ED: Don't miss GN's interview with a USC Song Girl. Click here.

Remember when this game was announced about a year and a half / two years ago? Pete Carroll was still the king of Los Angeles. Tim Brewster was, well, here. You had no idea who Sean Henderson was (and if you did, he probably hit you up for an interview). Lane Kiffin was irritating every SEC coach, Pahokee office administrator, and Gamecock recruit he could find. MarQueis Gray was still a QB, and none of you had been inside TCF Bank Stadium yet.

It seems the only things remaining the same between then and now is that there will be a USC mascot with a sword in the stadium, and the Song Girls will be on the visitors' sideline (and some of you scorn tradition).

Obviously, things have changed not only from when the game was scheduled (Reggie Bush, Jedd Fisch, Adam Horton, Seantrel Henderson), but also since the season started. We know how the Gophers have fared. USC had a sieve for an defense against Hawai'i, allowing 588 total yards (while gaining 524 themselves) in a 49-36 victory on the road/boat. The Trojans subsequently tightened up the ship while losing grips on their offense, gaining 329 yards (while giving up 340) in a 17-14 victory over the similarly-motifed Virginia Cavaliers. It must be noted that the Cavs scored their last TD with :04 remaining in the fourth quarter, and USC had 13 penalties, which removed a TD from the board and thwarted other dangerous attacks. Regardless, Lane Kiffin hasn't yet melded an explosive offense, a potentially sound defense, and crisp, clean football.

That makes Saturday's game ultimately terrifying. We all know on this e-blog how the Gophers completely melted down against South Dakota (giving up 444 total yards against USD, on 7.5 yards per play). What makes tomorrow such a difficult prospect to gauge is that while the Trojans seemed to improve defensively against a conventional offense (after failing so spectacularly on defense against the wide-open Rainbows), the Gophers horribly regressed during the time when teams are supposed to improve the most, between their first and second games. As Buck detailed yesterday, the supposed talent levels of the two teams are incredibly wide. So, what matchups should Gopher fans point to that can swing the game tomorrow? Onwards folks:

(1) That mammoth Gopher offensive line v. USC's pretty darn good defensive line - The Gophers have been racking up impressive rushing totals behind the work of Coach Davis and the big lugs up front (it's worth noting that for as good as Minny's been so far, they only have 30 more rushing yards than Denard Robinson after 2 games). However, they've made those numbers against MTSU and USD's severely under-sized and non-guru approved defensive fronts. The challenge comes tomorrow - USC's starting D-linemen run 295-305-305-260, with backups in the two-deep that are similarly sized. And as Buck showed you, they're all guru-approved goliaths. Minnesota won't be able to push these guys around as easily as they did the first two opponents, and if they can't run the ball, the game-plan might be out the window.

That might not be the key to the game, however, because even if the Gophers control the ball for 45 minutes tomorrow, it still means this matchup will have 15 minutes to play out:

(2) QB Matt Barkley v. the Gophers' Secondary - Sid Hartman and other local media will try to make you believe that the return of safety Kyle Theret will make a significant difference as to Saturday's game. Notice the word "try." While I think Theret will have a positive impact on OTHER games on the schedule (namely, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue and Illinois), the Gophers could bring in Ed Reed for one game against USC and I'm not sure how much it would matter, given what else comprises the Gopher secondary.

Gopher CBs Collado and Carter were pushed around, picked on, beaten deep, and blocked into the end zone by the Coyotes last week. We all know the story on Collado by now and I have no interest in re-plowing ground - seeing Carter abused last week, however, was thoroughly shocking. Also, true freshman safety James Manuel bickered on the field with teammates and was abused all day long.  Barkley is an efficient, confident 5-star recruit who is effective in the short to medium-passing game, knows how to pass on the roll-out, and has tons of weapons at his disposal. Against Hawai'i - 18 for 23 with 5 TD passes. Against Virginia, he went 20 for 35 for 202 yards and 1 TD. He spreads the ball out between his considerable stable of running backs (Tyler, Bradford and freshman phenom Dillon Baxter), wideouts (Ausberry, Johnson, Woods) and TE Jordan Cameron (boy-band potential?). The defensive backfield is in for a tough afternoon, and that's without even mentioning FB Stanley Havili out of the backfield.

(3) USC RB Orenthal Simpson v. ...... - Oh wait, that was the last time the Trojans played the Gophers. The Trojans do bring a talented stable of running backs to Minneapolis, however - Tyler, Bradford, Havili and Baxter are all top-level players, and the Gopher linebackers will do well to keep them below a combined 150 rushing yards.

(4) Special teams? Yeah, let's have a look - Gophers are 2/5 on field goals, and 8/8 on extra points. USC is 1/2 on field goals, and 5/5 on extra points (they had a weird run on 2-point attempts versus Hawai'i). Punting? Meh. USC ranks 53rd, Minnesota ranks (um) 115th, with a net of 29 yards per kick. As for returns, the Gophers are always solid in the kick return game, but I would say 2 games of statistics do not provide us with any meaningful trends for these teams.

(5) Random celebrities v. TCF - I think TCF's gonna win this one. While last year's Cal game brought Adam Duritz round here to the "Bank," who knows if Will Ferrell or Snoop Dogg will make the trip? If they do, pics will be here Monday morning.

What's the weather gonna be like? Partly cloudy, a high around 60. Maybe sprinkles in the morning. Maybe USC won't be ready for Big Ten weather!!

So, what do we think? The tendency of football fans is to think, well, situation "A" happened last week, and that stunk, and OMG situation "B" of death is waiting on the horizon so this week is gonna be worse. Those fans might be right on occasion (see: some Michigan fans after App. State but before Oregon), but I don't think they will be this week.

The ultimate key for the Trojans is to eliminate their mistakes. 13 penalties will leave them in a close game again tomorrow. The ultimate key for the Gophers? They undoubtedly worked hard this week to eliminate the bad tackling and coverage play that burned them so badly last week on defense. USC knows this. Minnesota has to beware of the possibility that USC counters Minnesota's counters in scheme (meaning, for example, Minnesota overplays slant passes and sends players on fake slant routes turned into go routes). USC has the bodies to attack Minnesota anywhere on the field in the best of times. While I think the Gophers will put up a significantly better effort than last week, I don't think this game will be much different than the 2009 Cal game. The Trojans will establish their dominance, the Gophers will fight back, and then USC will pull away in the fourth quarter for a solid 14-point victory.

Southern California 35 - Minnesota 21. 

So maybe the purveyors of doom and gloom this year (looking in the mirror) jumped the gun a little on this Gophers team (gulp). After week one, the Gophers have a possible 4-0 start looking them square in the face if they play their cards right. The switch to a rush first, second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth offense may allow them a route to save Tim Brewster's job. Whether that's good or bad is beside the point now for those, like me, who pay big bucks to sit in plastic chairs and watch 18-22 year old kids throw around a pigskin. More wins? Bring it on.

Continue reading this post »

Who am I, and why am I here?

Onwards Geauxfurs fans. Only 17 days (math?) until the first home football game, I don't have my season tickets in hand yet, and I live 5 miles from campus. Anyone else still waiting?

