University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gophers Look to Rebound vs. Miami
9/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
GOPHERS, REDHAWKS TO TANGLE IN BRUNCH-TIME KICK AT THE DOME
After dropping a heart-breaking overtime decision in its opener, Minnesota will be out to regroup quickly for game No. 2 as the Golden Gophers host Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Metrodome.
Recent history will be on the side of the Gophers. Minnesota has not lost two in a row to start a season since 1992 and have rebounded with a victory four straight times after dropping a season opener - 1993, 1994, 1997 and 2001. The Gophers have also not lost two non-conference games in the same season since going 1-2 against non-league foes in 1993. Adding to the trend is the fact that Miami (Ohio), a 14-13 winner at Ball State last week, has opened with back-to-back wins just once in the last eight seasons (2000).
For the second straight week, the Big Ten Network will be on hand to televise the Gophers (DirecTV Ch. 221 this week). Roger Twibell will handle the play by play with Mike Tomczak serving as the broadcast’s analyst. Becky Haarlow will provide updates from the sidelines.
THE SERIES
It’s been almost 20 years since Minnesota and Miami (Ohio) have met on the gridiron. The lone previous meeting between the two teams occurred on Sept. 17, 1988, at the Metrodome. Darrell Thompson ran for 179 yards and a touchdown and passed for another score as the Golden Gophers rolled to a 35-3 victory in their second game of the season.
THE COACHES
Minnesota’s Tim Brewster is 0-1 in his first year with the Golden Gophers and his first season as a head coach. Miami’s Shane Montgomery is in his third season as the RedHawks’ head coach and owns a career record of 10-14.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOPHERS
Minnesota will be looking to put together a complete game this Saturday, when the Golden Gophers meet Miami (Ohio) at the Metrodome. After getting off to a slow start last week and trailing Bowling Green 21-0 at the break, the Gophers played nearly flawless football over the final 30 minutes of their opener and nearly pulled off a rally of historic proportions with 24 straight points to forge a three-point lead late in the contest.
And though the Gophers were eventually nipped in overtime, Minnesota enters the week with plenty of positives on which to build. New head coach Tim Brewster received solid production in all three phases of the game during the second half as Minnesota fought its way back to take a 24-21 lead.
The Gophers’ offensive attack struggled to get on track early but roared to life in the second half, rolling up 271 yards of total offense, including 163 on the ground, as Minnesota dominating the time of possession, 19:19 to 10:41.
Senior running back Amir Pinnix and the Gophers’ offensive line led the resurgence, with Pinnix galloping for 110 of his 168 yards and scoring three touchdowns two rushing and one receiving after intermission.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Adam Weber shook off some early-game jitters to post a solid performance, rushing (72 yards) and passing (188 yards and two touchdowns) his way to 260 yards of total offense. The first freshman to start at quarterback for Minnesota since 2000, Weber did an effective job of spreading the wealth and connected with seven different receivers during the game.
Two of his favorite targets were senior Ernie Wheelwright and sophomore Eric Decker. Each receiver hauled in four receptions, with Wheelwright finding paydirt for the fifth straight game after snagging his 18th career touchdown reception (second all time at Minnesota) on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Not to be outdone, the Gophers’ defensive unit also produced a stunning second-half turnaround, holding Bowling Green to just 100 total yards and six first downs heading into the Falcons’ final drive of regulation. Senior linebacker Mike Sherels (11 total tackles) and junior defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg (two tackles for losses), had big games up front with Duran Cooley (nine tackles), Dom Barber (six stops and a breakup) and Jamal Harris (three breakups) producing in the secondary.
On special teams, place-kicker Jason Giannini was a perfect on all four PATs as well as a 33-yard field goal with 2:12 to go that at the time appeared to be the game-winner. Minnesota also received solid kicking from Joel Monroe, whose five kickoffs were returned for an average of just 14.0 yards each. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s Jay Thomas averaged 32.0 yards on his two returns good for 17th nationally this week.
GOPHERS HAVE BOUNCE-BACK ABILITY
Minnesota finds itself in an unusual position coming off of its season-opening loss to Bowling Green last week. Heading into the 2007 campaign, the Gophers had won five straight season lid-lifters and 10 of 12 debuts overall since 1995. The good news for fans in Gold Country is that on the rare occasion that Minnesota has dropped an opener just four times since 1993 the Gophers have found a way to secure a victory the very next week. The two most recent examples occurred in 2001 and 1997. In 2001, the last time Minnesota fell in a debut, the Gophers came back the next week to defeat Louisiana-Lafayette. The 1997 team also bounced back nicely from a season-opening loss at Hawaii with a lopsided win over Iowa State.
