Hartman: Royston is making most of his chances

Yes, my friend Kim Royston -- the sixth-year Gophers safety who played the biggest role in the team's 22-21 victory over Iowa on Saturday by registering 16 tackles and recovering a big onside kick in the fourth quarter -- always reminds me that after he suffered a serious broken leg in spring practice two years ago, I wrote that he never would play again.

Thanks to some great treatment by Gophers trainer Ed Lochrie and his staff and Dr. Pat Smith, the transfer from Wisconsin and former Cretin-Derham Hall athlete has had a great season. He is tied for third in the Big Ten with 77 tackles this season.

"No doubt my leg is feeling great; I'm out there not thinking about it," Royston said. "That's probably the biggest thing, coming off an injury like I did, the mental part of it is the hard part to get over. But I'm out there not thinking about my leg. I'm out there playing football, just like I did before the injury.

"The whole training staff at the U did a great job; they always kept my spirits high and always kept me motivated to get my rehab done because it's in my best interest to get back on the field," Royston added. "It was a great experience [defeating Iowa]. I didn't experience playing in the game last year when we won the pig [the Floyd of Rosedale trophy], so actually playing in game and keeping the pig on our sidelines is a great thing."

Royston said the team had been practicing the onside kick ever since fall camp.

"Every game it's definitely up in the cards to maybe run, but we hadn't run it yet, before [the Iowa game]," he said. "My coach told me to 'get ready we're about to run it,' and our kicker [Jordan Wettstein] did a great job. He put the ball right where it needed to be and we cleared all the people we needed to clear out and the ball just came right to me."

Royston credited the victory to the fact that the team practiced much better than it had earlier this season.

"That's what you have to do in this game of college football. You have to get better every week, and nothing else is acceptable," Royston said.

"We're getting used to playing with each other, getting used to the coaching staff, and everything is just starting to gel a little bit more. Now we know what Coach [Jerry] Kill expects and what we expect from each other, so hopefully the win gives us confidence and we move right along."

Positive leadership is keyRoyston also noted that Kill and his staff worked hard to keep team spirits up despite the team's 1-6 record entering the Iowa game, something that Royston, as a captain, took upon himself as well.

"Our coaching staff does a great job telling us they're not going to quit on us," Royston said. "We just have to keep on working. Things are going to turn around if we just keep on working, and we're going to get our reward sooner or later. Come to think of it, keeping the pig is a great reward, so Coach Kill was right."

Royston said the fans did a great job of staying loud and keeping Iowa's offense out of rhythm in the fourth quarter.

"It was definitely chaos. The fans did a great job being that 12th man; that's what we need," he said. " We just need the fans to come out -- win, lose or draw -- and support us. That place was rocking. I think that definitely played a role in shaking Iowa up a little bit."

Royston said he really has enjoyed this season

"It's been great. Our record may not be the best, but being a guy who almost couldn't play this game again, I just take everything in and take nothing for granted," he said. "Every time I'm on that field I try to play my hardest because I know better than anybody that this thing can be taken away from you at any moment. I don't take things for granted anymore. I may be older, but I really haven't played that much football. This is only my second year being a full starter out of six years. I am still learning."

Jottings• Some Gophers fan tipped off Kill about how Hawkeyes fans tore down a goalpost in the Metrodome when their team beat the Gophers 45-21 in 2002. So Kill got a video of the proceedings and played it in the locker room for his team and some 90 former Gophers before Saturday's game.

• Vikings rookie quarterback Christian Ponder joined teammates John Sullivan, Cullen Loeffler and Chad Greenway on a hunting trip to Greenway's South Dakota home during the bye week.

• Twins President Dave St. Peter is confident that at least 85 percent of season ticket holders will renew; as of Wednesday, 80 percent had renewed. That will leave an opportunity for the 3,000-plus members of the "On Deck Circle" season-ticket waiting list to have a chance to buy season tickets in January. St. Peter is predicting the 2012 season-ticket base will reach 23,000 to 25,000, thus making it one of the top seven in Major League Baseball.

• The Twins will open the 2012 spring training schedule March 3 against Tampa Bay in Fort Myers, Fla. The following day, they will play the first game at the new $70 million Boston Red Sox complex in Fort Myers.

• Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven will return to the Twins' TV broadcast team for 2012 and beyond, but he might work a reduced schedule of around 100 games.

• Twins prospect Joe Benson is off to a slow start in the Venezuelan League hitting only .244 through 14 games. He has a .393 on-base percentage and has walked nine times.

• Timberwolves top draft pick Derrick Williams told hoopsworld.com that he expects to win the Rookie of the Year award if the NBA has a season and he's excited to play with point guard Ricky Rubio.

"Everybody wants to play with that pass-first point guard," Williams told the website. "We have a guy who basically puts it in your hands and says, 'I'm going to pass you the ball. It's up to you to make the shots.' "

• After a 27-19 victory over No. 2 Northern Iowa, North Dakota State moved up to No. 1 in the NCAA FCS poll. The Bison are 8-0, with a 37-24 victory over the Gophers on Sept. 24.

• Former Gophers tight end Ben Utecht recently released "Christmas Hope" through his website www.benutecht.com. The album features a number of Christmas standards. Utecht will play Orchestra Hall with Jim Brickman in on Dec. 14.

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