Nugz from around Gopher Nation:

(1) Relevant to us Minnesotans: other than Rush and KISS appearing at the Fair, you're probably stoked for the U's days, which are Monday, August 30 and Wednesday, September 1st. Here are the relevant times and sports for your edification:

Monday, August 30
10:00 a.m. - Alumni Band
10:30 a.m. - Volleyball
11:00 a.m. - Rowing
11:30 a.m. - Men's Gymnastics
Noon - Women's Gymnastics
12:30 p.m. - Joel Maturi
1:00 p.m. - Men's Basketball
2:00 p.m. - Men's Tennis
2:30 p.m. - Women's Tennis
3:00 p.m. - Baseball
3:30 p.m. - Wrestling
4:00 p.m. - Alumni Band

Wednesday, September 1
10:00 a.m. - Alumni Band
10:30 a.m. - Soccer
11:00 a.m. - Women's Basketball
Noon - Women's Hockey
12:30 p.m. - Men's Hockey
1:30 p.m. - Golf
2:00 p.m. - Women's Track & Field
2:30 p.m. - Men's Track & Field
3:00 p.m. - Women's Swimming & Diving
3:30 p.m. - Men's Swimming & Diving
4:00 p.m. - Softball
4:30 p.m. - Alumni Band

I will give any TDG reader one of my tickets to the South Dakota game on 9/11 if they can take a picture with Joel Maturi while getting a legitimate, verifiable answer to the question: "January 2007. Charlie Strong. WHY DIDN'T YOU?" Submit it to the site.

(2) There was a Volleyball 101 event last night at the U for the lady Gophs. Check out the "live blawg" of the event here.

(3) Speaking of Volleyball, they will be holding their 2009 Final Four Celebration on the 28th, when they take on Marquette at 7pm at the Sports Pavilion. Go out and support your non-revenue Gopher stars.

Don't forget - the Spring Game is this Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. Game time is 1:30pm. Here is tailgating information. I'd also recommend you bring along a pair of football cleats if you've got them - chances are Cosgrove and Lee will throw you in on defense.

Given the repeated arrests that are giving the University a prime position in the Fulmer Cup, I decided to go back to Brewster's introductory press conference and see his boilerplate for running the Gopher program. It really is worth a read - when you do so, 1-11 and the spate of arrests leave you less than impressed with his performance after 4 years:

"Our expectation is to win a Big Ten Championship now. We’re not interested in any rebuilding process. I’m very fortunate that I’m not coming into a situation that is decimated where there are no players. There are players here. Glen Mason did an excellent job at this university and coached these kids well. They’ve won a lot of games. They’re not void of talent, so we’re in a little different situation here than it is at most places that are going through the hiring process. I’m very excited that it’s not a complete rebuilding process.

"My address to the team this morning involved two things: I want guys who are physically tough people and I want players who are passionate. I want players who love the game of football, because make no mistake about it, I love football. It’s been awfully good to me. It’s been my life. I love football and I’m going to surround myself with people who love football. These players have a thirst right now and I’m going to give them what they’re looking for. I promised them one thing, and that is I will never let them down. I’m going to have my football team prepared to play on Saturdays. We’re going to play with pride. We’re going to play with toughness. We’re going to play with passion and we’re going to win. We are going to win. We’re going to win the Big Ten Championship and we’re going to take the Gopher nation to Pasadena. That’s my dream, that’s my goal and that’s my belief. It will happen here sooner rather than later.

"What type of football team are we going to be and what type of kids are we going to recruit? Our process there, again, involves talking about toughness and passion. We want kids who are smart and who are going to be able to make plays. What do I want out of their experience here? 1) I want them to get a degree, and 2) I want them to represent this University in a fine fashion at all times. I’m going to communicate with these kids every step of the way make sure they understand what’s acceptable and what’s not. Once kids understand what’s acceptable and what’s not I think you have a much better shot chance for success.

"The last thing I’m going to talk to these kids about is making sure they do things right every single day. I’m going to be consistent with what I do. I want them consistent with what they do. I want them training and working every single day towards winning a championship for the Gophers. All I can say is that it is an extremely bright future at the University of Minnesota. I’m extremely lucky to have been chosen as the head football coach at the ‘U’. I take that responsibility very, very seriously. I pledge to you that I’m going to do everything in my power to bring a championship to the Twin Cities and these kids are going to be passionate, they’re going to play hard and they’re going to represent you well.

Whatever, it was a campaign acceptance speech, but now we've got context (a losing record and on-call status with the Campus Police). The context is: win in 2010 Brewster - you set the tough schedule, you need to conquer it or else you'll be working for Shanahan next year. It's time to conquer the program's Achilles heels.

And, uh, this is sad. Anyone who watched Stanford last year knows that Toby Gerhart was a legitimate Heisman candidate and a great player. This is yet another reason to heap disdain on the entire NFL Draft process.

Joe Nathan, ergh. Well, at least the Twins have pitching depth. Rauch had 17 saves in 2008. If he can do a passable job, the Twins have enough batting and defense to win the division, especially if Liriano pitches as well as advertised.

Only 21 days until Sean Henderson has to figure out where he is going to spend the next four years with his son.

Isn't it curious that they've gone completely silent for the past 15 days? It's now been almost three weeks since the NCAA hearing with USC. At that point, they had to have been informed that a decision won't be coming down for 6 to 8 weeks, which is outside the April 1 deadline for signing national letters of intent.

It seems there is something causing the young Henderson to not sign a LOI. Academics?

(1) Gopher freshman goalie Noora Raty is one of three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier award, given to the nation's best women's college hockey player. And, she's a freshman.

(2) If you're a Gopher football season ticket holder, you probably got your renewal form this week. Just consider this: USC, Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa. What an appetizing schedule. And, Minnesota's going to win one of these games. As of now, I'm leaning towards the Penn State game being a surprise victory.

(3) The Spring Football game is April 24th at 1:30pm. If you don't have the aforementioned season tix, this is a great opportunity to get into the stadium and enjoy a "game."

(4) The Gopher baseball team is hosting St. Thomas tonight at Metrodump. 6:30pm start.

Quick, tasty Nugz:

(1) Remember Eric Decker? He recently was interviewed. Read his thoughts here.

(2) Womens' golf? Yes. Admit it - had you known you could travel to South Carolina in February (and, er, you were a woman), you'd have played it too.

(3) Any article that mentions Bryan Cupito and Asad Abdul-Khaliq (SINotC over there, though), especially when talking about the best QBs of the "aughts," is link-worthy.

(4) Also, any time "The Undertaker" gets burned by his pyrotechnics, you're going to see a link to it at TDG. Well, at least the story.

(5) Finally, ESPN's Scott Van Pelt got pranked during an "interview with Brian Westbrook." Two funny things: (1) SVP's post-interview reaction; and (2) Scott Lev y losing his earpiece.

There are not many places in America where "non-revenue" college sports get significant recognition. The few include wrestling in Iowa, running in Oregon, baseball in the South, and womens' college basketball in Tennessee and Connecticut. Of course, in Minnesota we pay and give our attention to hockey (although mens' hockey has really screwed the pooch this year). And this is a fine moment to inform the masses that on Saturday, before Tubby's boys beat up the Hoosiers, the womens' Gopher hockey team secured its second straight WCHA conference title with a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory over Wisconsin.

