Gopher Gameday Blog - at Bowling Green

GopherSports.com will have a running commentary on notes and other items of interest to Gopher fans throughout tonight's game at Bowling Green. Refresh often, as we'll try to update as often as we can. Just a word of warning, when the game nears halftime and its conclusion, the blog will cease for a while, as I have responsibilities on the field and in the locker room at those times.

As always, feel free to drop an e-mail to aseeley@umn.edu with a question or comment about the blog or tonight's game.
-Andy Seeley

10:46 p.m. (ET)
It's a final. Gophers win 42-17. The victory is Minnesota's first on the road since winning at Michigan State during the 2006 season. Weber finishes with 233 yards and three touchdowns on 21-for-25 passing. The Gopher defense forced five turnovers for their most since forcing the same number vs. Iowa in the 2006 regular season finale. Overall a great night for the Maroon and Gold, keyed by two strong halves.

10:24 p.m. (ET)
The Gophers take advantage of the Bowling Green turnover once again. Adam Weber scored on a 3-yard run with 6:54 remaining in the contest. Gophers 35, Falcons 17.

10:21 p.m. (ET)
Another Bowling Green turnover. Willie Geter caught a pass from Tyler Sheehan, but Deon Hightower made a great individual play. Hightower stripped the ball away from Geter and went the other direction. Minnesota quickly ran a play and there was no review. Gophers now in the Bowling Green red zone. Minnesota now +4 in the turnover margin.

10:14 p.m. (ET)
The Gophers make Bowling Green pay for the turnover. Adam Weber hooks up with Eric Decker on a 28-yard touchdown pass. It was the culmination of a nine-play, 73-yard drive after Brock's interception. Weber now has three touchdown passes tonight. It is his seventh career multiple-TD game. 10:41 remaining in the contest ... Gophers 28, Falcons 17.

10:07 p.m. (ET)
The Gophers are now +3 in the turnover category tonight. Tramaine Brock just played a deep pass from Tyler Sheehan perfectly and went up to grab his first career interception.

10:05 p.m. (ET)
That's the end of the third quarter. Gophers 21, Bowling Green 17. The Falcons have the ball first-and-10 at their own 28-yard line.

10:01 p.m. (ET)
Justin Kucek just used the "flop" punt to perfection for the first time this season. He dropped a kick inside the Bowling Green 10-yard line and Marcus Sherels made a nice play on it (kind of like a shortstop) at the 3-yard line.

9:59 p.m. (ET)
So the game was nearly a sell-out, but not quite. Capacity here at "The Doyt" is 24,000 and tonight's attendance figure is 23,184.

9:50 p.m. (ET)
Reader Jay wants to know about the pass defense, as he says Bowling Green has a "pile of yards." That's to be expected a little bit, Jay. Bowling Green has thrown the ball 35 times, compared to just 19 rushing plays. Outside of the touchdown pass on the last Bowling Green drive, I think the pass defense has been OK.

9:45 p.m. (ET)
Tyler Sheehan just pulled Bowling Green back within four. He hooked up with Chris Wright for a 27-yard touchdown pass. The drive went eight plays in 80 yards. Third-and-long continues to be a sore spot for the Gophers, as the TD pass came on 3rd-and-13. Bowling Green has converted first downs on 3rd-and-more-than-10 on two of their three scoring drives. Gophers 21, Falcons 17 with 8:56 left in the 3rd quarter.

9:30 p.m. (ET)
The Gophers make Bowling Green pay for the turnover on the kickoff. On second down, the Gophers fumbled, but Bennett fell on it. On the 3rd-down play, Weber found tight end Nick Tow-Arnett in the back, right corner of the end zone. It was an 8-yard scoring pass and a great catch by Tow-Arnett, as Weber's pass was just a tad bit out in front of him. Gophers 21, Bowling Green 10 - 12:32 left in the 3rd quarter.

9:25 p.m. (ET)
Great start to the second half for Minnesota. Opening kickoff is fumbled by Bowling Green. Jay Thomas forced the fumble and Ryan Collado recovered at the Bowling Green 23-yard line. The play was challenged by Bowling Green, but stands as called. First-and-10 Minnesota just outside the red zone.

9:13 p.m. (ET)
This is the third straight game that Minnesota has held its opponent to 10 first-half points. The Gophers allowed 10 to Northern Illinois last week and Wisconsin in the finale last year.

Here's an interesting note. Wide receiver Eric Decker is Minnesota's leading rusher at halftime, with 31 yards on two carries. Meanwhile, running back Duane Bennett is the Gophers' leading receiver with four receptions for 64 yards.

Other statistics of interest: Weber is 8-of-11 passing, but for just 82 yards. Deon Hightower and Traye Simmons lead the defense with six tackles apiece. Minnesota has rushed for 100 yards to Bowling Green's 44. But the Falcons have 187 yards passing to just 82 for the Gophers. The Falcons lead in first downs (15-9), total yardage (231-182) and time of possession (19:18-13:36). But the number that really matters is on the scoreboard, where Minnesota is up 14-10.

