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University of Minnesota Athletics
FB: Gopher Football Gears Up for Home Opener
9/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
LOCATION: Minneapolis, Miinn. STADIUM: HHH Metrodome (64,172) TIME: 1 p.m. (CST) TELEVISION: ESPN2 Pam Ward (play-by-play), David Norrie (analyst), Jimmy Dykes (sideline) RADIO: WCCO-AM (830) Dave Lee (play-by-play), Dave Mona (analyst), Darrell Thompson (analyst) DOME SWEET DOME
Minnesota will begin its 24th season at the H.H.H. Metrodome Saturday against Colorado State. The Gophers are 74-67-2 all-time at the Dome. In eight seasons at Minnesota, head coach Glen Mason is 33-18 at the Metrodome, including posting five home wins for three consecutive seasons (2002, 2003 & 2004). The five wins mark was first established during the 1987 season as the most victories in a season at the Dome. Mason has posted winning records and won at least four games at home in seven of his eight seasons at Minnesota with the exception coming in his first year (1997). With the exception of Mason’s first season at Minnesota, the Gophers have recorded a 31-13 record in the Metrodome.
DOME OPENERS
The Gophers will be looking for their 11th consecutive victory in season-opening games at the Metrodome Saturday against Colorado State. Minnesota defeated 25th-ranked Toledo, 63-21, last season to open the 2004 home schedule. Head Coach Glen Mason has not lost a Dome opener since arriving at Minnesota in 1997. Mason’s first victory as the head coach of Minnesota came in his Metrodome debut with a 53-29 victory over Iowa State. The last time the Gophers lost a Dome opener was in 1994 to ninth-ranked Penn State, 56-3. Overall, Minnesota is 17-6 in Dome openers dating back to the 1982 season and the Gophers first year in the facility.
THE SERIES
Saturday’s meeting between Minnesota and Colorado State will be the second meeting between the two schools, the first coming last season in Fort Collins, Colo. The Gophers defeated the Rams 34-16 in front of 33,501 fans at Hughes Stadium. The match-up will be the third time Gopher head coach Glen Mason has faced the Rams and head coach Sonny Lubick. Mason led his Kansas Jayhawks to a 24-6 home win over the Rams on Oct. 2, 1993.
BREAKING DOWN COLORADO STATE
Colorado State returned 18 starters from a 2004 team that finished the year 4-7 overall. The 4-7 record marked the first time in six seasons Colorado State did not finish the year with a trip to a post season bowl game and the first time in 10 seasons CSU did not have a winning record. The Rams opened the 2005 season last Saturday with a tough 31-28 loss at Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Offensively, quarterback Justin Holland and wide receiver David Anderson lead an offense that produced 386 yards against Colorado. Anderson, a Fred Biletnikoff Award candidate, had 12 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown against Colorado. Holland played in only six games last season before suffering a season ending injury, but completed 121 passes in 197 attempts for 1,622 yards and six touchdowns before being hurt. Holland finished last Saturday’s game 28-for-43 for 291 yards and three touchdowns. On defense, the Rams return all three of their linebackers from last year and three starters from the secondary, including cornerback Robert Herbert. Herbert led Colorado State with nine tackles last Saturday against Colorado.
THE LAST TIME (Sept. 18, 2004)
The 22nd ranked Gophers used 346 yards rushing to improve to 3-0 with a 34-16 victory over Colorado State last season in Fort Collins, Colo. Marion Barber III ran for a career-high 201 yards on 31 carries while Laurence Maroney added 132 yards on 17 carries, marking the sixth time the two topped the 100-yard mark in the same game. The Gophers built a 14-3 lead in the first quarter behind to touchdowns from Barber, the second coming on a 61-yard run. Matt Spaeth led the Gophers with a career-best six catches for 71 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Bryan Cupito ended the day 12-for-21 for 144 yards and the two touchdowns to Spaeth. Colorado State quarterback Justin Holland led the Rams with 298 yards passing with 25 completions in 41 attempts, but was intercepted three times by the Gopher defense.
GOPHERS VS. MOUNTAIN WEST
Minnesota’s match-up with Colorado State will mark the second consecutive time the two teams have played each other and the third time the Gophers have faced a team from the Mountain West since the 1994 season. Prior to last season’s game against CSU, Minnesota last faced a team currently in the Mountain West on Sept. 17, 1994, when the Gophers earned a 40-17 victory over San Diego State at the Metrodome. The Mountain West began competition in 1999 and Minnesota’s previous matchup with SDSU came when the Aztecs were a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The 1994 match-up with San Diego State completed a home-and-home series with the Aztecs that began in 1993 at SDSU. Minnesota’s only other game against a Mountain West team was in 1990 when the Gophers hosted Utah at the Metrodome.