My daughter is six years old, and she has really taken to hockey the past 18 months (hey Gopher coaches - the doctors have told me she's going to be 6'1" - I'll send you a recruiting tape of her skating lessons). I ice skate with her regularly, and after seeing the look on her face when I took my three year old son to a recent Wild - Red Wings game, I promised that I'd take her to a hockey game this year. "With girls," she demanded. Of course - we'd see the regular season finale, with the conference title on the line, against the border rivals.

I had never gone to a Gopher womens' hockey game before, yet of course I knew of the team's pedigree - five conference titles in twelve years, six Frozen Four appearances, two national titles, stars like Darwitz, Wendell, Stephens and Muzerall.

I was blown away by the experience.

My most recent Gopher experience was Friday afternoon, reading PJS's recap of the Gopher basketball victory over Wisconsin, reading about the student section chanting profanities, and reading about how Bo Ryan resembled a douche on the sidelines.

This couldn't have been any different, or any more refreshing, as a collegiate sporting event.

First off, let's mention the teams. The talent level was sublime. Personally, while I've watched mens' hockey for decades, the rule tweaks in the womens' game (notably, no explicit checking) made for an exciting, open-ended game that I frankly preferred to the mens' vintage. Furthermore, the fact that the women are smaller than their male counterparts made for a more exciting experience. There was no feeling of claustrophobia or that there should be fewer people on the ice. The women took chances with geometry, executed fine passes off the boards, odd women rushes, classy one-on-one moves, Wisconsin played a swift, aggressive forechecking game, and both teams played solid technical hockey.

The game moved fast, clocking in at about two hours, fifteen minutes. There were no more than five penalties. Wisconsin successfully killed a five-on-three power play. Minnesota goaltender Alyssa Grogan stopped a Badger penalty shot. The game was wide open, played sometimes for almost five minutes between whistles. Both teams played fabulous, precise hockey, with speed, talent and tenacity. It was excellent.

The ending was beyond exciting. Kelly Seeler scored on a rare power play with about five minutes remaining to tie the game, and then, with 1:40 remaining, Becky Kortum passed to Chelsey Jones, who finished off a perfectly executed two-on-one to net the game- and conference title-winner. My daughter was on her feet cheering with excitement, singing the Rouser for the first time in her life.

It's also worth mentioning other things I did and did not see at this game. I never saw one player on either team confront a referee. I actually saw Gopher players genuinely SMILING while discussing something with a ref. Neither of the coaches acted like petulant babies. The students that were there (yes, there were many high school kids there, but there was a collection of college students taking advantage of the low ticket price of FREE) were respectful and didn't yell, let alone drop f-bombs. Oh yeah, extend that to the whole crowd: there was NO time during the game where the fans complained about a reffing decision, which might have something to do with the swift, technically precise play and the absence of whining by the players (a symptom I also confronted when attending the Thunder-Timberwolves game last night). There was no showboating by the players. There were no coaches yelling at fans (yep, I'm referencing the SDSU football game). And there was genuine joy upon victory and respect between the teams in the post-game handshake.

I experienced all this for $13, and I created a new Gopher fan in the process.

The mainstream media naturally congregates towards the sports that make money. That's understandable. However, you've seen GN's baseball preview on this site (and if you haven't, here's your link), and despite my lack of mens' hockey work this year (baby #3 combined with the Gophers' implosion have made Lucia's boys one of the sacrifices given my limited time), well, we will do more to honor those student-athletes in Dinkytown that deserve it.

I implore you. If you're in Minnesota, and you've got the time, find your way to attend some non-revenue sporting events. Check out a Gopher baseball game at the Metrodome (or at Target Field on 3/27), check out the Big Ten Track and Field Championships next weekend at the U of MN, or check out the Womens' Frozen Four next month. You'll watch high quality athletics at a reasonable price, and your love of sports will be refreshed. Then, you can return to the stresses of Gopher basketball and football.

(1) Uh, what the heck has happened to Down With Goldy? According to a post on Monday, they've turned into a Twins/Ohio State blog, which basically means DWG is now rooting for Joe Mauer and cancer. Down With Brutus, anyone? Be warned, there are some mildly NSFW pics down the screen, but pester DWG and remind it that fans don't bail just because times get tough. That's part of being a fan/blogger.

(2) The Rivalry, Esq. continues grading the football coaches in the Big Ten for their 2009 performance. Brewster doesn't fare too well.


(3) I dig the mug shot, dude.

(4) I know this isn't Gopher related, but when someone dies in a sporting event for reasons that were thoroughly preventable, not only (a) should the relevant parties get ready to compensate Nodar Kumaritashvili's family without having to go to court, but (b) the deceased should not be blamed (the International Luge Foundation should be disbanded for even suggesting Nodar was to blame when EXPOSED METAL BEAMS WERE ADJACENT TO THE TRACK) or thrown under the bus so that the Olympics party can continue. Mike Lupica rightly asks what the reaction would have been if, say, Johnny Ace from Richfield, MN had died on that luge track last Friday.

Whoever and whatever created and managed that luge track should be put out of business. Their actions to add safety features to the track within 24 hours basically laid out the case for the wrongful death / negligence suit that will necessarily arise from the accident.

(5) Don't forget! USC goes before the NCAA on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully, Sean Henderson will have enough information after the meeting so that he can make the decision on where he wants to live for the next three years, and we can start obsessing about 2011 recruiting.

Previously - Quarterbacks, Fullbacks, Running Backs, Tight Ends.

For the past two years, the Gophers' passing attack largely centered around Eric Decker, and why not? A splendid route runner, quality blocker, and possessed with glue on his gloves, Decker had 50 receptions in 8 games in 2009 before a weird pivot on an out route in the Horseshoe effectively ended his season. This almost doubled the number two producer at wideout in 2009 (Troy Stoudermire with 26).  A couple of viable options emerged in 2009 and give optimism for the 2010 season (Ben Kuznia also departs, FTR). Let's run it down.

The Presumed Starters - Da'Jon McKnight (Jr.) and Stoudermire (Jr.) - I list these two, both part of the "Skyline Four", as presumptive starters because they were starters against Iowa State in the Insight Bowl. Stoudermire is the jack of all trades on the team, contributing on kickoff returns (with devastating effect, particularly against Cal in 2009), on end arounds, as well in the passing game with the aforementioned 26 receptions. McKnight is a tall threat at 6-3, and had a breakout performance in the Insight Bowl, catching 7 of his 17 receptions in 2009, and going for 124 yards. All in all, these starters have significant experience, good speed, and are solid WR options.

