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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to Bowling Green Saturday
9/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Minnesota Football Notes - Game 2
MINNESOTA HITS ROAD TO FACE BOWLING GREEN SATURDAY
The Minnesota Golden Gophers play their only non-conference road game Saturday night, traveling to face the Bowling Green Falcons at Perry Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:34 p.m. (EDT). It’s a rematch of last season’s overtime game at the Metrodome.
Minnesota is coming off a 31-27 victory over Northern Illinois in its season-opener. The Gophers’ Duane Bennett scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge with 22 seconds remaining against the Huskies to give Minnesota the victory. Meanwhile, Northern Illinois opened its season with a 27-17 road victory over then-No. 25 Pittsburgh. The Falcons fell behind 14-0 early in the second quarter, but outscored Pitt 27-3 the rest of the way
ESPNU will televise the game. Clay Matvick will call the play-by-play with David Diaz-Infante as the analyst in the booth.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster’s stated goal for the 2008 preseason camp was to be 1-0 after last week’s contest with Northern Illinois. The Gophers accomplished that goal and will now focus their attention toward their only non-conference road game of the season.
Sophomore quarterback Adam Weber returns after taking nearly every snap last season and setting numerous single-season school records. In addition to his record-setting arm, Weber hurt the opposition with his legs as the team’s leading rusher. Junior WR Eric Decker was on the receiving end of 67 of Weber’s 258 completions in 2007, also setting a new Minnesota record. Weber and Decker were solid last week. Weber was 24-of-37 for 298 yards and two TDs. Ten of the receptions and one TD went to Decker. Duane Bennett rushed for 92 yards and a score against NIU.
Defensively, the Gophers were expecting a boost in the secondary from three newcomers to the unit. Junior college transfers Tramaine Brock and Traye Simmons join converted wide receiver Marcus Sherels. Those three didn’t disappoint last week. Sherels broke up three passes, Brock recorded a team-high five unassisted stops and Simmons made three stops and a PBU. The Gophers recorded eight tackles for loss vs. NIU last week.
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
Minnesota will visit Bowling Green Saturday, after falling 32-31 in overtime to the Falcons at the Metrodome last season.
Bowling Green is 1-0 after going on the road to defeat then-No. 25 Pittsburgh Saturday. The Falcons were 8-5 last season and finished tied for first in the Mid-American Conference East Division.
Bowling Green is led by Gregg Brandon, who is in his eighth year with the Falcons (six as head coach). He has a 39-24 record as BG’s head coach.
Offensively, the Falcons are led by quarterback Tyler Sheehan, who was a third-team All-MAC selection in 2007. He passed for 163 yards and a TD vs. Pitt last week. The defense is paced by Antonio Smith, a third-team All-MAC choice. He had 14 stops last week.
LAST TIME VS. BOWLING GREEN
The University of Minnesota football team trailed Bowling Green 21-0 at halftime in the 2007 season-opener at the Metrodome. But the Gophers put together a stirring comeback in the second half to take the lead, before falling in overtime.
In the third quarter, Amir Pinnix finally got Minnesota on the scoreboard with a 4-yard TD run. Then, on the first play of the fourth period, Ernie Wheelwright and Adam Weber hooked up for a 13-yard scoring strike to make it 21-14. The game was tied on a 4-yard scoring strike from Weber to Pinnix with 8:53 remaining. Jason Giannini gave the Gophers their first lead of the game on a 33-yard field goal with 2:12 remaining.
But Bowling Green tied it on a 45-yard field goal at the end of regulation. Both teams scored a TD in overtime, but Bowling Green went for two and the victory after their score. Tyler Sheehan hit Marques Parks with a pass into the end zone for a 32-31 win.
Amir Pinnix rushed for 168 yards and two scores to lead Minnesota. Sheehan passed for 388 yards and a pair of TDs to pace Bowling Green.
125 YEARS OF GOPHER FOOTBALL
There’s little doubt that the University of Minnesota is one of the most historically significant programs in all of college football. The Golden Gophers are celebrating their 125th season of college football in 2008. The Golden Gophers enter the 2008 campaign with an all-time record of 628-450-44 (.579 winning percentage).
