Press release:

One hundred and two University of Minnesota student-athletes have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, announced Wednesday by the conference office.
In total, 1,281 student-athletes were recognized by the Big Ten who competed in fall sports across the conference. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Minnesota honorees included 39 individuals from the football team, 28 from women's cross country, 15 from soccer, 14 from men's cross country and six from volleyball.
Of Minnesota's fall honorees, three student-athletes, Patricia O’Brien (women’s cross country), Paige Peschel (women’s cross country) and Payton Jordahl (football), hold a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.
Football (39)
Jerry Gibson, Gr., Human Resource Development - MEd
Julian Huff, Gr., Nonprofit Management
Payton Jordahl, Gr., Youth Development Leadership
Gary Moore, Gr., Youth Development Leadership - MEd
Carter Coughlin, Jr., Agricultural & Food Business Management
Clay Geary, Jr., Undeclared
Ko Kieft, Jr., Biology
Conner Olson, Jr., Physiology
Sam Schlueter, Jr., Agricultural & Food Business Management
Bailey Schoenfelder, Jr., Undeclared
Calvin Swenson,, Jr., Physiology
Antoine Winfield Jr., Jr., Agricultural & Food Business Management
Danny Anderson, So., Undeclared
Blaise Andries, So., Pre-Actuarial Science
Brock Annexstad, So., Undeclared
Justus Harris, So., Undeclared
John Mack, So., Business & Marketing Education
Tanner Morgan, So., Undeclared
Casey O'Brien, So., Undeclared
Jake Paulson, So., Undeclared
Malcolm Robinson, So., Undeclared
Joe Russell, So., Pre-Mechanical Engineering
Grant Ryerse, So., Pre-Mechanical Engineering
Jon Santaga, So., Biology
John Michael Schmitz, So., Undeclared
Alex Strazzanti, So., Undeclared
Nate Umlor, So., Undeclared
Harry Van Dyne, So., Undeclared
Clayton Witherspoon, So., Pre-Bioproducts And Biosystems Engineering
Jonathan Femi-Cole, Sr., Recreation Administration
Thomas Barber, Sr., Business & Marketing Education
Colton Beebe, Sr., Finance
Emmit Carpenter, Sr., Supply Chain Operations
Paul Gossage, Sr., Communication Studies
Jacob Herbers, Sr., Mechanical Engineering
Jacob Huff, Sr., Business & Marketing Education
Matt Morse, Sr., Journalism
Quinn Oseland, Sr., Business & Marketing Education
Samuel Pickerign, Sr., Communication Studies
Men’s Cross Country (14)
Alec Basten, Jr., Kinesiology
Evan Ferlic, Jr., Economics
Owen Hoeft, Jr., Kinesiology
Jack Manderscheid, Jr., Mechanical Engineering
Alex Plasencia. Jr., Materials Science
Nicholas Rink, Jr., Nursing
Hunter Staack, Jr., Aerospace Engineering
Hamza Ali, So., Neuroscience
Dawson LaRance, So., Undeclared
Jordan Macintosh, So., Bachelor Of Design In Architect
Joseph Duerr, Sr., Biochemistry
Connor Olson, Sr., Marketing
Shane Streich, Sr., Mathematics
Robert Wagner, Jr., Mechanical Engineering
Women’s Cross Country (28)
Patty O'Brien, Gr., Human Resource Development
Paige Peschel, Gr., Sport/Exercise Science Masters Of Education
Jenna Conzemius, Jr., Marketing
Maria Eastman, Jr., Spansh Studies
Olivia Hummel, Jr., Biology, Society, And Environment
Val Larson, Jr., Kinesiology
Zetta Mason, Jr., Anthropology
Molly Roach, Jr., Finance
Kelli Schmidt, Jr., Electrical Engineering
Sam Baer, So., Undeclared
Bit Klecker, So., Graphic Design
Anastasia Korzenowski, So., Retail Merchandising
Sophie Schmitz, So., Undeclared
Tate Sweeney, So., Undeclared
Jaycie Thomsen, So., Environmental Sciences, Policy, And Management
Kayla Baker, Sr., Biomedical Engineering
Carissa Dock, Sr., Biomedical Engineering
Lindsey Greenlund, Sr., Chemistry
Bethany Hasz, Sr., Kinesiology
Megan Hasz, Sr., Kinesiology
Abby Kargol, Sr., Microbiology
Abby Kohut-Jackson, Sr., Spanish Studies
Abby Lange, Sr., Human Physiology
Elyse Prescott, Sr., Kinesiology
Haley Rasmussen, Sr., Biomedical Engineering
Kelsey Sather, Sr., Chemical Engineering
Ally Smith, Sr., Genetics/Cell Biology
Sarah Werking, Sr., Electrical Engineering
Women’s Soccer (15)
Arianna Del Moral, So., Nutrition
Catherine Billings, Jr., Animal Science
Haley Hartkemeyer, Jr., Kinesiology
T.J. McKendrick, Jr., Statistical Science
Marisa Windingstad, Jr., Pre-major
Athena Kuehn, So., Undeclared
Makenzie Langdok, So., Biology
Maddie Nielsen, So., Undeclared
Celina Nummerdor, So., Undeclared
Nikki Albrecht, Sr., Kinesiology
April Bockin, Sr., Kinesiology
Maddie Castro, Sr., Psychology
Molly Fiedler, Sr., Family Social Science
Emily Heslin, Sr., Marketing
Emily Peterson, Sr., Accounting
Volleyball (6)
Lauren Litzau, Jr., Biochemistry
Lauren Barnes, So., Undeclared
Jasmyn Martin, So., Business And Marketing Education
Sara Nielsen, So., Undeclared
Alice Zeimann, So., Pre-Journalism
Sophie Beckley, Sr., Ecology Evolution And Behavior