The Backups - Brandon Green, a junior from Chicago, caught 21 balls in 2009 but was shut out in the bowl game. Sophomore Bryant Allen, currently moonlighting on Tubby Smith's bench, is the team's punt returner and had 5 catches in 2009. Xzavian Brandon is a redshirt sophomore that did not catch a ball last year. Hayo Carpenter was a five-star JUCO recruit in the 2009 class. In 2009 he contributed 3 kickoff returns and two receptions, one of which was a momentum-killing fumble against Cal. He was epoxyed to the bench the rest of the year (and is a similar year away from being an epic fail recruit), and presumably the coaches used the same material with which they kept David Pittman on the sidelines all of 2009 (one side note that I will try and sort out: Pittman is still listed as a senior after the post-Signing Day roster updates at the Gopher website. As he was a 2008 JUCO signee, I'm not sure why.)

A.J. Barker, a sophomore from De La Salle, Victor Keise, a 2009 recruit whose only reported offer on Scout was from Minnesota, and Sahr Ngekia, a redshirt freshman from Holy Angels, fill out the returnees. I will be surprised if their play extends beyond mop-up and possible special teams work.

The New Guys - Marquise Hill and Logan Hutton - Hill is 6-0 with a fake 40 of 4.49. He is guru approved, with offers from Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. Hutton was a Signing Day Surprise, having been poached from Sam Houston State or Navy. I expect to see neither of these recruits play this year. Redshirts beckon.

Obviously, the de-commitment of Chris Hawkins, the academic failings of James Green, and the unsuccessful flirting with James Louis will affect the receiver corps down the line. The position likely needs 2-3 signees in 2011.

Overall Grade: B. Once again, look to the offensive line to determine whether Weber/Gray/Alipate and the  wideouts will be given time to, respectively, pass downfield and  run effective routes. If so, there are a few players with speed and experience that will be able to stretch the field. Add to that Stoudermire's ability to run the occasional end around, and perhaps a light mixing of MarQueis Gray into the WR rotation, and the options look promising. McKnight, in particular, is a matchup problem for many DBs at his height.

One thing that is a concern is run blocking. Decker was a master, and after he was lost for the year the edge running game was largely thwarted. The returnees haven't shown GREAT blocking ability, and improvement will be expected if the backs can break long runs in 2010.

If either Stoudermire or Brandon are hurt or non-effective, the depth is a concern, and the high impact speedster that Brewster wanted to get in either James Green or Louis would have been useful and would have slotted into the rotation right away. Here's hoping Carpenter lives up to his JUCO stars, and Allen becomes a bigger contributor in year two.

Previously - Quarterbacks, Fullbacks, Running Backs.

When Coach Brewster made the decision to switch from a predominantly spread-based formation to a pro-style offense, it could be argued two positions were positively affected more than any other on offense: fullback and tight end. We all learned the importance of the two positions in the Fisch offense, as they were both needed to assist in pass protection on a regular basis, thereby thwarting most attempts, Sparty aside, at a downfield passing game.

The fullback position is being manned by a returning starter in 2010. There is a little more uncertainty surrounding the tight end position. First, the Gophers are beginning the painful process of de-Tow-Arnetting themselves (to be completed in 2011) by losing their second leading receiver, Nick, who caught 37 passes for 505 yards and 3 TDs (including a pair of TDs against Sparty that stick in the memory). Second, highly regarded and guru approved redshirt freshman Ra'Shede Hageman (how approved? Try reported offers from Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Nebraska, Oklahoma and FLORIDA) is now reportedly up to about 290 pounds and is expected to permanently switch to defensive end. Taking that news glass half-full would indicate that the coaches have confidence in the other TEs on the roster, as well as those who are incoming. Let's see if it's warranted.

The Presumed Starter - Eric Lair (Junior) - Lair played in eight games in 2009, catching two balls for 20 yards. At 6 foot 3, 230 pounds, he has an ideal build for a blocking TE. Ideally, he could become a somewhat regular option in the middle zone or stretching a linebacker wide. He is still an unknown, however, but has good upside.

The Backups - Curtis Hughes (Senior), Collin McGarry (Senior) - Neither of these guys played a snap in 2009 outside of special teams, according to the Gophers' stats releases. That corresponds completely to my memory of the 2009 season. I would be surprised if they played beyond mop-up time or again on special teams.

The New Guy - Tiree Eure (Lackawanna CC) - part of the Lackawanna pipeline that brought you Jeff Wills and also brought in DBs Herschel Thornton and Dwight Tillman this recruiting cycle, Eure is a 6'7", 242 lb. beanpole (why can I say this? I'm also 6'7" and weigh 235 pounds). He was moderately guru approved (3 star to Rivals), and sported offers from Colorado, Syracuse, UConn, Purdue and Rutgers. I would expect he'll play from the start, and would be expected to be more of a downfield threat than Lair. Note: Middle Tennessee State's top three returning secondary members are 5-10, 6-0 and 6-1. End zone jump balls anyone? Settle in quickly pleez, Tiree.

Overall Grade - Ack. How about a.........C-? I would give this position group an A on potential if Hageman were staying on offense. However, there is a huge hole at this position coming in 2012 with no TEs in the freshman or sophomore classes on the roster. This is a significant issue for a Wisconsin-style power offense (given that Horton and Davis are both from Wisconsin, that's what I'm calling it). Brewster went for and struck out on a few high-end TE recruits in the weak 2010 cycle (Alex Smith stayed at home to play at Cincinnati, Jerome Lewis went to Virginia Tech, and Sean Fitzpatrick signed for North Carolina), and seeing this roster imbalance makes the Hageman decision courageous yet curious. Getting a TE that can redshirt in 2011 and take the field as a RS freshman in 2012 is essential (Brewster has a 2011 offer out to Brookfield (WI) TE Sam Rohr - bad clothes, nice shades).

Looking instead at 2010, the depth chart shows an unproven potential starter, two guys who haven't played a down on offense since 2008, and a JUCO transfer, which provides equal parts excitement (Simmons and Lawrence) and trepidation (Pittman and Carpenter thus far). The ceiling for the tight ends in 2010 is, again, largely dependent on others. If the offensive line can pass protect, Lair and Eure will be free to run passing routes and provide another option for Weber in the passing game. If the guards can't stop the pass rush, the tight ends will not be as greatly utilized in space in 2010. It's obvious from 2009 that the position is a key cog of a Fisch-turned-Horton/Davis offense. The hope here is that the line permits Lair, Eure and the others to fulfill that promise.

I like Hemingway. Let's do that again:

(1) Ten predictions for the 2010 season, courtesy of The Rivalry, Esq.

(2) High school friend of JG2112, Nadine Babu at GopherHole, recently conducted interviews with OC Jeff Horton and DC Kevin Cosgrove. Click on their names and read them. Now.

(3) Here is the University's official preview of the pivotal mens' basketball game against Michigan tomorrow night.

(4) I've always loved trophy games, and Boston College won the Beanpot on Monday.

Previously: Quarterbacks, Fullbacks.

Holy cow, the Gophers' rushing attack was just deplorable in 2009. A starter returning from an ACL tear, an ineffective offensive line, and frankly ridiculous play-calling by Jedd Fisch (and yes, I'm blaming him at every opportunity I get because it's well-deserved) led to another 11th-ranked rushing offense in the Big Ten for the Gophers. 68 rushing first downs, 97.6 ypg, 13 TDs, and the longest run of the year was.........TWENTY-NINE YARDS (points for you if you know who it was and when it happened, leave it in the comments). It can't help but get better, uh, right?

