The Vikings lost three of their last four games in 2010. So if you include those defeats along with their 2-7 record this season, the team is only 3-10 -- including 1-5 at home -- in their past 13 games.

During those 13 games, the Vikings have employed five quarterbacks, a clear example how a team without a consistent passer in the lineup doesn't win. It also shows just how important Brett Favre was to the team in 2009.

Since then Tarvaris Jackson, Joe Webb, Favre, Donovan McNabb and Christian Ponder have taken a turn at quarterback.

The streak started at the end of the 2010 season, with Jackson losing 21-3 to the Giants. Favre then lost 40-14 to the Bears, Webb split the next two games, beating Philadelphia 24-14 and losing to Detroit 20-13.

During the current 3-10 streak, Jackson and Favre both went 0-1, Webb 1-1, Donovan McNabb 1-5 and Ponder 1-2.

What this proves is that the Vikings could have continued to be a power in 2010, instead of being 6-10, had Favre stayed healthy and was able to play like he did in 2009 when he was probably the best quarterback in the NFL and the Vikings were one or two plays from beating the Saints and going to the Super Bowl.

The Vikings had weaknesses in 2009 like they have today, but it shows how a great quarterback can carry a team.

Indianapolis is another good example of that now that the Colts have gone 0-10 without Peyton Manning, who made them one of the powers in the league but has been sidelined for this season.

The Vikings have a good young quarterback now in Ponder, who could carry the team in the future. But it took Aaron Rodgers of the Packers three years to develop into being the NFL MVP and people are going to have to be patient with Ponder, too.

Knight saved Coach K Duke's Mike Krzyzewski now holds the career record of 903 college basketball coaching victories, passing Bobby Knight after Duke beat Michigan State on Tuesday night.

Coach K played for Knight at Army, spent a season (1974-75) at Indiana as an assistant coach under Knight, and then was named head coach at Army in 1975, where he coached until he was named the head coach at Duke in 1980.

There were reasons that Krzyzewski was hugging Knight the other night after he set the record. And why Krzyzewski later told the TV audience and others that he wouldn't be the position he is today if it wasn't for Knight, who was his tutor.

Tom Butters was the athletic director at Duke when Knight convinced the former Pirates pitcher to hire Coach K.

And then after Krzyzew-ski went 17-13 his first year at Duke and then 10-17 and 11-17 the next two years, it was Knight who convinced Butters to give his coach a further chance and not to fire him as he had planned.

Krzyzewski then went 24-10 the following year and the rest is history, 11 ACC championships, three NCAA titles, an Olympic title and today he is the most dominant college basketball coach in the country.

Knight has done a few good things -- contrary to what some people think.

Jottings • Vikings center John Sullivan was asked how frustrating it is to be a member of a team that two years ago was in the running for the Super Bowl and now is 2-7. "I think you have to keep the negative thoughts and emotions out of it," he said. "I think we just have to focus on taking this week-by-week. Forget about the big picture of the season and our record, and just focus on becoming a better football team each and every week that we go out there."

• On Saturday when the Gophers clash with Northwestern, there will be three Chicago Robeson high school teammates on the field: Charles Brown of the Wildcats and Brandon Green and Johnny Johnson of the Gophers. The trio played together from elementary school through high school.

• All-state Eden Prairie tackle Nick Davidson, one of the top nationally recruited players in the state and son of Vikings offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, suffered a serious injury when he broke his leg in the Class 5A quarterfinal game against Anoka and needed surgery.

• Former Gophers men's basketball coach Dan Monson has put together another very tough nonconference schedule for Long Beach State, which won the Big West regular-season title last season and is the favorite to do so again this season. The 49ers won a big game on Wednesday when they defeated No. 9 Pittsburgh 86-76 on Pitt's home floor. It was Long Beach State's first victory over a top-10 team in nearly 20 years. They will also visit Steve Fisher and San Diego State on Saturday and play at Louisville on Nov. 28. In early December, they play back-to-back games at Kansas and North Carolina, where Long Beach State lost 96-91 a year ago. The 49ers also are in the Diamond Head Classic tournament in Hawaii and have a BracketBuster game in February against an opponent to be determined. They went 22-12 a year ago but failed to get an NCAA tournament invitation after losing the Big West tournament championship game.

• Kevin Harlan, the former Timberwolves broadcaster who lived in Mankato for a long time, and Solomon Wilcots, a member of the Vikings in 1991, will do the Oakland-Vikings telecast on Sunday.

• Former Vikings Pro Bowl special team player Heath Farwell was signed by the Seahawks but two other veterans the Vikings released, receiver Bernard Berrian and tight end Jeff Dugan, still are looking for jobs.

• The Wild, which has a three-point lead in the Northwest Division going into Thursday night's game against division rival Colorado, is the fifth-youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 27. The Avalanche is the youngest team, at 26.

• Former Wayzata standout AJ Tarpley is having a great sophomore season with the Stanford Cardinal. Tarpley, an inside linebacker, is fourth on the team in tackles at 43 and has two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery along with an interception.

• Ex-Gophers defenseman Nick Leddy is fifth in scoring for the Chicago Blackhawks with two goals and 10 assists in 18 games and is second on the team with an average time-on-ice of 21 minutes and 25 seconds. ... Former Gophers defenseman Jordan Leopold has four goals and two assists in 18 games with Buffalo and is third on the team with an average of 20:37. ... Another former Gophers defenseman, Aaron Ness, has two goals and five assists in 15 games with Bridgeport of the AHL.

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