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University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota vs.North Dakota State Postgame Notes & Quotes
10/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
GAME NOTES
Minnesota 10 (3-5), North Dakota State 9 (6-1),
Oct. 21, 2006
Attendance: 62,845
Minnesota Series/Specialty Notes
• Today’s game marked the first time Minnesota had played North Dakota State since Sept. 25, 1937. Minnesota holds a 7-0 advantage in the all-time series.
• Glen Mason is 61-55 all time at Minnesota and 120-119-1 in his career.
• The Gophers own a record of 21-2 in non-conference home games under Head Coach Glen Mason. The Gophers have also won 14 consecutive non-conference home games. Minnesota is 29-4 overall in non-conference games under Mason.
• The last I-AA opponent Minnesota faced was Illinois State on September 11, 2004. The Gophers defeated the Redbirds 37-21.
• Today’s attendance of 62,845 was the largest home crowd of the season for the Gophers and the largest since 65,089 fans attended the Wisconsin game last year (10/15/05).
Minnesota Team Notes
• The Gophers have now scored at least one rushing touchdown in 46 of their last 49 contests dating back
to 2002.
Minnesota Individual Notes
• With his 15-yard reception in the first quarter, Logan Payne became the 20th member of the Gophers’ 1,000-yard receiving club.
• Payne now has seven consecutive multiple reception games. Payne had a streak of five straight games with six receptions snapped last week at Wisconsin.
• Matt Spaeth is now only 44 receiving yards away from surpassing Ben Utecht as the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards by a tight end. Spaeth has 1,168 yards after today’s game. The record is 1,211.
• Spaeth had six catches to move past Dwayne McMullen (1981-84) for ninth place all-time in career receptions regardless of position. He currently has 97 for his career.
• Spaeth now has a catch in 17 consecutive games.
• Spaeth had the 19th multi-catch game of his career.
• Spaeth has now started 37 consecutive games, the longest current starting streak on the team.
• Amir Pinnix had a rushing touchdown for the third consecutive game.
• Duran Cooley made his first career start at strong safety for the Golden Gophers.
• Mike Sherels broke up a pass for the second time in the last three games.
• Jamal Harris intercepted his third pass of the year. Minnesota has not had a player with three interceptions in a season since Ukee Dozier had three in 2004.
• Todd Meisel recorded a sack for the second straight game.
• Jack Simmons caught his second pass of the season and of his career in the second quarter.
• Neel Allen recorded his second sack of the season and of his career in the second quarter.
• Mike Chambers’ 38-yard reception in the fourth quarter was a career-long.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Minnesota Head Coach Glen Mason
“It was one of those games. I say it like that, because I’ve been on the other side before. This is the kind of game that puts a smile on your face. When you’re outcoached and outplayed, and still win. I credit NDSU, they have a good team, they have good players, they play hard, are well-coached and did a great job. I’m not happy with the way we played, but I’m happy with the end result.”
LB Mike Sherels
On the win:
“On the plus side, a win is a win. For a 2-5 team, being 3-5 after the game is the ultimate goal. We were outplayed in a game we didn’t feel we should have been outplayed in; it’s a little disappointing.
On NDSU:
“You have to take your hats off to them, they’re a heck of a team. They came out like they had something to prove and they definitely took it to us a little bit.
On the NDSU players, specifically Steve Walker:
“He is most definitely a great athlete. There isn’t a player on their team that didn’t earn out respect today. They’re definitely a team that I respect a lot.”
On the team:
“Its hard to say how we feel about ourselves right now. On one hand, we learned that we have to play more like NDSU did today. That’s what we’re going to have to do next week and for the rest of the season. We have to come out and play with heart and emotion like we have something to prove.
Center Tony Brinkhaus
On Minnesota’s offensive line play:
“Its something that needs to be fixed fast. In this offense, we need to be able to run the ball.”
On the team’s morale after the game:
“I don’t know how we feel right now. Obviously, we feel fortunate to leave here with a win today. Those guys from NDSU played great, and you have to take their hats off to them.”
On playing Ohio State next week:
“We are going to have to play like NDSU did today when we play Ohio State. We have to go in thinking that we have a chance. Nobody is going to give us a chance, just like nobody gave [NDSU] a chance. We just have to prepare and put forth our best effort.”
QB Bryan Cupito
On the game:
“We won. Whether it was by one or by 50, we still won. I wouldn’t say it was a good game, it may have been a good game to watch, I guess. They played hard, they are a really good team. I knew they were going to play hard and be excited, but they played really well, their quarterback played well. We didn’t play well offensively, but we got the win.”
On the offense:
“We’re getting stopped without being able to establish ourselves. We usually have these long drives and are able to run the ball well, but as an offense we’re just not playing well right now. I’m not sure why, because we played well against Penn State and Michigan. Obviously we have to get better before next week. They way we look at it is that this game is over, and we have to get ready for next week.”
On the 33-yard completion to Chambers to set up the Gophers’ touchdown:
“He just came across the middle and he was open. He made a great play and a good run after the catch. It wasn’t a complicated play; the safety just didn’t get down on him in time and he made the catch. It was just a good play by him.
RB Amir Pinnix
On NDSU’s defense:
“They had a pretty good defense. I can’t compare them to any other Big Ten schools, but they’re a strong defensively. I expected them to go out and play very hard. They weren’t 6-0 for nothing. You watch them on film, they tackle very well, they blocked. I didn’t expect anything less.”
On the no-huddle offense:
“It kind of sped the tempo up for us. Maybe it tired NDSU out. I don’t know, but it was a good move, it got us going a little bit.”
CB Jamal Harris
On the offense not converting:
“It’s not frustrating, because everybody always does their part. Sometimes you click, and sometimes you don’t. It’s not frustrating at all because that’s what we’re out there to do, is play defense.”
On NDSU’s quarterback Steve Walker:
“He was good. We didn’t underestimate him at all. He came in and played how we thought he was going to play. He led his team to a really, really good game. He’s a really good quarterback. I see why they were 6-0 coming into the game. We kind of knew he was going to come in throwing slants, but he didn’t do that as much in the beginning. We were just trying to read what they were going to do, but you can’t take away everything.”
On playing No. 1 Ohio State next week:
“We’ve just got to bring our “A” game. That’s what we’ve been waiting for, we’ve just got to prove ourselves. Everybody knocks us down, and we have to come out and prove ourselves and just step up to the challenge.”