The Starters - Duane Bennett (RS Junior) and DeLeon Eskridge (Junior) - I'm listing these guys as the returning starters because one of them will be the starter for 2010, at least at the beginning of the year, but it's 50/50 as to who it will be.

Bennett, obviously, was returning from the torn ACL last year and his play reflected that. He played in all games but only gained 395 yards and tallied 6 TDs. He's been here forever, and will be here in 2011 as well. I would expect Bennett to show full recovery from his injury and be a signficantly improved runner.

As for Eskridge, he got slightly under 6 attempts per game in 2009, gaining 259 yards and 3 TDs. No reports on whether HE tore his ACL in 2008 and was slow in recovering like Bennett.

The Others - R.J. Buckner (Senior), Shady Salamon (Junior) - All you need to know: these guys' collective 2009 stats: the null set. Rumblings are that Salamon might move to the defensive backfield for 2010. I wouldn't expect much contribution from either of these guys outside of special teams.

The "Non-Running Back" Running Back - MarQueis Gray - Gray had 44 rushes for 243 yards last year, not counting the postseason where his rushing was hit and miss (I'd prefer not to discuss it). I would expect his influence to increase in 2010, as well as his touches. To reiterate from the Quarterbacks analysis (link above), he is the most dangerous player on the team, and needs to touch the ball, on plays called for him, at least 15-20 times a game in 2010.

The New Guys - Lamonte Edwards, Donnell Kirkwood, and Devon Wright - As you can see above, Minnesota has just about zero depth at the RB spot, so I would expect at least two of these guys to get their redshirts burnt during or before the South Dakota game. Edwards, a Woodbury, MN product, is a tall, strong runner, who I heard Justin Conzemius declare as an Adrian Peterson clone on KFAN this past Friday (uh, that's flattering to Edwards, but patently ridiculous). My thoughts, however, instantly turned to just-graduated Michigan RB Brandon Minor, who had the exact same measurables as Edwards, and unfortunately was injured for about 97% of his college career. Why? Upright runner, decided to run through instead of around runners. I've read similar scouting reports about Edwards. I hope he doesn't end up having a similar career to Minor.

As for Kirkwood and Wright, both are from Florida and both are speedsters. Kirkwood, who has a close friend who you might remember Facebook flirted with the Gophers before signing for Ohio State last week, is also notable for another reason in Minnesota's 2010 class: he's the only commit under six foot tall (5'9").

The jury is out on all three of these guys, of course, until fall camp starts. However, one or two of them has to play this year with the losses of Jay Thomas (albeit, special teams), as well as Kevin Whaley (stupidity).

Overall Grade - C-. Of course, a running back's grade will always be somewhat determined by things beyond his control: the offensive line's blocking, the quarterback's ability to stretch the field to move linebackers and safeties off the line, and his offensive coordinator's ability to not call plays like he is playing Super Tecmo Bowl at 3am after drinking a case of Tahitian Treat and a six pack of Texas Donuts.

The returning players are experienced but are not spectacular. On the other hand, the youngsters have the potential to be spectacular, but have zero experience. Further, a couple of the freshmen will have to play this year, and might get exposed if the offensive line doesn't take quantum steps of improvement. All in all, there is the chance the rushing attack could significantly improve, but an increase from worst in the conference to about 120-130 yards per game (and how about one or two rushes over 50 yards? Kthx) is a reasonable expectation for 2010.

Previously: Quarterbacks


Again, we're reviewing the Gopher depth charts in anticipation of Spring Practice, and we're also adding in the new commits. First off, thanks for the civility in your comments in the quarterbacks thread. Near the end of the 2009 season I think everyone was exasperated with the performances of Fisch, Weber, and the lack of time given to Gray. There are functional arguments for all options for 2010, and they are well-represented in your comments. Let's give them a chance to succeed in 2010 with new coaching.

Now, onto the fullbacks:

The Starter - Jon Hoese (Junior Senior) - he had a solid season, with 29 carries for 103 yards and 1 touchdown. It has to be mentioned that he was operating at a disadvantage due to the horrid offensive line play, which often left him blocking D-linemen instead of linebackers. At six foot two, two hundred and thirty-three pounds, he might be a teeny bit small for a FB, but his effectiveness should increase in 2010.

The Others - Nick Rengel, Willie Schneider, Ed Cotton. All freshmen, and I presume, all redshirted because I don't recall them seeing the field.

The Wildcard - Ra'Shede Hageman? This is a shot in the dark, but Hageman has gained 20 pounds from last fall and is now near 290 pounds. Although he is slated for the defensive line, he could be a fine option in goalline and short yardage situations and has obvious experience blocking on offense.

The New Guy(s)? The only incoming RB that could really grow into a FB role is Lamonte Edwards, and I don't think that's why they recruited him. With 3 FBs in the 2009 class, I don't see one incoming outside of walk-ons (which, honestly, is a preferable way to stock the FB position).

Overall grade - B-. The options are not overpowering, and Hoese's ineffectiveness last year was largely due to D-linemen being in his face. Such is the life of a FB. If Hoese and others are able to get free blocking on the second level, Minnesota will be able to break many more 20+ yard rushes in 2010, and sustain more drives.

Two last bits about Seantrel: (1) it would be very interesting to quantify how much it cost Minnesota to unsuccessfully recruit him (perhaps we include the tuition and fees Tim Davis paid Cretin-Derham Hall so that he could enroll his son there and have unlimited access to Seantrel), and (2) maybe Brewster deserves a mulligan on the rest of the 2010 class, because had he understood he was fighting a losing battle versus Doggy Fizzle Televissle, he's have saved the hundreds of hours wasted on Sean Henderson's recruitment and would have been able to secure other highly ranked recruits (Earnest Thomas? Corey Nelson? Securing Josh Huff's hand in commitment - this proved elusive).

Well, enough about Sean Henderson. Let's talk about players who not only have spent or plan to spend a lot of time eating pizzas, playing video games, going to basketball games at the Barn, and taking stuff out of the U's budget, but also plan to actually play for the team we support and put something back into TCF Bank Stadium.

This piece begins TDG's attempt to formulate 2010 depth charts at each position, taking into consideration the returning starters and the incoming recruits. This is done in the hopes of understanding what Spring Ball will uncover, and what we have to look forward to, or from, this fall.

First up, the quarterbacks.

The Starter - Adam Weber (RS Senior) - Yes, he's the starter, and he better darn well be this fall. He didn't have a good year in 2009 at all, but we should understand the reasons why: (1) Fisch screwed up his throwing motion; (2) Fisch introduced a Byzantine hieroglyphic scheme which required Weber to take more time in the huddle to decipher and explain, thereby causing confusion in the pre-snap progressions; (3) the offensive line was deplorable, to be kind, and forced Fisch to take receivers out of route running to protect Weber from linebacker induced death; (4) no Decker? big problem; (5) young wideouts who needed to gel with their QB; (6) oh yeah, back to Fisch - terrible playcalling and a complete lack of understanding on how to rotate Gray and Weber to maximize their talent and keep momentum in the offense; and (7) back to those linemen, the rushing game was non-existent.

