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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Look to Bounce Back Saturday at Purdue
10/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 3, 2011
Minnesota Notes at Purdue 
Purdue Notes vs. Minnesota Mike Grimm's Preview 
The Minnesota Golden Gophers travel to West Lafayette, Ind. for a Big Ten Conference matchup with the Purdue Boilermakers Saturday. The game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff from Ross-Ade Stadium on the Purdue campus.
Minnesota enters the game coming off a 58-0 loss at the hands of Michigan. The Gophers are now 1-4 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten play. The Gophers will be looking to avoid a three-game losing streak. Purdue enters Saturday's contest with a 2-2 overall record. The Boilermakers have yet to play a Big Ten contest. Purdue dropped a 38-10 decision to Notre Dame at home last week.
ESPN will televise Saturday's game. Beth Mowins will call the play-by-play action. Former Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti will serve as the analyst in the booth.
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Minnesota travels to Ross-Ade Stadium for the second consecutive year Saturday. The Gophers traveled to Purdue last season and dropped a 28-17 decision in what was Tim Brewster's last game as head coach.
Purdue is coached by Danny Hope, who is in his third season as the head man in West Lafayette. He joined the Purdue staff as associate head coach in 2008. Hope also served as head coach at Eastern Kentucky from 2003-07. He was an assistant at Purdue from 1997-2001. He also has coaching experience at Louisville, Wyoming and Oklahoma.
Michigan boasts the No. 19-rated rushing offense in the nation. Ralph Bolden and Akeem Shavers team up to average more than 100 yards per game on the ground. The Boilermakers average 29.5 points per game to rank No. 60 in the nation. Defensively, Purdue is No. 38 in scoring defense, as the Boilers allow 21.5 points per game. Purdue is also No. 7 nationally in net punting (42.5-yard net everage).
KILLER LOYALTY
University of Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill has an unbelievably loyal staff. Of Kill's nine full-time assistants and head strength and conditioning coach, the staff has a total of 94 combined consecutive years of service under him.
There are only six NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches with more combined consecutive years of service among their assistant coaches.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic when comparing Kill's staff to the five ranked ahead of it is the number of different head coaching positions held by the respective coaches on the list. Kill has made five different head coaching stops -- Saginaw Valley State (Mich.), Emporia (Kan.) State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota. Of the other five, two of the head coaches have been at one school for their entire careers. The other three have only made two head coaching stops.
The following is a look at each of Minnesota's assistant coaches and their years of service under Jerry Kill (not including this season): Eric Klein - 17; Tracy Claeys - 16; Rob Reeves - 15; Matt Limegrover - 12; Brian Anderson - 10; Pat Poore - 10; Jay Sawvel - 10; Jeff Phelps - 3; Jim Zebrowski - 1; Bill Miller - 0.
GOING GREEN
Junior wide receiver Brandon Green turned in a team-high receiving yardage total in last week's loss to Michigan. Green grabbed a pair of receptions for 41 yards, including a 33-yarder. Prior to this season, Green hadn't caught a pass in a game since Nov. 14, 2009. His first reception of the season was his only catch vs. USC. But it was a big, 12-yard TD that pulled the Gophers within two in the fourth quarter. He has now made six catches for 85 yards this season.
KIM-POSSIBLE
Senior safety Kim Royston wasn't even supposed to be on the 2011 version of the Gopher football team. He thought his career might be over when he suffered a gruesome compound fracture of his lower leg. His initial recovery went well enough that many thought he would play in 2010. But the recovery saw a setback derail his senior season. However, the NCAA granted him a sixth year of eligibility.
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