9:02 p.m. (ET)
There's the halftime gun. We'll be back with more after intermission, but the Gophers have to feel good about where things sit after 30 minutes on the road in a hostile environment. Bowling Green will get the ball first right after halftime so the Maroon and Gold defense will be tested right away. Last week the Falcons dominated the scond half of their game, outscoring then-No. 25 Pittsburg 13-0 after the break. Minnesota also had a strong second half last week, outscoring Northern Illinois 21-17.

8:59 p.m. (ET)
Defense holds to a field goal to close out the half. Not bad. Gophers will likely take a 14-10 lead into the locker, and they'll certainly take it. Minnesota's first half performance was light years ahead of what it was the last time these two teams squared off.

8:41 p.m. (ET)
Great sack by Simoni Lawrence to halt the Falcon's drive at the Gophers 41. It was the first sack of his young Gopher career. Hopefully there will be many more to come. Now let's see if the Gophers can string together an nice long drive to close out the half.

8:34 p.m. (ET)
The Gophers answer with a nice drive of their own, going 48 yards on 5 plays. Troy Stoudermire returned the kickoff to the 48-yard line and Eric Decker caped the drive taking an option pitch from Adam Weber 12 yards to the end zone. The rush was just the sixth of Decker's career and his first for a touchdown. For the night Decker now has two carries for 31 yards and is the Gophers' leading rusher... Gophers 14, Bowling Green 7. That was big to answer in such a strong fashion. Now we need another hold by the D.

8:27 p.m. (ET)
Bowling Green is on the scoreboard. The Falcons drove 69 yards in 11 plays with the drive capped by an Anthony Turner 1-yard run. Turner, a running back, was lined up as the quarterback for a number of plays during the drive. On first down, Turner's pass attempt was incomplete. He then took a direct snap on second-and-goal and nearly scored, getting to the 1-yard line. One play later, he went in over left tackle. 9:06 remaining in the first half ... Gophers 7, Falcons 7.

8:07 p.m. (ET)
Late in the first quarter, after a Minnesota three-and-out, Bowling Green took possession near midfield. On the first play of the possession, Derrick Onwuachi forced a fumble, which was recovered by Lee Campbell. After a run of no gain, the first quarter is coming to an end. After one quarter of play, Minnesota 7, Bowling Green 0.

Just received a question from Carol in Minnetonka. She asked how I would describe the Gophers' defense. Early on, it was bend-but-don't-break. But on the last possession, they forced a turnover. The Gophers are getting some licks in. By the way, the Minnesota defense opened in a 3-4 and has been in it for the entire first quarter.

7:55 p.m. (ET)
The Gopher defense allowed a long Bowling Green drive on the Falcons' first possession. But BG came up with no points, as a 34-yard field goal attempt was wide left. Minnesota got the ball back and picked up a first down. Shady Salamon's first collegiate carry went for 19 yards, but the drive has stalled and Kucek is on to punt. His boot was returned to the Bowling Green 20-yard line. 5:06 remaining in the first quarter ... Gophers still lead it 7-0.

7:45 p.m. (ET)
For the second straight week, the Gophers have put together an impressive opening drive. Minnesota went 71 yards in eight plays. The drive was capped by a 34-yard pass from QB Adam Weber over the top and down the right sideline. 7-0 Minnesota leads it early.

7:33 p.m. (ET)
Minnesota's captains Eric Decker, Adam Weber, Steve Davis and Willie VanDeSteeg are on the field, as are BG's captains. Minnesota has won the toss. The Gophers elected to receive to open the game, so Weber and Co. will get the ball first. Here we go ...

6:59 p.m. (ET)
We're about half an hour away from kickoff here at Bowling Green's Doyt Perry Stadium, or "The Doyt" as they call it here. The Golden Gophers are on the field stretching as I write this. Minnesota is out in its all-white look for this first road game of the season. The white pants and white jerseys were a popular color combination among the players when Coach Brewster discussed the new uniforms with them earlier this year.

As we pulled up to the stadium today, the tailgating was impressive. There are open fields and areas on three sides of Perry Stadium and much of that space was filled with cars, people, grills and coolers. From the looks of the ticket lines outside the stadium more than two hours before kickoff, tonight's game should be a sell-out. Perry Stadium's capacity is 24,000. It will be interesting to see what the final attendance number is tonight.

Many of you football fans have heard of the Wonderlic score that prospective NFL players get after taking a psychological test at the NFL Combine every spring. Well, for road games, I'm going to give you the finger-lick score of the pre-game spread in the press box. Since I have 10 fingers, I'll rate the spread on a 1-10 scale. This may or may not be interesting to my readers, but it will give me something to write about. One of my favorite subjects (after football) is food, so there's another reason for the finger-lick scale.

The pre-game spread here at Bowling Green was shy on quantity of choices, but not bad on quality. The fare consisted of pulled-pork barbecue sandwiches, chips, chocolate chip cookies and soft drinks. The sandwich was decent, but it is hard to mess up BBQ too badly. The chocolate chip cookie was pretty good. For the first finger-lick score of the season, I'm going to give Bowling Green's pre-game press box food a solid 5 of 10.
-AS

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