Last night's effort was really encouraging for me, for Gopher basketball. I saw the fans and team come together to support their own.. Dupree McBrayer needed that, big time... Amir Coffey needed it big time...It was a chance for our experienced leaders on the team to step up and they did. Now, it is time to ACKNOWLEDGE IT in practice, but use it as a PLATFORM to get even better, not stay the same or go backwards..

Amir Coffey was a BEAST... That is the best I have seen Amir play since becoming a Gopher.. A common mantra in the work environment in the US is "DONT WORK YOUR HARDEST BECAUSE THEN THE BOSSES WILL EXPECT IT ALL THE TIME"... I hope Amir never hears or considers that the rest of his life... He showed, that with an aggressive attitude and play on the floor, that he can take over a game against a good team... That is what is EXPECTED of a player with such lofty rankings coming out of HS..Amir demonstrated leadership in this game. Nebraska played us man-to-man, and Pitino got good motion out of our offense, which allowed us to get the ball to Coffey on the right wing going to his left.. As a left hander, that played into Coffey's strength. Great game for Amir

Dupree McBrayer... I cried at the end and I promise I am secure enough as a person to admit it and not feel I will lose my 'man card'... That 3 pointer he hit was HUGE.... The basketball floor is probably a relief and place to 'be with family(the team)' so I think playing was the right decision for him.. For anyone that has lost someone close to them, it is the QUIET TIMES TO REFLECT ON MEMORIES, HOLIDAYS, BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, WANTING TO CALL ON THE PHONE AND HEAR THEIR REASSURING VOICE, FEEL A HUG OR A KISS THAT THEY CANT HAVE ANYMORE that are the hardest times.. Dupree's hardest times are ahead but IN THE PRESENT TIME, he needed those teammates to rally around him like they did last night... SO PROUD OF THE TEAM, OF DUPREE, OF THE GOPHER FANS AT THE BARN... Life is NOT FAIR and Dupree is a great kid who played courageously in extremely difficult circumstances.. Great effort in a difficult circumstance.

Jordan Murphy.. How are we going to replace his continuous efforts next year?? He is just a warrior out there. He just wont let this team lose and Jordan as well as Amir stepped up so big.. Great timing and effort on rebounds and looks for the contact to draw fouls...Thankful that he is a Gopher...

Now the LITTLE PSYCHOLOGY... Isaiah Washington is so distant emotionally from the team, right now.. At least that is what his body language tells me from seeing it on TV... Kids have different personalities so they each have different things that motivate them. Maybe get some counseling for the young man.. His body language is horrible and he has to understand his play has to become consistent for this team to be at their best. Gotta find what triggers that young man to be a solid contributor or a change of scenery may be what is best for him, down the road.

Lastly, Tim Miles is a super classy coach... What he did for Dupree last night was great, for an opponent.. In our society, unfortunately KINDNESS is really not respected.. It is a sign for others to take advantage of a person who displays it, as a sign for weakness. It is a sign to some as being naive. ALL SAD NARRATIVES as KINDNESS SHOULD BE CELEBRATED AND UPLIFTED... TIm Miles is a kind man and I pray has a lot of success as a result... Tim, you wont read this but I have the utmost respect for you as a person and wish I could talk to you to express how important that is to be like that to those you are able to touch, in their lives... Thank you, Coach Miles!!!!