DOME SWEET DOME
Minnesota has proved to be tough on non-conference opposition during the regular season in recent years, especially in the Metrodome. The Golden Gophers head into game two of their 2007 season with a 14-1 record in their last 15 game against non-conference opponents at home. Minnesota has suffered just two non-league setbacks in the Metrodome since the start of the 2000 campaign. Overall, the Golden Gophers have won 19 of their last 21 non-conference regular-season games, with the two setbacks coming last year at then No. 22 California and last week in overtime to Bowling Green.
EARLY KICKS AGREE WITH GOPHERS
Minnesota will play its first pre-noon kick of the season this week, when the Golden Gophers host Miami (Ohio). The Gophers enter the game riding a three-game winning streak when the clocks at home at kickoff read 11 a.m. Each of Minnesota’s games during its three-game regular-season ending winning streak during 2006 started at 11 a.m. central time.
SIZZLING SEPTEMBERS
Fast starts have propelled the Golden Gophers to winning seasons a number of times in recent years. And despite last week’s season-opening setback, Minnesota still owns a more than solid ledger in September games. Since the start of the 2002 campaign, the Gophers are a combined 19-5 (.792) in games played during the month of September.
OPENING WITH A RUSH
Amir Pinnix’s 168 yards rushing in Minnesota’s opener against Bowling Green last week marked the fourth straight season and the eighth time in the last 12 years that a Gopher has crossed the 100-yard mark on the ground in the team’s debut game. It is also the second straight time that Pinnix had debuted with a 100-yard effort. Combined with last season’s 114-yard outing at Kent State, Pinnix is the third Minnesota back to crack the 100-yard barrier in consecutive season openers since 1996. Thomas Hamner (1996-97-98) and Laurence Maroney (2004-05) were the others to notched 100-yard debuts in multiple seasons.
MIAMI (OHIO) MINUTE
Miami will be looking for their first 2-0 start since the 2000 campaign, when the RedHawks invade the Metrodome on Saturday.
Miami got its 2007 season off to a flying start last week, picking up a thrilling come-from-behind Mid-American Conference road win at Ball State.
Trailing 13-7 with just over two minutes to play, Eugene Harris’ 56-yard punt return to the Ball State 23-yard-line set up the game-winning touchdown as Miami needed just five plays to punch the ball into the end zone for the one-point victory. Senior running back Brandon Murphy, who netted 123 yards on 19 carries, score the game-winner with 17 seconds to go and accounted for all 23 yards during the RedHawks’ final drive.
It was a critical victory for third-year head coach Shane Montgomery, who is looking to return the RedHawks back to the league’s elite after a tough 2-10 campaign in 2006.
With 14 starters (8 offense/6 defense), Miami is an experienced unit. Murphy and senior quarterback Mike Kokal are key performers for the RedHawks on offense.
Linebackers Clayton Mullins (16 total tackles) and Caleb Bostic (17 total stops) were tackling machines last week and lead a tough defensive unit that appears to be on the rise.
AGAINST THE MAC
Minnesota will be squaring off with its second member of the Mid-American Conference in as many weeks when the Gophers and RedHawks do battle at the Metrodome. Despite last week’s setback against Bowling Green, the Gophers own a productive history vs. the MAC, boasting a 23-3-1 (.870) all-time record against the league, including a 1-0 mark vs. Miami. Minnesota’s history with the Mid-American Conference dates to 1969 and since 1999 the Gophers have played at least one MAC team in eight of nine seasons. Minnesota faced two current members of the MAC last season and came away with lopsided victories over Kent State (44-0) and Temple (62-0). The Gophers have never lost consecutive games to schools from the Mid-American Conference.
MATURI AND MIAMI
Saturday’s battle between Minnesota and Miami will have an interesting sidebar featuring current Gophers’ athletics director Joel Maturi. Maturi, who has guided the athletics department at Minnesota since July of 2002, previously served as the athletics director at Miami. Maturi’s tenure at Miami began in 1998.
OHIO GOPHERS
With 11 players on its roster from the Buckeye State, Minnesota boasts more players from Ohio than any state in the Union except Minnesota. In fact, the number of Ohio players on Minnesota’s 2007 roster is the same as the number of players hailing from the neighboring states of North Dakota (0), South Dakota (1), Iowa (2) and Wisconsin (8) combined. Minnesota’s 11 Ohioans include: Dominic Alford (Cleveland); William Brody (Garfield Heights); D.J. Burris (Kenton); Mike Chambers (Cuyohoga Falls); Ryan Collado (Cincinnati); Jason Giannini (Canton); Blake Haudan (Toledo); Justin Kucek (Canfield); Mike Maciejowski (Columbus); Justin Valentine (Columbus); and Ernie Wheelwright (Columbus).
To download a PDF of the complete version of Minnesota’s weekly game notes please click the link below or at the top of the page.