So, I expect Weber to improve this year under the new OC, Jeff Horton, who has quite a track record developing quarterbacks. If Weber were to revert to his form of sophomore year, that'd be good enough for me, and it's make me chuckle that we let Fisch go to work for that former Trojans coach. Watch Hasselbeck turn into 2009 Adam Weber!

The Backup - Moses Alipate (RS Freshman) - Hear me out. Alipate is a traditional drop-back passer, with a rocket arm, and is guru-approved. I expect him to be at a point where he could contribute this year. If he is, well, we should hope he's the number 2 and can get some time (perhaps in the blowout loss to USC or blowout win over South Dakota) in anticipation of 2011.

Wait, you're asking, where is:

The WildCard - MarQueis Gray (Sophomore) - I know. I have heard Brewster's bluster about a full-on QB competition in spring camp. I've also heard Brewster talk about an unchanged staff in 2010, that Roof was going nowhere after 2008, and that Minnesota would stay a spread offense after Tim Davis was hired. Here's what I expect: Weber and Alipate, with proper QB tutelage this spring, will solidify themselves as numbers 1 and 2 at QB.

Ever heard of Marvin McNutt? Yep, he was a QB in high school and when he signed for Iowa. Well, he's the same height as Gray, and you saw Gray catch that beautiful over the head pass in the Insight Bowl. Also, don't we need a slashing threat with Whaley off the team? Gray is a taller, slightly slower Denard Robinson (that freshman QB who wasn't Tate Forcier last year at Michigan) - a guy you need on the field more than 5 mixup QB options per game. Brewster and Horton should use Gray in multiple sets, with multiple looks, at WR, at H-back (remember that sneak against Cal?), at RB, as the WildRodent. Gray should only be used as the drop-back QB as a last resort or if Alipate can't handle it. Gray is the offense's biggest weapon and needs to get the touches this year. Brewster keeps him under wraps this year to the potential peril of his continued employment in Dinkytown.

This would also solve the "uh, will Alipate really be the starter for only one year at QB?" issue. Of course, this could all blow up and Gray could transfer after losing the QB battle in the spring. However, I'm trying to find a solution for this QB logjam.

The Signal Caller on the Sideline - Adam Lueck (RS Sophomore) - bless you Adam, but if you're ever in a game within 3 scores I will spin my own head Goldy-style.

The New Guy Here This Summer - Tom Parish (incoming frosh) - Six foot three, two hundred pounds, went to Hartland Arrowhead in Wisconsin (which means to me he's a preppy kid - for Hartland, think Eastview). I expect him to be in the incubator this year safe in a crimson shirt.

Pre-Spring Ball Grade: A. This is easily the most talented, exciting, stocked, and developed part of the team. There is a jam of talent between Alipate and Gray that needs to be solved, because: Weber for 2010, Gray for 2011 and 2012, Alipate for 2013, Parish for 2014 and 2015 seems to be one too many QBs. Solving this issue, however, is a problem worth having.

Nugz, Hemingway style:

(1) Minnesota has a Lackawanna JUCO pipeline. Here's Dwight Tillman.

(2) Here's the official Gopher release from last night's victory over Northwestern.

(3) Sunday is Gopher Alumni Day for the womens' basketball team. They play Illinois.

(4) Jerdogg summarizes the aughts for the Gopher football team.

(5) Wow. I'm in the wrong line of work.

Well, that was quick. It was announced today that Jeff Horton has been hired, after an "extensive nationwide search," to replace Jedd Fisch and become Minnesota's third offensive coordinator in four years under Tim Brewster.

Brewster's reaction to his hire is, as usual, full of plaudits, and he would know how to fill in the cliches on these press releases by now:

I'm thrilled to have Jeff Horton join our staff," he said. "He brings tremendous leadership and experience running offenses and coaching quarterbacks. I think he's a tremendous teacher in all aspects of quarterback play and offensive football. His overall knowledge will help make this a seamless transition for our players."

I have a bone to pick with Brewster's comment above, and perhaps you'll figure out what it is as we fisk Horton's resume:

(1) Graduate Assistant - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA (1984) - Hey, he's one of us! Well, kind of. He graduated from Nevada, but he began his career working for Lou Holtzh (sic).

(2) Assistant Coach - University of Nevada (1985-1989) - This is a tough school. One of its seven mens' intercollegiate sports is "rifle." Horton went back "home" (he's really from Texas. That's right OMG TEXAS RECRUITING) and worked for head coach Chris Ault. However, I cannot find any more detailed information about the position that Horton coached. Presumably, it's the QBs. If so, Eric Beavers and Jim Zaccheo were his proteges, and they had several 300 yard passing games over a 5 year period.  

During this time Nevada was in I-AA and was 11-2, 13-1, 5-7, 7-4 and 7-4.

(3) Assistant Head Coach - UNLV (1990-91) - This is the first evidence I have ever seen that UNLV had a football program at a time when Jerry Tarkanian was flipping through the NCAA rulebook by using his middle fingers. Although UNLV was the home of Randall Cunningham and Ickey Woods, in 1990 and 1991 the football Rebels went 4-7 each year, averaging 21.7 and 20 ppg, respectively. If those offensive numbers sound eerily familiar, they range close to the Gophers' output the past two years.

(4) Wide Receivers (1992), Head Coach (1993) - University of Nevada - Not much information here, but Nevada went 7-5 in 1992, and as head coach, Horton went 7-4, including a loss to Wisconsin (uh, that's not-subtle foreshadowing).

(5) Head Coach - UNLV (1994-98) - UNLV went 7-5, 2-9, 1-11, 3-8 and did one better than '07 Brewster, going 0-11 in 1998 (oh, I remember reading about this guy now). During that time UNLV averaged 23, 20, 23, 25 and, er, 14 ppg. Yes, he was let go after the donut.

What does that coaching trend mean? Well, he did well with the predecessor's players, but as time went on, he things went severely downhill (Steve Kragthorpe and Charlie Weis are your recent comparables).

(6) Quarterbacks Coach - University of Wisconsin (1999-2005) - obviously this is where Horton had his greatest success, coaching Jim Sorgi, Brooks Bollinger, and John Stocco to the requisite "plodding and maddeningly effective Wisconsin QB" role during Barry Alvarez's last seven years as coach. Bollinger remains the school's all time winningest QB with 30 wins.

Interesting note, which might tell you a lot about this hire: also on Wisconsin's coaching staff during these years were Kevin Cosgrove, Ronnie Lee, Tim Davis, and Thomas Hammock. Yeah, we're turning into West Madison.

(7) Special Assistant/Offense (2006-07), Assistant Offensive Line (2008) - St. Louis Rams - bler.

(8) Quarterbacks Coach - Detroit Lions (2009) - uh, there's a reason the Lions are only televised 3 times a year in Minnesota. This year, Matthew Stafford, Drew Stanton and Daunte Culpepper helped contribute to that stellar 2 win improvement over 2008.