The schedule allows the Gophers a break from their tough games to date and much needed. The next 4 opponents have a combined record of 9-24 and N Fla (4-5) and Ark St (3-5) the best.

This should give Oturu a chance to gain some confidence and provide valuable minutes for Omersa, Stockman, Stull and also Curry, if he is ready. This is also a key time for Dupree as the holidays are just about here.

Said that, I wonder if the team will be able to be with Dupree for his Mom's funeral. Maybe a donor will step up to pay for trip.

It will be interesting to see how IW plays and if he shows that he really wants to be a team player. My guess is that RP will have a short rope ready for him. I hope the second unit and FR will play well enough so that Jordan and Amir don't have to log 30+ minutes and be fresh for Becky and the BIG run.

This team not only played for Dupree tonight, but they played for Richard! They aren’t ready to give up and pack it in for the Pitino era. The effort displayed showed me they want to make the dance. I’m still not sure that it can happen, but I’m gonna just enjoy this season if they play with that type of effort all season.

We have our warts. We are brutal at the line. We are not a good shooting team at all. But, we play with good intensity and can put pressure on the other team creating turnovers which result in hopefully enough transition baskets to carry us to some wins.

It took a Herculean effort by Coffey to win this game as Nebraska is damn good. I didn’t think he had another game like that in him. The stat line of 32, 6 and 6 is remarkable.

The name on the jersey might not be basketball blue-blood, but beating the Huskers this year equates to beating a Sweet 16 team IMO.

Impressive Gophers! Well done. I hope I’m wrong and we see more of this!

One of the top headlines on ESPN.com right now. I lost my mom this past April and it was quite emotional watching the end of the game tonight. I'm happy McBrayer was able to contribute to a big win at home. Also, I can't say enough about how classy Tim Miles and Nebraska were with the shirts and interactions after the game.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...n-nebraska-cornhuskers-following-mother-death

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2019 5.8 four-star Demariyon Houston recently decommitted from Texas. Clay Patterson is his area recruiter, and he’s been talking to him all throughout his commitment to Texas. Josh Helmholdt reached out to him after his decommitment to see about possible visits, and he said:

“Minnesota has always recruitied me, so we shall see”

Thanks to Josh for the scoop here. His home state of Oklahoma is another school to watch for. He currently has no visits set.

PJ FLECK

Opening statement: “I just want to say thank you to the Quick Lane Bowl. I want to thank the Detroit Lions, the Ford Family, just thank you for selecting the Minnesota Golden Gophers, our state of Minnesota, our University, for allowing us to play in the bowl game. I want to congratulate Paul Johnson. We have two P.J.s up here—I don’t think he goes by P.J., but you have two P.J.s up here and you throw John (Hanighen) in here and now all of a sudden there are a lot of Johns going on. So, just want to thank and congratulate Paul Johnson on a tremendous season. Not only that, just a tremendous career. You imagine how all things come together in your life. My dad used to say, ‘The Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech.’ That’s all he used to say around the house, and we lived in Chicago. So, I’m not necessarily sure why he always used to say that, but Coach Johnson has had a tremendous career. I still remember sitting and listening to Coach Johnson at the Coaches Convention, I think it was, when you spoke you were the keynote speaker. I was one of those young coaches in the audience taking down as many notes as I can, not necessarily about the triple option, but more of just the way he did things and how he ran his program. So, the deepest admiration from us to you, just to congratulate you on a tremendous career and congratulate you on being here. I just want to thank our President, Dr. (Eric) Kaler, and our Athletic Director, Mark Coyle, just with everything they do. I want to thank our fans, I want to thank the state of Minnesota, our University, for all that they do. We’re excited to be here, I look forward to answering a lot of your questions. We do have the youngest team in America, it’s been fun to follow this team and watch this team grow and develop. I think you’ll see close to, I think, eight freshmen starting on offense, maybe as much as five or six on defense as we keep going forward. But that’s what we said at the beginning of the year would happen. It’s been fun to watch this team mature, end the year winning two out of three. One against Purdue, who had a tremendous season as well, and then losing against Northwestern, (who was in) the Big 10 West champs, in a close game. And then finishing up and winning at Camp Randall against Wisconsin, a really good Wisconsin team that was picked at the beginning of the year in the top four and one of the playoff teams. It was really good to be able to have that victory. We hadn’t won in Camp Randall since 1994. I was 14 years old last time that happened, and to be able to have that victory and bring the (Paul Bunyan) Axe back to the state of Minnesota was really exciting for our fans and for our University, and I know our band and our team. So, to be able to have that victory after 15 years of not winning, that was a huge accomplishment for our players. So, we’re very honored to be here. We love to recruit in the state of Michigan, love being in Detroit. I just want to thank everybody for having us, truly appreciate it.”

