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."
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