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University of Minnesota Athletics
FB: Gophers Kick Off Season Thursday at Tulsa
8/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
LOCATION: Tulsa, Okla. STADIUM: Skelly (40,385) TIME: 9:15 p.m. (CST) TELEVISION: ESPN2 Eric Collins (play-by-play), Bill Curry (analyst), Jimmy Dykes (sideline) RADIO: WCCO-AM (830) Dave Lee (play-by-play), Dave Mona (analyst), Darrell Thompson (analyst)
THE SERIES
Thursday’s match-up between Minnesota and Tulsa will be the second meeting between the two schools and the second time in the past three seasons Minnesota has opened the season against the Golden Hurricane. The Gophers began the 2003 season with a 49-10 win over Tulsa at the Metrodome. Thursday’s game will also be Tulsa’s first game as a member of Conference USA after previously being a member of the WAC.
BREAKING DOWN TULSA
After finishing 2004 with a 4-8 overall record, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane enter the 2005 season with a new conference and hopes of returning to the winning ways of 2003 that produced an 8-5 record and a trip to the Humanitarian Bowl. Tulsa returns 41 letterwinners from last season’s squad that ended the year on a high note with a 37-35 win over 24th-ranked UTEP at home. Tulsa just missed another home upset last season, losing 45-42 on a last-second field goal to 18th-ranked Boise State. Senior wide receiver Ashlan Davis returns after setting an NCAA record in 2004 with five kickoff returns for touchdowns. Davis needs just one kickoff return for a touchdown to tie the career NCAA mark of six. Defensively, junior linebacker Nick Bunting returns after earning second-team all-conference recognition last year with 88 tackles and three quarterback sacks. Offensively, Tulsa returns 1,000-yard rusher Uril Parrish. The 5 -9, 209-pound senior became the 11th player in Tulsa history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season with 1,064 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago.
THE LAST TIME (August 30, 2003)
Minnesota defeated Tulsa 49-10 in its 2003 season opener at the Metrodome. The Gophers scored five times in the first half to take a 35-0 halftime lead behind Marion Barber III’s three rushing touchdowns. Thomas Tapeh led the Gopher ground game with 16 carries for 75 yards, while Barber III ended the game with 48 yards on eight carries. Laurence Maroney made his Gopher debut as a true freshman, rushing for 43 yards on 10 carries. Jared Ellerson led the Gopher receivers with seven catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Anthony Montgomery led the team with eight tackles in his first game as a Gopher.
MASON VS. TULSA
Minnesota’s game against Tulsa will mark the fourth time in Glen Mason’s coaching career that he has faced the Golden Hurricane as a head coach. Mason is currently 3-0 against Tulsa with two wins coming during his tenure as the head coach at Kansas. Mason led the Jayhawks to a 23-17 home win over the Golden Hurricane in 1991 before coaching Kansas to a 40-7 victory at Tulsa in 1992. Minnesota opened its 2003 season with a 49-10 win at the Metrodome.
MINNESOTA CARRIES 16-GAME NON-CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK INTO 2005 Minnesota’s 20-16 win over Alabama in the 2004 Music City Bowl improved the Gophers’ non-conference winning streak to 16 games, best in the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State ranks second in the conference with 13 wins, while no other Big Ten school has more than one non-conference victory. The Gophers’ 16- game winning steak is the longest non-conference winning streak since a 15-game streak from 1944-50.
THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
The Gophers’ match-up with Tulsa will be the fourth time Minnesota has played a regular season game on a Thursday night, all during Glen Mason’s eight seasons as head coach. Minnesota opened the 2001 season at Toledo on a Thursday evening. Minnesota’s other two Thursday night games came during the 2002 season when the Gophers played Illinois and Northwestern on consecutive Thursday nights after being forced to move the games due to conflicts with the Minnesota Twins’ playoff schedule. The Gophers have played three Friday night games in the Metrodome (Indiana, 1987 - Michigan, 1991 - Michigan, 2003), also due to playoff conflicts with the Twins.
THE CAPTAINS
Minnesota senior center Greg Eslinger, senior defensive tackle Anthony Montgomery, senior safety John Pawielski and senior offensive guard Mark Setterstrom were recently named captains for the 2005 football season. Eslinger, a 2004 Rimington Trophy finalist and two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media, was named a captain for the second consecutive season. Setterstrom was a first-team All-Big Ten performer in 2004 and was an All-America selection by Rivals. Eslinger and Setterstrom have started every game of their careers together, beginning in 2002 as true freshmen. Montgomery has started 19 of his 33 career games and finished the 2004 season with nine tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks. Pawielski, a former walk-on, started 10 games in 2004 and ranked fifth in the team in tackles with 70, including 45 solo stops.
THE MARONEY STREAK
Laurence Maroney enters the 2005 season with two consecutive seasons of rushing for at least 1,000 yards. Maroney is one of four players in school history to have at least two 1,000 yard seasons during a career, joining Marion Barber III, Tellis Redmon and Darrell Thompson. Maroney’s 1,348 yards last season marked only the second time in school history a Gopher has had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons during his first two years at Minnesota (true freshman and sophomore seasons). Thompson rushed for 1,376 yards as a freshman in 1986 and 1,229 yards during his sophomore season in 1987. Thompson is the only Gopher to have three 1,000 yard seasons, accomplishing the feat during his freshman, sophomore and senior years. There has never been a player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.
