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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers to Host Coyotes in Home Opener
9/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Minnesota Game Notes - vs. South Dakota
GOLDEN GOPHERS TO HOST COYOTES IN OPENER
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers play their 2010 home opener this weekend at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers will kick off their second year of play in the facility, hosting the South Dakota Coyotes Saturday in an 11:01 a.m. CT matchup.
The Gophers are 1-0 after opening the season with a 24-17 victory over Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn. USD suffered a 38-7 loss on the road at the University of Central Florida.
This is Minnesota’s one contest in 2010 vs. a Football Championship Subdivision foe. It will be the Gophers’ first home contest of the 2010 season. Minnesota is 9-1 in its previous 10 home openers.
The Big Ten Network will televise the game. The game will air statewide on the Gopher Radio Network. It will also air on Sirius/XM Radio (Sirius Channel 91/XM Channel 197).
QUICK HITTERS
> Minnesota is 9-1 in its last 10 home-openers and 2-1 in home-openers in the Tim Brewster era.
> The Golden Gophers have played 55 games against current members of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA). Minnesota is 53-2 in those games for a .964 winning percentage.
> Minnesota is in its 127th season of college football in 2010. Only three other schools -- Rutgers (141), Michigan (131) and Navy (130) will have played more at the end of this season.
> Minnesota holds a 41-2 record vs. schools with Dakota in their name. The Gophers are 9-1 against South Dakota, 6-0 against South Dakota State, 19-0 against North Dakota and 7-1 against North Dakota State.
> Minnesota came from behind in all six of its victories last season and its win last week.
THE SOUTH DAKOTA SERIES
Saturday’s game will be the 11th gridiron meeting between the University of Minnesota and the University of South Dakota. Minnesota leads the series 9-1.
However, the series has been dormant for 80 years. The two teams played 10 times between 1904 and 1930, but haven’t played since. The Gophers’ lone loss in the series came in Minneapolis in 1912. Every game between the two schools has been played in Minneapolis.
DOIN' HARD TIME
Minnesota held possession of the football for 45 minutes, 34 seconds in last week’s victory over Middle Tennessee State. Nobody in the nation recorded as much possession time (in games through Saturday). Only one other team -- North Texas, which had 41:52 of possession time -- held the ball for more than 40 minutes last week.
Gopher records don’t show another game with that much time of possession, making last week’s performance appear to be a school record. The University has never kept a record for single-game time of possession.
The last time Minnesota held the ball for more than 40 minutes was Sept. 29, 2001, when the Gophers recorded 42:46 of possession in a 35-28 loss to Purdue. Minnesota has only had three outings with 40 minutes of possession since 1983. Gopher records prior to 1983 do not inlcude time of possession.
HOLD ON TIGHT
The Gophers played last week’s season-opener without turning the ball over. The Gophers haven’t had a turnover-free game since Sept. 13, 2008 vs. Montana State at the Metrodome.
Minnesota averaged 2.2 turnovers per game last season. The Gophers finished last season ranked No. 68 in the nation in turnover margin at a -.08 average. But with an interception and a fumble recovery last week, the Gophers are currently at +2.0 in turnover margin, ranking them No. 7 in the country after the first week of play.
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
Minnesota had numerous players making their first collegiate start and/or seeing their first collegiate action. The Gophers had two first-time starters on offense -- left tackle Ed Olson and tight end Eric Lair. On defense, there were eight first-time starters -- defensive end D.L. Wilhite, defensive tackle Brandon Kirksey, nosetackle Jewhan Edwards, defensive end Matt Garin, linebackers Keanon Cooper and Gary Tinsley and safeties Christyn Lewis and James Manuel.
In addition to the first-time starters, the Gophers had 16 players who saw their first-ever collegiate playing time at Middle Tennessee last week.
THE ADAM WEBER EXPERIENCE
Gopher quarterback Adam Weber entered the 2010 season as one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the nation. Only Houston quarterback Case Keenum has more starts in his career than Weber. Keenum now has 41 starts, while Weber has made 39. The Minnesota signal-caller has been under center to start the game for every game in his Gopher career. Weber also ranks in the top three among active quarterbacks in career pass attempts (3rd - 1,243), career completions (2nd - 714) and career yards (3rd - 8,388).
A GOOD BREAK?
Sophomore Mike Rallis was a linebacker in high school. But when he arrived at Minnesota and the Gophers needed help in the secondary, Rallis’ size (at the time) and athleticism made him a natural to provide needed depth. After breaking his leg in the third game of 2009 and missing the rest of the season, Rallis hit the weight room and added size. He gained about 15 pounds, which led him back to his natural linebacker position. Rallis showed he is back where he belongs last week, racking up a team-high seven tackles and team-best 1.5 tackles for loss, plus his first career interception.
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