Sid Hartman: President keeps faith in Brewster

University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks, who had the final say when Glen Mason was dismissed and when Tim Brewster replaced him as Gophers football coach, admitted he was disappointed in the team's 1-7 record this year, and to see the maroon and gold lose 27-21 to Division I-AA North Dakota State on Saturday.

However, Bruininks stood by his decision to dismiss Mason and to hire Brewster, and he is confident the program has a bright future, despite this year's struggles.

"There is going to be some pain in the rebuilding of the Gophers football program, but I'm sure we did the right thing," said the chief executive of Gopherville, who is committed to giving Brewster time to rebuild the program.

But this loss could hurt more than any recent defeat when it comes to recruiting and fan interest. A North Dakota State team that has 33 players from Minnesota -- none of whom were recruited by the Gophers -- just kicked their butts.

Brewster, whom I believe will turn out to be a great recruiter, has a big job ahead of him to add some speed and athletic ability to a team that has little of either.

Yes, I picked the Gophers to beat NDSU 41-21. And when the Gophers took the opening kickoff and scored three plays later, I looked like a genius.

But in the end, I picked the wrong team to score 21 points.

Moved ball at will

I have watched Gophers football for longer than anybody in the media. Yes, 40 years ago I followed the last Gophers team to win a Big Ten championship, sharing the title with Indiana and Purdue.

I have seen many opposing teams have big days passing against the Gophers. But I don't remember ever seeing a team move the ball almost at will on the ground against them. Even some of the great Michigan and Ohio State teams didn't find it as easy to run the ball as the visitors did Saturday.

NDSU wound up with 394 yards rushing, 259 in the first half, an amazing statistic for a I-AA team playing on the home field of a Big Ten team. The Gophers defense hadn't given up totals on the ground like this to anyone else this season, including current No. 1 Ohio State.

Bison running back Tyler Roehl rushed for 200 yards of his team's first-half total, on nine carries. A year ago, Roehl carried the ball one time for 3 yards in the NDSU's 10-9 loss at the Metrodome.

The most yards the Gophers had given up rushing in the first half this season was 149 to Ohio State, followed by Indiana with 130. A week ago, Northwestern had 11 rushes for 31 yards in the first half. Bowling Green had 89, Purdue 83, Florida Atlantic 78 and Miami (Ohio) 68.

The 394 yards for the game was the seventh-highest total ever gained against the Gophers. The last time they allowed a team to exceed 300 rushing yards was against Penn State in October 2005.

Not surprised

Add Adrian Peterson's position coach as another person not surprised by the rookie running back's terrific start.

"I shouldn't say I'm surprised, because I know what type of kid he is," said Vikings running backs coach Eric Bieniemy, who has known Peterson since his high school days. Bieniemy tried to recruit Peterson to UCLA, but Peterson ended up at Oklahoma. "I know what type of pride he takes in everything that he does. He's a hard worker, and he wants to prove to everybody that he can play at this level.

"One thing, knock on wood, we've just got to keep working, keep trying to iron out all the little things, so he can become the best and most complete football player that he can possibly be."

Peterson is only 22 years old, but he always has had the ability to do so many things no one else can do.

"The funny thing, he was just at his prom maybe about three years ago, but I did watch him do the same things in high school and also in college," Bieniemy said.

Bieniemy has a great relationship with Peterson from the recruiting trail.

"Oh yeah, knew all his background, knew his family very well," he said. "... I spent a lot of time in his home, spent a lot of conversations with him on the phone. So, we've developed a great relationship, and you know, it's like a marriage, we get on each other's nerves at times and sometimes we communicate very well."

Rest assured, Bieniemy's history with Peterson gave the Vikings knowledge before the draft of the type of person he was in addition to being a great football player.

Jottings

Peterson, who grew up in Texas, said he is looking forward to playing at Dallas today. "Definitely, I wanted to be a Cowboy," he said. "I had the jerseys and the Cowboys pullover starter jacket."

The Bears and Packers are considered the Vikings' top rivals, but there was some great football played between the Cowboys and Vikings when they were coached by Tom Landry and Bud Grant. The teams met four times in seven postseasons between 1971 and '77. The Vikings won at Dallas 27-10 for the 1973 NFC championship, and two years later the Cowboys won a divisional playoff game 17-14 at Met Stadium, the Dallas victory coming on the famous Hail Mary pass to the pushing Drew Pearson, ending the season for what was Grant's best team.

While the Gophers were losing to NDSU, Eden Prairie teammates Brendan Kelly, who committed to the Gophers, and Willie Mobley, whom the Gophers are recruiting, were on the Wisconsin campus, where the Badgers beat Northern Illinois 44-3.

Among the recruits the Gophers had here Saturday were two who have committed: tight end Eric Lair of Houston and defensive end Brandon Kirksey of St. Louis. Others on hand included Brandon Green, a Chicago receiver, and Prentiss Wagner, a cornerback from Clinton, La. ... The Gophers received a commitment Saturday for 2009 in offensive lineman Josh Campion of Fergus Falls.

All the top Internet recruiting services seem to agree that Ralph Sampson III, the son of the former Virginia basketball star, will decide between Minnesota and Georgia Tech. ... Trent Lockett, a 6-5 junior from Hopkins, has committed to Arizona State after visiting there.

Ex-Gophers offensive lineman Ben Hamilton, a starter for the Denver Broncos until he got hurt this year, was at Saturday's game with his father, Wes, the former Vikings guard. Ben Hamilton is on injured reserve because of a concussion problem but hopes to play next year. ... One of the several injured Indianapolis Colts players is former Gophers tight end Ben Utecht, who missed the game two weeks ago because of a concussion. Indianapolis had its bye week last week.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com