On how important the extra two weeks of practice and bowl game preparation is to building his football program...
“Similar. I think people earn bowl games and it’s a reward. We’ve started to practice. Playing Georgia Tech, especially on defense, is a major challenge, not only just because of the players they have and the coaching they have, but the system and the style’s different. You change a little bit of your defensive system to be able to stop the triple option and to be able to stop that type of scheme. So, for us, we needed to get started a little bit earlier defensively, because we have so many young players, that we wanted to get some of those spring practices going to get them better in our own system. So, when we actually do start really kind of game-planning and really zoning in on Georgia Tech, the defense is going to change almost completely, which will help us maybe a little bit because they’re different systems. But we play Georgia Southern next year, so it’ll at least get our guys’ minds thinking of option football, somehow, some way. And (they’re) two different types of styles now, but similar (enough) that they can start thinking. We need to get a lot of our young guys better. Our coaching staff celebrated when we found out we were going to be bowl-eligible, because we knew how much work we have to do with our players, but again, our practices are a lot shorter. Our practices are basically an hour, maybe 55 minutes to an hour right now. I want them on the field, off the field. We’ll probably practice anywhere between 12 and 13 times total, using this week as really Minnesota versus Minnesota. (We’ll) be able to get ourselves better. And then once we get into next week, we’ll start to shift that focus a little bit more towards Georgia Tech. But very similar to Coach (Paul) Johnson in terms of, it’s a reward. They’ve earned it. They’ve earned the right to be in a bowl game and they need to have fun and they need to be able to enjoy it. The last thing you want to do is have your players dread going to a bowl game. On the other hand, we have to get better, too. We just have to find that right balance to be able to do all of that and continue to get our work done.”

On Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer’s retirement...
“Well, being in the same league as him, he’s a legendary coach. What he’s done on the football field is second to none, really, when you look at his record and what he’s been able to do and accomplish. I think as Coach (Paul) Johnson said, usually, there are two types of coaches, coaches that have been fired and coaches that are going to be fired. And to be able to have somebody go out on their own terms, I think that’s how all coaches—and Coach Johnson’s very blessed to be able to do that. I think he’d be able to tell you that, as a head coach, when you decide that maybe it’s time to be able to spend more time with your family or maybe stop or to continue to keep that option down the road. As Coach Johnson said, there are no breaks in this profession. I think that’s what’s difficult for a lot of our families. There may be people who are around us that don’t necessarily understand that. I still have family members that ask me, ‘So, when you’re not playing games, what are you doing? Why aren’t you here? The season’s over.’ And they don’t understand the time commitment that we have and the time we spend away from our families. And it’s what we choose. We love to be able to be a part of education and teaching young people, not just the game of football, but now, our game is turning into life coaches as well because of the way our society is changing, too. And the issues and the problems and the challenges, and the opportunities, these young people are facing in front of them every single day. So, it is a 24-hour job, 365 days a week. There is no break, as Coach Johnson already said. And I’m sure if he compared 40 years ago when he started to where he is now, the type of break that’s possibly needed is drastic. So, (I) just want to congratulate him on a tremendous career. Being in the same conference as him, I’ve had time to spend around him over the years and hats off to his career.”

On how important the Quick Lane Bowl is to the Minnesota football program...
“We talk to our kids all the time about the next right step whether that’s a workout, whether that’s a week objective or whether that’s a season objective. From where we were at the beginning of the year to where we are now—we started the year and we lost our six best players and we knew that going into the year we couldn’t lose anybody. We said, ‘All right, if this team looks this way, I think we have shot to be pretty good.’ On paper you sat there and go, ‘Wow, we’re young, but if these guys can stay healthy we can still be somewhat experienced.’ Those six guys got hurt and we lost them and now we got so much younger so fast. So, we just took it one day at a time like we always do in our program. We call it row the boat, just keep your oar in the water, just continue to go and continue to grow—academically, athletically, socially and spiritually and our guys have continued to do that. And it’s been fun to watch their growth, physically, mentally and emotionally. When you’re dealing with some freshman, that’s one thing, when you’re dealing with the majority, almost all on offense are freshman especially the trigger (quarterback) guy, and the running backs, and the offensive lineman, and the wide receivers, and the tight ends. You’re not only dealing with just the physical part, you’re dealing with the mental and emotional part of young people coming and adapting to college. Usually they have a few years before they have that pressure and that expectation of you have to perform at a high level. But we recruited a lot of this class to be able to do that and that was why a lot of them turned down other opportunities to come down to the University of Minnesota and play for us. I’ve just seen steady growth and its hasn’t always been success. The growth—we define failing as growth, failure is quit. They have just continued to fail enough to be successful at the end of the year to earn a bowl game. But, we have the highest GPA in the history of the program and they just continue to find ways to be able to get better and I think this team really enjoys being around one another. And I think that was one of the objectives that we had when we first got here with what was going on, we had to be able to connect this team, not divide this team. And that was the challenge over the last two years. So, we’re exactly where we should be. People always say, ‘Are you ahead of schedule? Are you behind schedule?’ We’re exactly where we should be and we’re exactly what we’ve earned. So, we’ll talk about next year when we get to next year.”