MASON VS. COLORADO STATE
Saturday’s game will be the third meeting between a Glen Mason coached team and Colorado State. Mason first faced the Rams during Sonny Lubick’s first season at CSU in 1993 as the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks. Mason’s Jayhawks defeated Colorado State, 24-6, in Lawrence, Kan. Mason’s only other meeting with Colorado State was last season when the Gophers defeated CSU 34-16 in Fort Collins, Colo.
THE SIGNAL CALLER
Minnesota junior quarterback Bryan Cupito made the most of his first year as the Gophers’ signal caller. Cupito finished 10th on the single season passing yards list with 2,097 yards, 15th on the season passing completions list with 123 and seventh on the season touchdowns passing list with 14, while throwing only seven interceptions in 2004. As a first-year starter, Cupito’s passing yards ranked third behind Cory Sauter’s first season total of 2,600 in 1995 and Mike Hohensee’s 2,412 yards in 1981. Hohensee holds the touchdown mark of first-year starters with 20 in 1981, while Sauter is second with his 18 touchdowns in 1995. Cupito’s seven interceptions ranked as the third fewest among Gopher quarterbacks with at least 100 passing attempts in their first year as a starter. Larry Carlson threw five INTs in 1966, while John Hankinson had six interceptions in 1964.
THE WHEEL HOUSE
Sophomore wide receiver Ernie Wheelwright had an immediate impact on the Gophers’ passing game in 2004. Wheelwright finished his first season as the Gophers’ leading receiver in yards per game at 54.5. Wheelwright led the Big Ten Conference in average yards per catch (21.8 ypc) for receivers with at least 30 catches last season. Wheelwright caught at least one pass in each of Minnesota’s first 11 games and his first three pass receptions of the 2004 season all resulted in touchdowns. Wheelwright continued where he left off against Tulsa with five catches for 96 yards and one touchdown, an average of 19.6 yards per grab.
RUNNING FOR AVERAGE
Laurence Maroney currently holds the Minnesota school record for career rushing average per carry at 6.68 yards. Maroney’s average is .43 yards ahead of Wayne “Red” Williams who averaged 6.25 yards per carry from 1942-45. Maroney led the Big Ten Conference last season in average yards per carry at 6.20. Two other former Gophers that played for head coach Glen Mason appear on the top 10 list. Marion Barber III finished his career with a 5.70 yards per carry average, good enough for fourth place on the list. Terry Jackson II is currently 10th, after finishing his career with a 5.27 yards per carry average. After the first week of the 2005 season, Maroney ranks second in the Big Ten Conference in average yards per carry at 9.3. Michigan State’s Jehuu Caulcrick leads the conference with an average of 10.0 yards per carry.
THE LINEBACKERS
Sophomore inside linebackers Mike Sherels and John Shevlin provided an immediate impact to the Gopher defense during their 41-10 win over Tulsa. The duo both started their first game together against the Golden Hurricane. Sherels finished the game with a team-leading 11 tackles, in addition to, recording his first quarterback sack of his career. Shevlin finished the game with seven total tackles and two forced fumbles, the first forced fumbles of his career. Overall, the Gopher defense held Tulsa to 135 yards rushing for the game.
MONTE’S MOMENT(S)
Gopher nose tackle Anthony Montgomery finished the 2004 season with statistics that don’t always involve someone from the nose tackle position. Montgomery finished the year with a forced fumble (Alabama), a pass breakup (Michigan), a fumble recovery (Penn State) and an interception (Colorado State). Against Alabama in the Music City Bowl, Montgomery forced a fumble in the first quarter that resulted in a defensive touchdown. Earlier in the season against Michigan, Montgomery was involved in the first official pass breakup of his career on an attempted screen pass. The previous week, Montgomery recovered the first fumble of his career against Penn State in the third quarter. Prior to Penn State, Montgomery was involved in a play during the Gophers’ 34-16 victory over Colorado State on Sept. 18 that very few defensive lineman enjoy. Montgomery earned the first interception of his career in the second quarter of the game. Montgomery picked-off Justin Holland’s pass on a third down and eight from CSU’s 48-yard line. The 6-5, 305-pound Montgomery recorded some return yards on the stat sheet by running three yards with his interception before being tackled. Montgomery became the first Gopher defensive lineman to record an INT since Karon Riley picked a pass against Indiana on Oct. 21, 2000.
