Jim Souhan: Gophers lose a game, but they might have won over doubters

LOS ANGELES — Before every USC game at the Coliseum, the Trojans mascot sticks a sword in the turf.

Jerry Kill didn't need a skirt and a weapon to make his point.

After his team bumbled through the first half of his debut, Kill kept the Gophers on the field, scolding them for everything they had done under the sun. That turned out to be one of the most productive huddles in the recent history of Minnesota football.

"It's hard to make an opening statement," Kill said after the game, as he sat down at the podium and searched for words, "when you don't win the game."

He's wrong. Kill might have made the most promising Minnesota debut since Herschel Walker lost his shoe.

No. 25 USC beat the Gophers 19-17, but Kill won some Minnesota hearts and minds on Saturday.

Facing superior athletes on the road while still trying to teach new systems to a young roster, Kill lost his starting quarterback in the third quarter and yet still threatened to pull off a comeback victory.

"Aw, I wouldn't have called it, either," Kill said after the game. "That was just a good play."

Kill is the rare coach who promises not to make excuses, then refuses to make excuses. He blamed himself for first-half communications problems that kept the Gophers sideline from communicating with starting quarterback MarQueis Gray, even though that can't have been his fault, and he blamed himself for his team's bumbling first half.

"I thought we looked nervous," Kill said. "I didn't think we were hustling. I'm not throwing the kids under the bus, that's the head coach's responsibility.

"We'll build from it. The exciting thing is, we got better each quarter."

They did, with Shortell playing well enough to present Kill with the most important and annoying decision a coach can face. Going into the game, Kill would have told you that Gray was his best player. Can he take away Gray's job, or move him to receiver, because he suffered cramps?

Of course, Gray played better after Kill's halftime tongue-lashing, too.

You've heard of second-half adjustments? Kill adjusted attitudes.

He learned long ago not to waste time milling about with the other team at halftime. So he pulls his players to the sideline and lectures them, leaving more time for strategic meetings in the locker room.

Congress might want to take a few notes about quickly making good decisions.

In the first half, USC receiver Robert Woods caught 11 passes for 115 yards and three touchdowns. In the second half, Woods caught six passes for 62 yards and no touchdowns.

"We found out a lot about our team today," Kill said.

Good coaches make their players look good. After outplaying USC in the second half, the Gophers look more promising than expected at almost every position.

USC recruits future NFL players, yet the Gophers, once they shook off their nerves or jet lag, matched them physically. More impressive, Kill's offense was able to operate as an option attack with a running quarterback and what looked almost like the West Coast offense with a true freshman taking his first collegiate snaps.

Gophers fans are sick of moral victories. This, then, was a morale victory, reason to believe that athletic director Joel Maturi hired the right coach.

Kill, this unprepossessing, red-faced, height-challenged man, outcoached someone who has run the Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Volunteers and USC Trojans, Bloomington's own Lane Kiffin.