On preparing to face the Georgia Tech triple option after facing Georgia Southern and Air Force in the past... “Well as Coach (Paul) Johnson said, they’re similar, but they’re very different at the same time. And as he said, a lot of people have some type of option or some type of zone read, it’s very similar. Now the style coach Johnson is there’s a lot of it and there’s a lot of moving parts. You almost have to change your defensive scheme. Sometimes with some others that dabble in it, you don’t have to change your scheme as much, you just have to be ready for it. But, yeah, we don’t play Georgia Southern and I forgot who was talking to me, one of my head coaches in the past, and they said, ‘Listen, I have great advice for you, never, ever, schedule Georgia Southern or that Paul Johnson guy.’ And here I am, Georgia Southern twice I’ve played as a head football coach at Western Michigan. One time we went to Statesboro—I don’t even know how I got out of Statesboro, it is one of the most difficult places to play I have ever seen. And then they came to Kalamazoo, Michigan and we lost in Statesboro and we won in Kalamazoo. And so now we play them again next year in TCF Bank Stadium in Minnesota. So again, we’re going to have a lot of practice at it and then when we played Air Force in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, again, we dealt with that as well. We have some experience in being able to go back to our past of what we’ve been able to do, what was successful, what wasn’t. You do have four or five games to able to draw from – that’s good.”

On what it means to him personally to return to Michigan to play a bowl game... “This is really important for our university and it’s really important for our state just being a bowl game period. But to be able to do it in a place you recruit, a place where you lived, a place where your wife is from—my wife, Heather, is from Michigan—and it’s a very special place. The high school football here is absolutely tremendous. I love recruiting the area, we had a few home visits last night, which was really nice to able to tie that into the event. But it’s a very special place to me, it always will be. Kathy Beauregard at Western Michigan—you always have to have somebody take a shot on you. We’re all up here because somebody believed in us somehow, some way. We’re all where we are based on somebody else, it’s not because of just us. And Kathy Beauregard as Western Michigan University changed my life forever. She took an opportunity on a young 31, 32-year-old NFL wide receiver coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that she thought could really do something special with their program. And going back and looking at those opportunities we had at Western Michigan taking that team from 1-11 to 13-1 and going to the Cotton Bowl and having those experiences with not only the players there, but the town, you remember all of those things. We were up here talking about Urban Meyer earlier, he was at Bowling Green then Utah then Florida and then Ohio State, it’s those places, it’s the players, but it’s those towns too. And you have those connections with that town and that city forever, for the rest of your life, but as well as the entire state. It was really good to get back into Michigan yesterday recruiting, plus being at the bowl game here because everybody was talking about it, which was really nice.”

On the passing of President George H.W. Bush... “I didn’t know President Bush at all. But I will say—we talk to our players all the time about people. Our country is about people and how our people feel about our different views on our country, we’re talking about people. We’re talking about the leader of our country and a person that sacrificed a lot for all us to be able to be here as well as our service men and women on a daily basis of what they do. It’s a national day of sorrow and of mourning anytime you lose a president. So, all of our thoughts and prayers are with not only our nation, but the Bush family as well.”