So, there's the resume. Here's the assessment:

(1) This was no national search - yet again, a national search turned into Brewster asking his coaches for a recommendation. There's nothing really wrong with this - after all, Kevin Cosgrove ended up a competent hire (this year will prove whether that was the result of having 9 senior starters with about 200 games of starting experience between them.) Again, we've tapped into the NFL for a hire, with a coach who has been really in purgatory positions since 2006. Speaking of that, and this is the big problem with the hire:

(2) BONE TO PICK: Has this guy ever called plays? Wasn't this the identified problem with Jedd Fisch last year - he'd never called plays and the team would amble along while he learns how to do it? Yes, Horton will be provided Fisch's playbook and expected to use it. Yes, Davis will remain from 2009 and undoubtedly will order Horton to POUND THE ROCK.

HOWEVER, in all those jobs listed above, the term "coordinator" has never been appended to his job title. If this guy has ever called plays in his life, the last time he did it was on November 21, 1998 against TCU. More likely, however, as head coach of UNLV he didn't call the plays (full disclosure: also, Nevada's media guides do not signify his position on staff). Whether he's ever called plays or not, however, he hasn't done it since Bill Clinton was getting over his impeachment fight - over 11 years ago. This leads to the next problem:

(3) Going back to #1, who maybe did not get a call? Well, unless more information comes out, recently deposed offensive coordinators from South Florida (Canales), Tennessee (uh Mitch Browning was there too right?), Louisville, Texas Tech, and available coaches from those schools in addition to Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Marshall and East Carolina were not interviewed or considered. In addition, Mike Leach and Mark Mangino were wild-card "reach" options.

At the end, there was talk about Josh Heupel and.....the coach from Bethel. And Brewster hired a guy he interviewed last year. Granted, we'll never know the answer to this, but given Brewster's hiring history, this makes me wonder how "extensive" the search was, and who was not contacted who should have gotten a call. Leading to:

(4) What are the NCAA requirements on a job posting and interviews? I don't know the answer to this, but as a public university, isn't the University of Minnesota required to post an open job position (you know, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity)? When was this job made available, on Tuesday or Wednesday, and finalized Friday? I know that Michigan publicly posted its Defensive Coordinator position earlier this year. I don't know the answer to this, but my attempts to find the job posting on the Minnesota website turned up empty. If anyone has better luck please let me know in the comments.

(5) Finally, recruiting? What does this do for recruiting? Is Parish happy a QB guy is in the fold? Will the recruits be inspired by this choice? Most importantly, will this hire make a person walking the halls in a school off Randolph Avenue happy? In addition, WR Chris Hawkins, one of the top recruits of the class, officially visits TCU this weekend. We'll see if the Horton hire registers. Hawkins is a trial balloon to watch.

Bottom line: We have a Madison-centric staff, and this hire doesn't deviate from that theme. Problematic for me: part fo the allure of Brewster was bringing in the explosive spread offenses he promised from Texas. His pivot to the pro-style, and now his reversion to the boring, ploddng Wisconsin offenses of the Barry Alvarez years, is somewhat depressing, especially because there is no Anthony Davis, Ron Dayne or John Clay on the roster or even on the horizon (where are you Hasan Lipscomb?) While Alvarez's offenses were boring but effective, in 2009 Minnesota was only regularly the former and sporadically the latter. I hope the talent increases on the offense, because when it doesn't work, it's depressing and boring to watch.

As for Brewster, he has retreated from hiring hot hands (Withers, Roof, Dunbar) and instead is bunkering in with guys he and his staff knows. Ultimately, Horton has been given the biggest job of his career (yes he has, UNLV) and his performance will in all likelihood be a major factor in whether Brewster gets to coach a talented roster in 2011. If this team starts slow in September on the road playing a 10-win Middle Tennessee State team, and then at home to a resurgent, talent-laden USC and 7-win Northern Illinois, 2010 will get ugly and the fights between fan and coach that happened in the SDSU game this year could increase when Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa bring their talent and experience to the Bank.

Hang on, 2010 is going to be dramatic for Golden Gophers football.

More bad news from Haiti, as they got hit again within the past 3 hours. Seriously, if you can, look here and choose a link within that article to contribute in some way. The country was already the poorest in the Western Hemisphere before these natural disasters took place. Starting over will take the country decades.

Obviously the big news (well, relatively speaking for us as Gopher fans) is the impending departure of offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch. You might remember this morsel from Coach Brew last Thursday, to Sid:

Gophers football coach Tim Brewster said rumors that have offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch going to either the Bears or Redskins and offensive line coach Tim Davis joining Lane Kiffin at Southern California are not true. Brewster said for the first time since he got here in 2007, he will have the same coordinators and other assistant coaches in back-to-back seasons. However, West Coast reports have Davis joining Kiffin in USC as his offensive line coach.

Well, technically, he's right, since Fisch is probably going to Seattle, but that promised stability lasted all of about 6 days. Now comes news that two other recruits, CB Allen Veazie and OT Josh Allen have backed off their commitments (or were told to leave), and WR Chris Hawkins is visiting TCU and we know what happens when Gopher commits go to TCU (Josh Huff). This all is juxtaposed by Maturi's laughable assertion that Brewster's contract extension will be complete this year to form a sense of normalcy and stability.

I'm not really sure what else to say about the team. Lane Kiffin and his psycho recruiting, as well as his genius father on defense, have pretty much taken away any chance of a program changing upset next fall for the Gophers (they're probably taking Seantrel away as well). The Gophers, outside of 3-4 high quality recruits, are picking up kids with marginal offer lists. An insane number of players, upwards of 10, have de-committed (which makes you wonder about Brewster's recruiting practices and the pressure he puts on kids to commit.) The coordinator positions are revolving doors. Adam Weber will be playing for his fourth coordinator in five years this fall. Brewster's bravado and bluster, combined with the crap on the field, endangers the Gophers of having interest in their program revert to pre-TCF levels by the end of 2010. And 2010's schedule isn't going to help things - the ceiling on wins next year looks to me like it's 5 (South Dakota, Northern Illinois, Purdue, Illinois, Sparty) and that might be generous.

As a final issue, look at Metrodump and the Vikes. A coach in his fourth year, who inherited talent deficiencies at several positions, went about the work of revamping the roster. Now, with a high profile QB, he has gone from 6, to 8, to 10, to 12 wins, and is now 60 minutes from the Super Bowl. Anyone here think that in November, Tim Brewster will enter the Iowa game 60 minutes from the Rose Bowl? Kthxbai.

Positive news: Alicia Rue was named Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Week for the 10th time in her career. She does pole vault.

Finally, the Gophers' wrestling team remains fifth in the rankings.

When I was younger, I played high school basketball. When my coach was mad at the way I played, he'd yell at me and say I was playing defense like a wet noodle. However, he never "allegedly" struck me during halftime. 

However, one of those years in high school, I got a pretty cool gift for Christmas: a Fossil watch. I rolled through watches quite often in those days, but I kept that one for quite a while, and heck, I didn't even need to go to Arizona to get it (see: Insight Bowl gifts).


I wasn't the smartest kid in high school, but I did enough to get by and eventually go to college at a Big Ten school. And, I never had my ability to learn in college manipulated by the university.

While at school, I played a lot of pickup basketball at the Rec Center. I would sometimes play against real basketball players, like Ryan Wolf and Bobby Jackson. However, I never shot as well as Blake Hoffarber did last night.

