their exhibition season Thursday night against the University of Minnesota-Duluth at Williams Arena at 7 p.m. The season opener is Nov. 13 against Tennessee Tech (Williams Arena, 7 p.m.)."

Hoese: Fullback feels like home

HutchLeaderGuy — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:13:08 -0000

Another story from our newspaper:

http://myprepsplus.ourvarsity.com/schools/school-article-profile.php?Article_ID=253

"At fullback, I feel like I'm home. It's really like high school was. When plays didn't go your way, you were blocking and hitting for the other guys," Hoese said.

Talked to Jon tonight on the phone - I've known him from his days at G-SL - super great kid and a really hard working. Glad to see him doing well at the U.

Is it Saturday yet?

Stommes: From D-line to O-line

HutchLeaderGuy — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:06:00 -0000

Check out a story we did on Gophers offensive tackle Matt Stommes, who hopes to return to the starting lineup this week at Northwestern

http://myprepsplus.ourvarsity.com/schools/school-article-profile.php?School_ID=&Article_ID=208

My favorite quote:

"If someone would have told me I would develop into an offensive lineman, there's no way I thought I would weigh that much," Stommes said. "It doesn't feel that much heavier at 305 (pounds). It took a lot of years of lifting and eating a lot, but it was worth it."

Uh-oh - Another Gopher in the crime news

HutchLeaderGuy — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:53:26 -0000

University of Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi said Wednesday that, when it comes to Trevor Mbakwe, the school will "do the right thing."

But Maturi isn't sure yet exactly what that means.

Mbakwe, the former St. Bernard's High School star who is a cornerstone of Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith's incoming recruiting class, is facing a felony aggravated battery charge stemming from an April incident in Miami-Dade County in Florida. Mbakwe was going to school and playing basketball at Miami Dade College at the time.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/52031427.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

Two words: Quarterback Controversy?

HutchLeaderGuy — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:54:20 -0000

Sure, Adam Weber is coming off arm surgery and has been the starting quarterback the past two seasons for the University of Minnesota football team.

But after watching freshman MarQueis Gray dazzle the crowd in three-plus quarters with the second-team offense Saturday, one can wonder whether this summer the Gophers will have a quarterback controversy?

"(MarQueis) is great player, and over the spring has become a better student of the game. He has a great arm, and he has a great quarterback to learn from in Adam Weber," Gophers coach Tim Brewster said. "It’s always great to learn from other players, and Adam has been great at showing how to be a leader and how to play the game at this level. I think this will help MarQueis really become a great player. We will have packages every game where he is involved.”

Gray threw for two touchdowns, including a 59-yard strike down the right sideline to lead the White team to a 17-17 tie with the Maroon squad. Gray connected with Broderick Smith midway through the fourth quarter on a pass that Smith caught in stride and galloped into the end zone to tie the score.

Gray also made a fantastic pass on a pump-fake, back corner pass to Smith earlier in the quarter for a 17-yard touchdown. Remember, the second-team offense was going against the first-team offense.

Gray led the way completing 8-of-10 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Smith caught four passes for 98 yards.

Weber also had a strong showing, making a number of 8-10 yard passes to move the first-team unit, which included 6-7, 375-pound Jeff Wills at right tackle, Matt Stommes at left tackle and Matt Carufel at a guard position.

“I was satisfied. But there were too many mistakes. I didn’t know how much I was going to be able to do this spring, so I was happy just to be out there," Weber said. " I don’t think we were near 100 percent (as an offense), but it’s a process and come September 5th, when we play Syracuse, it’s my job as the quarterback to get everyone at that level.”

The returning starter completed 9-of-12 passes for 77 yards. Freshman Kevin Whaley had 12 carries for 63 yards and a score to lead the Gophers on the ground. Whaley had the most carries, but DeLeon Eskridge and Duane Bennett also saw extended playing time.

Fullback Jon Hoese had a great lead block on the Whaley touchdown, which went off-tackle down the left sideline.

While Gray was the star, Troy Stoudmire wasn't too far behind him. He accounted for 274 all-purpose yards. The sophomore ran for 63 yards on two carries, including a 54-yard scoring scamper in the fourth quarter. He returned three kickoffs for 143 yards, including a 60-yard return in the third quarter. Stoudermire also snagged three passes for 31 yards and returned two punts for 37 yards.

"Troy is good player and last year we saw that. He is a dynamic player, who can really make some plays with the football. I think it is a sign of things to come, and he’s really going to do some good things for us this season. At receiver, defensive back, or in the return game, we are just glad he’s a Gopher,” Brewster said.

“As soon as I got the ball I was thinking about going straight to the end zone," Stoudmire said. "When I saw my block come out in front of me I thought ‘oh yea, I’m going straight to the end zone’. There was only one man to beat, and I beat him.”

While I was impressed with Gray and Stoudmire and some of the younger receivers in Smith and Eric Lair (caught a nice pass down the middle), the defense at times was poor.

The middle of the field was wide open from the line to the secondary. Whaley was able to gain yards up the middle in bunches of 6-7 yards. Weber and Gray worked a lot of shorter 8-10 yard passes, going at slower linebackers like Nate Triplett and Lee Campbell over the middle.

