Sid Hartman: Gophers need to play a lot better next time

The Gophers football team passed its opening test by winning at Syracuse even though Minnesota certainly didn't play its 'A' game.

Syracuse had won only 10 games in the previous four years. So you would have expected a better overall performance by the Gophers.

But like coach Tim Brewster said Sunday, teams usually make their most improvement between their first and second game.

Well, it will be very important that the Gophers do improve. On Saturday night, they will open TCF Bank Stadium against Air Force, a team that is 17-9 over its past two seasons. To make it all the more difficult, the Falcons run an option offense, something seldom seen in the Big Ten.

Air Force opened the season by defeating Nicholls State 72-0, the largest margin of victory in school history. Air Force rushed 68 times for 474 yards, with five different rushers surpassing 50 yards. Jared Tew rushed for three touchdowns, and Tim Jefferson rushed for two TDs and passed for one.

The Gophers' second home opponent, California on Sept. 19, is one of the top teams in the country.

The 12th-ranked Golden Bears defeated a better-than-average Maryland team 52-13 Saturday, a team that they lost to 35-27 a year ago.

So after the these two upcoming home games, we will have a better idea how good this Gophers team is.

Syracuse a test Looking back to the Syracuse game, Brewster said: "I think that our players did a great job going into a situation that we knew would be very tough. The Carrier Dome had their first sell-out in over 10 years there. They had an extremely vocal crowd, loud from the beginning to the end of the game. Obviously we didn't play well. We have a lot of things that we need to correct going into next week's game against Air Force, but overall I'm pleased with how our team found a way to win a football game."

One area cited by Brewster was limiting penalties. The Gophers committed 10 penalties for 61 yards.

The one real bright spot in the game was how a defense that has been the weak spot of past teams shut out the home team in the second half.

Syracuse converted only one of 12 third-down plays in the game. The Orange gained only 67 yards in the second half and overtime after gaining 190 in the first half. The Gophers forced the Orange to punt five consecutive times in the second half, and had no offensive possession last more than five plays. The home team ran a total of 10 plays and gained a total of four yards in the last three possessions of regulation.

Jottings With nine receptions for 183 yards, Gophers receiver Eric Decker extended his consecutive games with a reception to 27. It also was Decker's eighth 100-yard receiving game, which is tied for third in school history. Decker's 183 yards were the seventh-most in school history and the second most of his career behind the 190 he collected against Indiana last year.

Adam Weber's touchdown pass against Syracuse was the 40th of his career. Weber now has at least one touchdown pass in 22 of the 26 games he has played and is tied for third on the Gophers' career list for TD passes. He completed 19 of 42 passes.

What a bad week for the Big Ten. Illinois, a team that many ranked in the top five of the conference, got whipped by Missouri 37-9. Iowa edged Northern Iowa 17-16 only because the Hawkeyes blocked two field-goal attempts in the final moments. Navy gave Ohio State all it wanted and had a chance to tie the score late in the fourth quarter only to have a two-point conversion pass intercepted and returned for a defensive two-point play. And Wisconsin struggled to beat Northern Illinois 28-20.

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said the Big Ten hopes to have a bye in next year's schedule, with the season running past Thanksgiving, which is later than usual. Playing 12 consecutive games is hard on the players. ... Maturi also added that he has not given up on adding Notre Dame to the Gophers schedule, saying "I hope to accomplish that before I retire."

Former Vikings first-round draft pick Troy Williamson had a good preseason for Jacksonville. Williamson had 12 receptions for 267 yards and one touchdown.

Nolan Brewster, the son of the Gophers coach, had an interception for Texas in the Longhorns' 59-20 victory over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

Twins pitcher Boof Bonser was expected to miss the entire season after having shoulder surgery during spring training. But Bonser has recovered and made his first rehab appearance on Sunday. He pitched a scoreless inning for Class A Fort Myers, allowing no hits, striking out one and walking one. The Twins aren't expected to activate Bonser before the end of the season. He likely will pitch in the instructional league this fall.

Timberwolves President David Kahn hopes to add some players to the roster in the near future.

"Now that I'm back, what will be doing over the next few days is try to assemble or finish the roster," Kahn said. "There is still a lot of very fine players out there that are free agents, and now we want to address some of our needs, now that the [Ricky] Rubio situation has resolved itself, at least for the next couple years. I think that there will be several moves. I wouldn't call them major moves, but I think that we still have some things to address on the roster in advance of training camp."

The Timberwolves will open training camp Sept. 28 in Mankato.