I was also tall enough to play volleyball, but I never tried out. I'm not a woman, but check out the preview for tomorrow's beatdown of the Longhorns.

Tim Brewster wants a contract extension. His efforts at recruiting are likely being affected by the fact he cannot confirm to recruits he will be at Minnesota past 2011. So, he has his people contact Kansas to drum up interest and to try and finagle a contract extension out of Maturi.

Maturi decides to go public with this.

Maturi is setting up Brewster to fail. He's losing commitments, and Maturi is airing the dirty laundry in public. I have not been impressed with Brewster's coaching efforts. Further, while his recruiting efforts in comparison to Mason are undoubtedly an upgrade, in comparison to the rest of the Big Ten at this time, he is a bottom of the league recruiter.

However, his AD isn't helping him. Maturi ought to give him an extension of 2 years, with an agreed buyout that is less than the remainder of the contract. That way, the University retains the right to fire him after a subpar 2010 at a reasonable price, and Brewster gains the contract security he needs to secure recruits in this class.

One other thing is becoming clear: given Maturi's immaturity and poor decision-making with the football program, starting with his rash firing of Mason, I seriously doubt whether Maturi should be given the authority to hire the next football coach, whenever that decision has to be made.

Other Nugz:

(1) Here is a good rationale as to why Ndamukong Suh should win the Heisman Trophy.

(2) And on that note, it looks like Suh is keeping it close but will eventually lose to Mark Ingram in the Heisman race.  Thankfully, Suh is ahead of McCoy, which makes perfect sense to anyone who watched the Big 12 Title Game last Saturday.

(3) Sad news: the man who should have been hired by Maturi in 2007, Florida Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong, will likely be hired today as Louisville's head coach.

In 2005, Minnesota traveled to Michigan and won the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 1986. I was very pleased - for the first time as a Gopher student/alum, I was able to call my father, the Michigan grad, and gloat. He was gracious and congratulatory, as it had been only the 4th time in his lifetime that the Jug took up residence in Minnesota. Perhaps the Gophers were on the rise?

After the victory, I really hoped that the Gophers would build on such a rare victory to have a special season. It didn't happen - the Gophers lost their next two at home to Wisconsin and to Ohio State, later was blown out by Iowa, and then lost the annual Music City Bowl appearance to Virginia. I was really disheartened - after such a great and rare victory, the Gophers stumbled and wasted it. I felt they had thrown it all away.

Fast forward to today. I've got the same feeling after watching the Gophers stumble to what really was their third shutout in Big Ten play this year (one TD against Ohio State in garbage time). Obviously, this is not because of any heavyweight victory, but because of the team itself. This season was thrown away by Tim Brewster in early 2009.

Prior performance obviously cannot guarantee future results. However, look at this bio line:

In his fourth season coordinating Northwestern's spread attack and his fifth at NU overall, Mike Dunbar has the Wildcat offense ranked among the nation's elite after averaging more than 400 yards per game in 2004.

A year ago, Northwestern ranked 29th nationally in total offense (409.5 ypg) while facing a formidable slew of defenses. In the Big Ten, the Wildcats ranked fourth in total offense (third in rushing offense and third in passing offense).

Look at that. Third in rushing offense. That was during Dunbar's third season as Northwestern's offensive coordinator. That Northwestern team beat Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois in finishing 6-6. Dunbar obviously knew how to coordinate a successful Big Ten offense, he just needed more talent and practice within the system for Minnesota to get it work. Dunbar's third season at Minnesota would have been ..... 2009.

Instead, Brewster threw it all away.

MarQueis Gray is still the highest-profile recruit Brewster has signed at Minnesota. As has been stated around here before, he was delayed a year due to GPA / entrance exam issues. He was obviously recruited to play in Dunbar's spread offense. Had Dunbar been retained, Gray probably would have been utlized more than 3 isolated plays a game, and certainly would not have been foolishly used as a WR in certain sets (if you've trying to have a QB learn a playbook, and the limited nature of his playing time suggests he hasn't grasped much of said playbook, the last thing you'd do is make him practice as a WR too, right?) It's not too far-fetched to think that Gray could have started a few games this year had the spread been the base offense.

Instead, Brewster threw that all away, and in all honesty, threw away a year (or more) of Gray's college career.

And what more to say about this defense? What a performance today, and in all honesty, this whole season. The seniors have all played really sound, fundamental defense all year, and were a joy to watch. I was very skeptical of a few aspects of this defense prior to and during the first month of the year, and I'm going to ingest crow. Kevin Cosgrove, you've done very well this year. Ronnie Lee, really? Fine job.

And this must stand alone: Ryan Collado, when used as a run-stopper or blitzer, you are a fine player. I am happy the coaches have figured out your strengths.

And yet, Brewster has thrown the excellent performance of this group of seniors all away.

On retrospect, this team would have won the Wisconsin and Illinois games and yes, could have won the Iowa game had the team not decided to trash and re-vamp its offense during the offseason. A spread offense system can really simplify the scheme for younger quarterbacks, which could have given Gray more playing time. And yes, Adam Weber would have been in year 3 of the scheme and could have worked on better synergy with his linemen and teammates, instead of having to sit in meetings every day with Jedd Fisch learning the 500 hand signals needed to comprehend his plays.

The 2009 season was a natural crescendo for the defensive players on the team, and Brewster should have known that. He had a group of JUCOs that he signed that were seniors, along with Brown, Small, Campbell, and Triplett. This year was a year to make a statement with the team moving into a new stadium and having the nation's attention.

However, whenever the Gophers had a network audience, what happened? Functional to very good defense was squandered because an offense was suffering from its offensive coordinator learning how to call plays on the fly.

As we all predicted how this season would turn out for Minnesota, the TDG consensus was slightly below to right around .500. Obviously, they ended up right at .500. However, the road traveled has been really unsatisfactory. What should have been a team in Brewster's third year humming on all cylinders with a fast, athletic offense and veteran defense descended into a team with that great defense, but with a slow, plodding confused offense that in 5 of its games scored 0 or 1 offensive touchdowns. It descended into fans and Gopher coaches yelling at each other during the SDSU game.

As the team looks to 2010, it has to replace 9 senior starters on defense, as well as its most prolific WR ever, get its linemen in functional shape so a running game can get established, and most importantly, Jedd Fisch needs to pare back his playbook so that Gray and Weber can comprehend what the hell he wants to do. Calling a coherent game plan would also be welcome.

College football has really been tough for this writer and his father since the 2007 season has started.  Both schools the family supports have had the worst year in their respective histories. Despite that, we both have optimism things are turning around, no matter what the MSM wants to tell the uninformed fan. All that is really asked for is some consistency, some organic growth, not tearing down that which was or is growing well and could become something special. So, as my father hopes that his alma mater doesn't throw it all away by dumping a coach with 89 freshmen and sophomores on his roster and with 25 more on the way this year, I also hope that Brewster will stay the course, let his team develop, not bow to pressure to change coaches or coordinators, and not throw it all away. I hope that when Minnesota and Michigan play again for that Jug in 2011, the winner of the game can do more with it than what was done in 2005.