On wide receiver Tyler Johnson...
“Tyler Johnson, our wide receiver, number six, he’s gotten so much better. I think he’s become such a better route runner. When we first got here we knew he was going to be a good player, but he needed to do a lot of things. He needed to be able to sharpen his game and that’s what I think Matt Simon, our wide receiver coach, has done a tremendous job of doing. I think Tyler is way more dedicated, he’s a tremendous student of the game. His route running, his core strength, understanding leverage, understanding center of gravity, understanding how to become an elite route runner, how to be able to create the separation and create the space. It’s not just catching the football, it’s about being a position where you can do that and giving yourself the best chance to do that. So, I think that’s where he’s grown the most. I think his leadership is getting better and it’s at a point where you want to see him completely take over the football team as he continues to grow, and he becomes more comfortable with that role. We don’t have many seniors on our football team, I think maybe you’ll see four of them play or be in the two-deep with our seniors. So, we rely on a lot of our young guys leading and we always have game day captains and I can’t tell you how many days whether it was a junior, sophomore, freshman, who were our game day captains. So, Tyler has really grown up and we expect really big things for him as he continues to go on a daily basis. But tremendous individual and wonderful young man.”


PAUL JOHNSON

Opening statement: "Congratulations to P.J. (Fleck). They had a great finish to get bowl-eligible and to be here. They have a team that’s fun to watch. I’ve started to break them down the last couple of days and it ought to be a heck of a game. It’s kind of a contrast of styles, so it’ll be interesting, but we know it’ll be a huge challenge in front of us. So, looking forward to being here and look forward to answering any questions that people might have.”

On his retirement and on the emotions he has with the Quick Lane Bowl being his last game...
“I don’t know. I guess it’ll hit you when you’re out there. You don’t really think about it. My big focus on this game is it’s about the players. It’s not about me. And everything I want to do, I want to do about the players. They’re the ones who got here, they’re the ones who won six of the last eight games. I’m sure that you’ll think about it when it’s over or maybe towards the end or whatever, but as I told somebody before, this is my 40th straight year of coaching without a break, and it’s probably time for a break. That’s kind of unheard of in this profession. Usually they take you out before then, or at least you have a break somewhere along the line. So, I’ll take a break and re-evaluate, and who knows? If it’s the last game, it’s the last game. If I decide I can’t live without it, I may come back. Right now, I just don’t know. I know that I’m going to take a year off and evaluate where I am. It’s hard to tell you how you’re going to react. I don’t know.”

i feel guilty on chiding McBreyer on his play this year. Obviously with his Mom’s situation he had things much more important to deal with than basketball. My prayers go out to his family and friends.

Does anyone have an Old Ticket from the 2016 Holiday Bowl game. I'm framing a couple of the men's jersey this year for a Christmas gift. I have everything for Alex's Citrus Bowl game and was going to do the Holiday Bowl game for Connor and looking for a few pieces to put in there. They don't give the parents the nice picture printed tickets. If you do send me a message with a price! Thanks

I heard a lot of things out of Columbus this year regarding Urban giving up coaching after this season... Urban was vigilant that he was going to coach next year but his health just wont allow it.. The cyst on his brain will probably be operated on again... Urban is very close to his family, and despite all the stuff said about the Zach Smith situation, I can tell you that he is a family man first and foremost... Urban, as well as his wife, are very concerned about his health, as you would expect... I don't think there will be any interviews for the position as I believe Ryan Day will be named head coach right away. My sources on this were CLEVELAND.COM and WTAM out of Cleveland.

I think there will be a lot of discussion with his wife and family, if there was a procedure or surgery that cleared him physically in a complete manner, to return to coaching sometime down the road.. The only position I could ever think he would consider besides Ohio State is Notre Dame, if the job ever came open... But it could very likely be the last time we see Urban on the sidelines during the Rose Bowl game.. One of the greats to ever coach the college game.

think that is a better name than the flying squirrel.

@Unlimited424 is asking for a couple volunteers to demonstrate this move.

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They lead AF in 4th Q but can't make a FG or a FT. Lucky AF isn't much better and Gophs have a slight Rebound edge. Atrocious play so far.

At least I'm not a jinx to the women. As soon as I posted this they went on a 24-4 run.

It’s Gophers vs. Georgia Tech in Quick Lane Bowl; Yellow Jackets unhappy


Minnesota wide receiver Tyler Johnson (6) gets some love from head coach P. J. Fleck after scoring his third touchdown against Miami (Ohio) in the third quarter of an NCAA football game at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018. The Gophers beat Miami (Ohio), 26-3. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

By ANDY GREDER | agreder@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: December 2, 2018 at 3:38 pm | UPDATED: December 3, 2018 at 4:22 pm

The intrigue Sunday was less about where the Gophers would play their bowl game and more about who they would play. Answer, Georgia Tech in the Quick Lane Bowl on Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Since Minnesota became bowl eligible with a 37-15 upset win at Wisconsin on Nov. 24, most national experts had the Gophers headed to the Quick Lane Bowl for the second time in four years. To get there, Minnesota had to win two of their last three regular-season games, including knocking off Wisconsin for first time since 2003 in the season finale.

