Hartman: Gophers did what they had to with roster limited by injuries

The good news about the Gophers football team is that it is 3-1 after beating San Jose State 24-7, even though backup quarterback Chris Streveler completed only one pass on seven attempts, and that completion, to Drew Wolitarsky, came with only 6 minutes, 38 seconds to play.

With Streveler starting his first game and throwing only four passes in his previous appearance, the game plan was for David Cobb to carry the load, and he did well, rushing 34 times for 208 yards — only 8 yards short of his record. Streveler also contributed on the ground, with 18 carries for 161 yards and one touchdown.

Coach Jerry Kill was happy with how the game plan developed despite the lack of a passing game as the Gophers rushed for a total of 380 yards to 68 by the Spartans. San Jose State threw for 186 yards and a touchdown, compared to the Gophers' single completion.

The Gophers were crippled by the absence of quarterback Mitch Leidner and tight end Maxx Williams, among others. But both teams ran 65 plays, and the Gophers averaged 6.0 yards per play to the losers' 3.9.

Kill said that there was no need for the Gophers to pass the ball because they were running so well, and the coach praised Streveler's decision-making.

"I think he did an outstanding job," Kill said. "He executed very well and made one mistake down on the goal line [throwing an interception], and shoot, that's our mistake. We should be running the football. You know, again, we were averaging 6.8 per play running the football, so I mean, that's my fault. But other than that I thought he played very well and he made great reads."

Kill said that after giving up 30 points last week to Texas Christian, a team much superior to San Jose State, he was happy with the way the defense responded, forcing five turnovers and holding the Spartans to seven points.

Now comes a real test at Michigan, where the Gophers have won only twice since 1964. However, this is not one of the better Wolverines squads; Michigan lost at home to Utah on Saturday, and if the Gophers can get their injured players back, maybe they can make a better game out of it than they did at TCU last week.

But at some point, they are going to have to have a passing game to beat some teams.

You can be sure that the New Orleans Saints are happy that Adrian Peterson won't be playing against them Sunday.

As the New Orleans Times Picayune pointed out, the Vikings running back has the third-highest rushing average of any opponent against the Saints, averaging 98 yards per game in four contests.

His best game vs. the Saints came in the Vikings' crushing NFC Championship Game defeat in January 2010, when he had 122 yards and three touchdowns.

"I haven't been around too many people I call freaks, but he was definitely a freak in college," Lofton told the Times Picayune. "I knew he was going to go on to do great things. I was looking forward [to the matchup], I was going to call it 'the Oklahoma Drill,' meeting him in the gap."

Said Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro: "Honestly, growing up, he was my favorite player from the time he was at Oklahoma. That's a disappointment."

While Peterson will be missing, so will Saints starting running back Mark Ingram, who is out because of a broken hand. Ingram has three touchdowns in two games this season, and he has rushed for 143 yards on 24 carries.

With Peterson out, it will be only the 10th time since the Vikings drafted him in 2007 that he has not been the team's starting running back.

The Vikings are 4-5 when he hasn't played. They ran for a total of 1,244 yards in their nine games without him, averaging 138.2 yards per game. Of course, in several of those weeks they had steady backups in Toby Gerhart and Chester Taylor.

However, look for the Vikings to try to deal for a running back if that group doesn't produce. Peterson's absence certainly puts a lot more pressure on quarterback Matt Cassel and the passing game.

• Look for the Big Ten to go to a 10-game conference schedule in football down the road. The conference is set to go to a nine-game schedule in 2016, but a 10-game schedule would, among other things, provide the opportunity to telecast more attractive games on the Big Ten Network, which would result in more revenue from sponsors.

• The new Gophers academic building will be built on the site of the current outdoor track stadium next to the Bierman Building. A new outdoor track will be built somewhere on the St. Paul campus on a site that hasn't been selected.

• Former Timberwolves point guard Stephon Marbury has been playing in China since 2010, and he led his Beijing Ducks team to two championships. According to the New York Times, Marbury, 37, will debut "I Am Stephon Marbury," a musical about his life in China, this fall in his adopted home of Beijing, and Marbury will play himself.

• One player on the Twins roster who certainly would stand to benefit from winter ball is Aaron Hicks after his second rough season in a row, but the outfielder said he might not do it. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said: "If Hicks was asking my opinion, I would encourage him to go for many reasons. He's had a tough year, a couple of tough years, actually. There's no downside to him playing winter ball, in our opinion."