By the end of this season, Minnesota will have played the fourth-most seasons in the history of college football. Only Rutgers (138), Michigan (128) and Navy (127) will have played more. In fact, by the end of 2008, only nine schools in the nation will have completed at least 120 seasons of college football. Only four schools -- including Minnesota -- will have played 125 years of intercollegiate football by the end of this season.
AYE, CAPTAIN!
The Golden Gophers elected four captains prior to the 2008 season. Seniors Steve Davis and Willie VanDeSteeg join junior Eric Decker and sophomore Adam Weber with this distinction this season.
Weber is the first sophomore ever to serve as a team captain at the University of Minnesota. Of all the Football Bowl Subdivision teams who elect or name captains prior to the season, he is believed to be the only sophomore captain in the nation.
Meanwhile, VanDeSteeg is a two-time captain after serving in that role last season as well.
THE EARLY RETURNS
The return game was a bit of a mixed bag for the Gophers in 2007. Minnesota was the No. 3 team in the Big Ten (No. 24 in the nation) in average kickoff return yards. The Gophers averaged 23.2 yards per kickoff return last season. On the flip side, the Gophers struggled returning punts in 2007. Minnesota ranked 10th in the Big Ten and 112th nationally last season with an average of 5.1 yards per punt return.
In week one, Minnesota seemed to pick up where it left off in the kickoff return department. The Gophers averaged 28.4 yards per kickoff return vs. Northern Illinois, which ws the No. 3 mark in the Big Ten and ranked No. 15 nationally. Meanwhile, Minnesota didn’t return a punt vs. the Huskies. Five of NIU’s six punts resulted in fair catches.
A CLOSE SHAVE
No NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) team in the nation lost more games by less than a touchdown than Minnesota last season. The Gophers dropped six decisions by seven points or less in 2007.
The Gophers turned the tables on that trend in the season-opener. After falling behind for the first time in the fourth quarter, Minnesota came back to score with 22 seconds remaining to take a four-point victory.
The late score marked the first time that Minnesota has scored a fourth-quarter, game-winning TD since Nov. 18, 2000.
WEBER SOLID IN OPENER
As a redshirt freshman last season, Gopher quarterback Adam Weber re-wrote virtually all of Minnesota’s passing and total offense records. Weber set single-season and freshman records for passing yards (2,985), completions (258), attempts (449), touchdown passes (24) and total offensive yardage (3,512). He also tied the Minnesota record for fastest to 2,000 yards passing, doing so in eight games. In last Saturday’s season-opener, Weber seemed to pick up where he left off. The sophomore QB completed 8-of-9 on the Gophers’ first possession of the season. Weber finished 24-of-37 for 298 yards and two TDs against Northern Illinois.
BENNETT BUSTS ONE
Sophomore running back Duane Bennett broke off the longest run in nearly three years last Saturday vs. Northern Illinois. In the third quarter -- just one play after the Huskies pulled within 17-13 on a field goal -- Bennett broke through the left side of the line and sprinted 61 yards for the score. It was the longest TD run for the Gophers since Laurence Maroney went 93 yards vs. Wisconsin on Oct. 15, 2005.
DOUBLE DECKER
Junior wide receiver Eric Decker was named the Bruce Smith Award winner by his teammates as the team’s offensive player of the year last season. Decker set a new Minnesota single-season record for receptions with 67 last year. He missed spring football, playing baseball. He was the Gophers’ starter in left field and batted .329 with 11 doubles, four triples and three home runs. Despite making it known that he wouldn’t be signing, Decker was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 39th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. In week one, Decker had 10 receptions, which was tops in the Big Ten and tied for sixth in the nation, for 89 yards and a score. In addition, Decker used his outfield skills, playing as a deep safety on the final two plays of last week’s game. He batted down a pass on the final play of the game, preserving the victory.
DEON GETS DEFENSIVE
Senior linebacker Deon Hightower is the top returning tackler on the squad, with 70 stops in 2007. He led the team with 9.5 tackles for loss last year. Hightower picked up where he left off last season. He was tied for the lead in tackles (5) and tackles-for-loss (1.5) in the season-opener.
SHERELS SHARP
Junior Marcus Sherels made his first start at cornerback against Northern Illinois. He continued the strong play he showed in preseason camp. Against the Huskies, Sherels made four solo stops and broke up three passes. His first two PBUs were on third-down plays and the third was on the second-to-last play of the game in the end zone.
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