“I’m really proud of our football team, a team that found a way to get 6-6,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said. “… It’s been a tremendous year. I think this team has overachieved in a lot of areas, and I’m very excited about having the opportunity to have the extra practices — especially for our young guys.”

After winning two of their last three regular-season games to become eligible, the Gophers were happy to be still playing. Not so Georgia Tech (7-5), whose players were unhappy about being sent north.

The Yellow Jackets thought better of themselves after going 5-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and tied for fourth-place finish behind No. 2 Clemson, Pitt, and Syracuse.

“How do we finish FOURTH in the ACC and get the lowest bowl in the ACC!!!!” Tech running back Qua Searcy tweeted. “HOW!!!!!”

Quarterback TaQuon Marshall tweeted, “I’m baffled at this bowl game …” with an emoji of a man holding his head in his hands.

While the Yellow Jackets beat three teams that received better ACC bowls bids — Miami (Pinstripe), Virginia (Belk) and Virginia Tech (Military) — Searcy and Marshall walked back their comments in later tweets. Marshall wrote: “We don’t want it to seem like we are any kind of ungrateful.”

Tech head coach Paul Johnson, fourth in wins among active FBS head coaches with 189, announced last week he’s stepping down after 11 seasons in Atlanta, so the bowl will be his final game at the helm.

Georgia Tech runs the nearly extinct triple-option offense, for which Minnesota will have a few weeks to prepare in their first-ever appearance against the Yellow Jackets. Fleck said it could entail different defensive looks and players in different spots under new permanent defensive coordinator Joe Rossi.

“Georgia Tech provides a lot of different challenges, where you have to switch up your defense and not necessarily play your defense,” Fleck said.

Other Big Ten teams headed to bowls: Ohio State in Rose on Jan. 1; Michigan in Peach on Jan. 1; Penn State in Citrus in Jan. 1; Northwestern in Holiday on Dec. 31; Iowa to Outback on Jan. 1; Michigan State to RedBox on Dec. 31; Wisconsin to Pinstripe on Dec. 27; and Purdue in Music City on Dec. 28.

Gophers fans showed a desire to return to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, flooding the mentions of their Twitter account last week. “A lot of Minnesota fans blowing up our feed … We see you Gophers,” a Music City Bowl representative tweeted.

But the Gophers won’t be headed back to Nashville, where they beat Arkansas in 2002 and Alabama in 2004, and lost to Virginia in 2005, in the Tennessee Titans’ stadium.

Some of the experts’ also-mentioned destinations for Minnesota were the RedBox Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif., and the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City. Instead, it’s back to the Quick Lane Bowl, where Minnesota topped Central Michigan, 21-14, in 2015.

“Christmas in Detroit,” Fleck said. “Let’s go!”

https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/...y-georgia-tech-in-quick-lane-bowl-in-detroit/

Torean Sealey
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Everyone keeps talking about “how does PJ keep getting this guy on campus” or “where are these DL coming from” and “Kill couldn’t do this or do that”...

Just remember there didn’t use to be an Athletes Village.

They used to eat on folding tables in a hallway on paper plates and sporks and the food came served in tin foil containers. When they practiced inside the roof would fall on them and drip on their heads. Cold tubs were giant pig troughs filled with water and ice.

Coach Fleck was chosen to deliver a keynote address to USA football's 2019 National Conference in Orlando in February. Nice exposure for PJ.

Coach Fleck to Speak at USA Football Conference

http://www.hudl.com/profile/8126817/Matt-Guggemos

https://twitter.com/MatthewGuggemos

Related to former Vikings DB Neal Guggemos?

By Nick Halter – Senior Reporter/Broadcaster, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
Dec 4, 2018, 12:13pm CST Updated 7 hours ago

The Minnesota Gophers are traveling to Detroit on Dec. 26 for the Quick Lane Bowl, which begs the question: If the Motor City rates a bowl game, why doesn’t Minneapolis?

It's not just Detroit that's landed a college bowl game before Minneapolis. Shreveport, La.; Mobile, Ala., and Nassau in the Bahamas have, too, though they're much smaller than the Twin Cities. Even Boise, Idaho — smaller than Minneapolis and still pretty cold in midwinter — has one.