“This is the fourth defense we’ve installed in the four years I have been here and I feel like we are way ahead of schedule compared to where we’ve been in the past coming out of spring, " Gophers linebacker Lee Campbell said. "I feel like this defense has great schemes. I feel like we have great chemistry so far, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. The offense is out there making plays and we need to take the time this summer to work as hard as we can to get bigger, faster, and stronger.”

Traye Simmons, Ryan Collado, transfer Kim Royston and Kyle Theret started in the defensive backfield.

The biggest positive from the defense was tackling. There wasn't many missed tackles and a number of Gophers were in on almost every tackle.

“I think this team has a real edge to it," Brewster said. "Physical toughness is a big part of that. This spring there was a big emphasis on being able to run the football. We showed that we can run the football and that we’re going to be good at doing it. We still have a lot of work to do, but we really improved as a team this spring.”

All-in-all, a great day for Gophers football. The weather was perfect and St. Thomas was a great host. I have plenty of photos that I will send to PJS and Gophernation for them to use and post.

Other notes:

< Eric Ellestad connected on both field goals and all four extra points. His long came on a 47-yard kick with the wind at his back. Senior punter Blake Maudan also had a punt of 64 yards in the same direction.

< Senior defensive end Cedric McKinley was dominant, racking up six tackles, four of which were for losses. He recorded three sacks as well. To protect quarterbacks, only a simple touch stopped the play.

< Sam Maresh played with the second-team defense in the middle, wearing No. 17. He still looked like he was getting back into game-shape. He is built.

< John Nance was the only other quarterback to play. He played two series for Weber in the fourth quarter.

< Receiver Ben Kuznia did not play due to a hamstring strain.

< An overflow crowd of more than 7,700 fans showed up at O'Shaughnessy Stadium on the campus of the University of St. Thomas for the contest.

< Saturday's spring game was the last of 15 practices allowed by the NCAA. The Gophers open the 2009 season Sept. 5 at Syracuse University. Minnesota's home opener and first game ever at TCF Bank Stadium will be played Sept. 12, when the Gophers host the United States Air Force Academy 6 p.m. CT.

Safety Tramaine Brock leaves the U

HutchLeaderGuy — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:20:06 -0000

From Kent Youngblood at the Star Tribune

Gophers starting safety Tramaine Brock has left school, apparently for academic reasons, and likely won't return.

Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi confirmed that Brock is no longer enrolled, but would not comment further. Gophers head coach Tim Brewster declined comment.

Brock, a native of Long Beach, Miss., came to the Gophers from Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College before last season. He started all 13 games. The hard-hitting safety finished third on the team with 73 total tackles. He also had an interception and forced three fumbles.

''As of now he's not in school,'' Maturi said.

Brock did not apply to be included in the 2009 NFL draft. The defensive back did not respond to text messages requesting an interview.

First Curtis Thomas last season and now Tramaine Brock. Boy, not good for a defensive backfield that needed to improve next year. Theret is average; Rallis is not a Big 10 safety.

GN EDIT:

Official relase from U of MN

In addition to the six aforementioned student-athletes, Brewster announced that defensive back Tramaine Brock is not enrolled at the University for the Spring semester.

“Tramaine Brock will not be a part of our team this spring,” Brewster said. “But we fully anticipate that he will re-join the team this summer and be a part of our program in the fall.”

Of course he is expecting him to be back. Hopefully Mr. Brock can get things taken care of before practice in August. I'm not holding my breath but hopefully he'll get his academics straightened out.

Gopher football to play USC

HutchLeaderGuy — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:47:13 -0000

From Marcus Fuller at the Pioneer Press:

The Gophers are finalizing a contract to play a two-year, home-and-home football series against national power Southern California. Minnesota would travel to Los Angeles to play the Trojans in 2010, and USC would face the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium by 2016.

Boy, that is the year Justin Conzeimus said we were going to the Rose Bowl to Paul Allen. He wasn't kidding. It's just a regular season game.

Michael Carter commits to ... West Virginia

HutchLeaderGuy — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:53:00 -0000

Michael Carter, the 6-0 cornerback from Florida narrowed his choices to Florida, West Virginia and Minnesota, but chose the Mountaineers a few minutes ago during the third quarter of the All-American Army Game.

The 4 star recruit sounded like WVU was his choice all along. Bummer. Brewster spent a lot of time on Tyrone Carter's little (edit: cousin). Come on, look what the U did for TC!

Bryce McNeal, 4 star WR recruit from Breck, who is leaning toward Oregon, has yet to reveal his choice today.

Gopher hockey moves up to No. 1

HutchLeaderGuy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:27:35 -0000

The University of Minnesota hockey team moved up to No. 1 in the nation in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll released today.

The Gophers (6-0-4), who were ranked No. 2 last week, received all 34 first-place votes to reach the top spot for the first time since Jan. 22, 2007.

Minnesota is coming off a 2-2 tie and 3-0 win over Michigan Tech this past weekend. Goaltender Alex Kangas recorded his first career shutout in Sunday's win.

Tubby Q & A with PP's Marcus Fuller

HutchLeaderGuy — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:20:20 -0000