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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Get Back to Work
12/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Minnesota football team returned to the indoor practice facility Wednesday afternoon at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex for the first of 15 postseason bowl practices in advance of the Golden Gophers battle with Kansas in the 2008 Insight Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
The Gophers appeared rejuvenated after spending the last couple of weeks away from the football field and drilled hard in full pads during the two-and-a-half hour practice.
As usual, the coaching staff emphasized a number of areas during the workout, especially the running game, which struggled to produce in the way head coach Tim Brewster would like down the home stretch of the season.
“I think we had a lot of fun out there today,” said Brewster following the workout. “We put our hand in the dirt and got after it. It was a good practice. It was fun, it was physical and I think we got better. For the first day of all the different things we implemented I thought we were pretty sharp.”
Coach Brewster also talked a little bit about Kansas, and what he expects to see from the Jayhawks in Tempe.
“Kansas is an outstanding football team,” Brewster said. “I think Mark Mangino has done as good a job as anyone in America building Kansas’ program. (Todd Reesing) is an outstanding player. He’s a playmaker and he’s got great receivers to work with. They also play in very tough conference so it’s a going to be a tremendous challenge for us. But it’s one we are looking forward to.”
Minnesota will practice several more times before the team packs up and moves its operation to the Valley of the Sun. The Gophers will depart the Twin Cities on Christmas night and resume workouts in Tempe on Dec. 26.
Fans interested in joining the Gophers at the 2008 Insight Bowl are encouraged to purchase their tickets through the Minnesota Athletics Ticket Office.
Tickets in the Minnesota section of Sun Devil Stadium are priced at $55 and can be purchased online at www.gophersports.com by clicking on the Buy Tickets tab and selecting “Insight Bowl Tickets.”
Ticket orders may also be submitted in person at the Athletics Ticket Office in Mariucci Arena from 9 a.m. 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and over the phone by calling (612) 624-8080 inside the metro area or 1-800-U-GOPHER outside the metro area.
In addition, the University of Minnesota Athletics Department and the University of Minnesota Alumni Association are sponsoring the official bowl tour for Gopher fans. Spots on the official tour are selling fast with one already completely sold out.
The custom tour has been designed by Creative Charters and includes air, hotel and appropriate ground transportation.
Information on official travel packages is available online at both www.alumni.umn.edu/bowl and www.gopherbowl.com.