Sports Minneapolis Director Matt Meunier said a bowl game is on the radar of his organization, which is the sports events arm of the city’s convention and visitor’s bureau, Meet Minneapolis. That group has played a role in securing several major NCAA events, including the men's Final Four this coming April, the NCAA volleyball championships later this month and the wrestling championships in 2020.

“Right now the biggest reason [Minneapolis doesn’t have one] is because there’s already 41 bowl games in 33 communities,” Meunier said. “Right now we are just waiting for the right opportunity, because we believe our stadium is one of the premier facilities in the country and the destination itself offers a tight footprint for fans to walk to the game from their hotels and walk to a fan fest or concerts.”

In other cities, a nonprofit organization typically forms to buy a bowl game, then serves as the local organizing committee, selling sponsorships, negotiating with athletic conferences, handling the TV contract and marketing the game. In some markets, an athletic conference or a TV network might run the bowl.

So far, Minneapolis has no such group, but Meunier said Sports Minneapolis has had talks about what is the best way to structure such an organization. Sports Minneapolis could absorb a lot of the organizing work, he said.

The nonprofit Football Bowl Association is the group in charge of awarding bowl games.

“There’s not a formal bid process and a lot of the bowl contracts are long-term in nature, so there’s not a lot of cyclical bids opening up,” Meunier said. “Our approach is to just keep in communication with those folks and be top of mind” for when opportunities present themselves.

Patrick Rishe, director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis, said that if Minneapolis were to pursue a bowl game, it benefit from having three-year-old U.S. Bank Stadium.

“They certainly have a better shot now because they have a better facility," he said about Minneapolis.

The success of a game in Minneapolis would depend on the date and matchup, Rishe said. Detroit’s game is the afternoon of Dec. 26, which means fans would likely have to travel over Christmas to a cold-weather city. That often leads to sparse crowds; last year’s Quick Lane Bowl drew 20,211 fans in the 65,000-seat Ford Field stadium.

Minneapolis, he said, would be wise to fight for a bowl game with a better date and a matchup, ideally, between two conferences with nearby teams

“The best you could hope for is a middle tier Big 12 team against a middle tier Big 10 team,” he said.

While Detroit, Boise and New York’s Yankee Stadium still host bowl games, every other game is south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

“The main issue is that when you put on these games, you want to be able to attract teams and fans, and playing in a cold weather city is not what the bowl system has been about. It’s been about rewarding teams and getting them out of the cold weather," Rishe said. "The fear is that in December in Minneapolis you don’t know what you’re going to get, weather-wise.”

Minneapolis has twice bid on hosting a College Football Playoff game but has not won. Meunier said Indianapolis was awarded the College Football Playoff Championship in 2022, which is good sign since every other community to get the game has been in a warm climate.

Steveson named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week after title victory


Jerry E. Lee
Gable Steveson had an incredible home debut and enters the mat in style

WRESTLING | 12/4/2018 12:51:00 PM

Gable Steveson has been selected as the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week by the body's official website TheMat.com.

Steveson is now 13-0 after winning the championship at the tough Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this past weekend. Steveson defeated three ranked wrestlers, two by major decisions, in the final three rounds of the tournament. He won the title with a 12-4 victory over No. 10 Tate Orndorff.

The Apple Valley, Minnesota, product opened his tournament with a fall (4:25) of Michigan's Luke Ready. He followed that up with an 18-3 technical fall over John Borst of Virginia Tech.

Steveson's closest match of the weekend came in a 9-3 decision over No. 14 Cory Daniel of North Carolina in the semifinals.

Already a two-time Cadet World Champion, 2017 Junior World Champion, and 2018 Junior World team member Steveson is now dominating his NCAA competition. He was also named Big Ten wrestler of the week after his home debut, a 6-2 defeat of then-No.3 Derek White.

https://gophersports.com/news/2018/...-athlete-of-the-week-after-title-victory.aspx

Let's get this done.

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Just read he is coming this weekend on an official. Has been to GT recently on unofficial, and scheduled to take official there the following week. Just watched his Jr film...1st yr of fb! I am ready to pick up his family at the airport!!

3rd and 4th down and long and Cousins goes short on both. I’m not impressed at all by this guy and I want to like him. We are paying him to win playoff games but I’m not seeing it right now. Something is missing. Not sure if it’s him, the defense, something else. He’s playing right into GOAT Bellie’s hands and doesn’t seem to know it. When he does go deep he’s off. I’m not a fan, but not ready to say he’s a bust. Not sure he’s the biggest problem either. Belicheck and Brady are the GOATs at their positions. Bottom line, the Vikings are underachieving this year.