Hartman: Vikings learn about the cost of one play

Former Vikings coach Bud Grant, who has an office at Winter Park but doesn't get involved in the current football operation, said one missed play in each of the four Vikings' losses could have been the difference in the team being 4-0 rather than 0-4.

Grant points out that the Vikings have been in every game and no one team has run them over.

Grant recalled that during his long coaching career, one play often made the difference in winning and losing. You could easily point to the 1975 Hail Mary pass against Dallas in the NFC playoffs that kept perhaps the best Vikings team ever from going to the Super Bowl.

Then there was the 1972 season when Fran Tarkenton was reacquired from the New York Giants. The Vikings were favored to go all the way but finished 7-7.

That year the Vikings started the season 2-4, with their first four losses by a combined 10 points. The Vikings lost several leads that season in the second half, similar to this year's squad. In the first game of the season against the Redskins, the Vikings gave up a blocked punt for a touchdown in the first quarter but rallied to take a 14-10 lead in the third quarter before giving up back-to-back rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lose 24-21.

Against the Dolphins in Week 3 that year, the Vikings held a 14-6 lead after Bill Brown scored a touchdown to start the fourth quarter, but the Dolphins scored 10 unanswered points to win 16-14, including a 3-yard pass from Bob Griese to Jim Mandich late in the fourth quarter that came after a roughing penalty kept the drive alive.

In Week 4, the Vikings led the St. Louis Cardinals 17-12 late in the fourth quarter when Gary Cuozzo hit Ahmad Rashad with a 24-yard pass to give the Cardinals a 19-17 victory.

That Vikings squad would go 5-3 the rest of the way to finish 7-7.

One play in each of the four losses has hurt this year's team, too. In every game, one play could have turned defeat into victory.

In the San Diego loss in the opener, cornerback Antoine Winfield forced a fumble with three minutes to play at the Chargers 34-yard line, but the ball rolled out of bounds and instead of the Vikings getting possession, the ball went back to San Diego.

In the Tampa Bay loss in Week 2, the Bucs had the ball on the Vikings 16-yard line in the fourth quarter and safety Tyrell Johnson dropped an interception right in his hands that likely would have changed the result.

In the Week 3 loss to the Lions, defensive end Jared Allen tackled Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford for what looked like a safety, but he was ruled down at the 3, so with 1:05 to play the Lions kept the ball, then won the toss going into overtime and kicked a game- winning 32-yard field goal.

In the Week 4 loss to the Chiefs, a late 52-yard pass from Matt Cassel to Dwayne Bowe resulted in a 22-10 deficit. The Vikings went on to score but lost 22-17.

The Vikings have lost their four games by seven points, four points, three points and five points, so they have been in every game and, as Grant said, had they made that one play in each game, the record would be different.

Kill getting criticized Gophers football coach Jerry Kill reports he has gotten plenty of e-mails and phone calls telling him he doesn't know what he is doing. But he understands that's part of being a head coach.

"It's pretty much just like it was at Southern Illinois," said Kill, who has developed winning teams at every school he has coached. "Nobody said I knew what I was doing there. Nobody said I knew what I was doing at Northern Illinois, and everywhere else I've been.

"All I can do is take what I've been given and come up with a plan to get it fixed. This is not a one-year fix, it's not a two-year fix, it's not a three-year fix. It's going to take some time. I'm just being frank with you. Shoot, if I'm not the guy, and I have the university tell me I'm not the guy, then I'll move on. I'm OK with it.

"But I know what I'm doing. I don't care who you bring in. It is where it's at. We have to address where we're at and we have to move forward."

Kill said a lot of things have to happen before the Gophers football program can be like Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and other successful conference teams.

"There's a hell of a lot of things that have to take place," Kill said. "It's not just our players. I have to change that. That's what I was hired for. But it's not going to happen overnight."

Yes, there are a lot of reasons the Gophers have not won a Big Ten title (they tied with Indiana and Purdue in 1967) and Kill is slowly finding out that, like he said, it is not just the players.

If anybody can turn the program around, Kill can.

White's new start Former Gophers basketball recruit Royce White, who will be playing his first collegiate season with Iowa State this year, was named the Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year by the Big 12 coaches association. White was also named to the Big 12 preseason all-conference honorable mention squad.

White recently said in a Yahoo! Sports interview that he still has issues with the way he was treated when he was suspended and couldn't play for the Gophers.

"There's definitely a piece of it that's personal, but I'm trying to channel that personal vendetta to help [the Cyclones]," White said. "Having a selfish reason for coming back and channeling it into an unselfish style of play will balance out.

"A lot of naysayers said a lot of things that I didn't agree with back when things were happening at Minnesota. I'm not angry at anybody. Everyone has a right to believe what they want to believe. But I'm just hoping that after this upcoming season, people have a different opinion."

Jottings • After missing the first two weeks of the season because of a shoulder injury, former Vikings wide receiver Sidney Rice has put together back-to-back stellar games for the Seahawks. He caught three passes for 79 yards and a touchdown Sunday in a loss to Atlanta, and he made eight catches for 109 yards in a victory over Arizona on Sept. 25.

• Former Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson has had mixed results as the starter for the Seahawks. He has a nice 62.2 completion percentage and has thrown for 846 yards and five touchdowns, but he also has four interceptions and two fumbles.

• With Blake Hoffarber signing with Fos Ouest Provence in France and Al Nolen signing with Kyoto Hannaryz in Japan, both seniors off last year's Gophers basketball squad have found professional careers. Nolen will begin play Oct. 15.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. • shartman@startribune.com