Sid Hartman: Gophers win despite lack of offense

The Gophers offense had reason to be disappointed Saturday despite a 16-13 victory over South Dakota State at TCF Bank Stadium.

Ten of the 16 points were scored on a 3-yard fumble return by defensive end D.L. Wilhite, and the winning field goal came after a fumble recovery by defensive end Cedric McKinley on the SDSU 11-yard line. This same South Dakota State team lost 34-15 at home last week to Southern Illinois. I thought this would be a real good warmup for Saturday's game at Iowa and that the Gophers would roll up some points, but they struggled.

Gophers quarterback Adam Weber, who had an interception returned for the Jackrabbits' only touchdown and completed 10 of 21 passes for 94 yards, said it was "offensively, a bittersweet victory.

"Going into this week we felt we would have the opportunity to go out there, move the ball, put up some points and have a successful seniors day in the final game at TCF Bank Stadium of the season," Weber said. "You have to look at a win as a win. You realize victories are something special, regardless of who you are playing and what the score is. Personally, and as a leader on the offense, it was an unacceptable game by us."

Weber also was sacked four times and ran for his life most of the day. How did he feel about the Gophers becoming bowl-eligible?

"We are very fortunate to be bowl-eligible and be 6-5 at this point," Weber said. "We thought going into the season we would have a better record. I don't think anyone is happy or satisfied just being bowl- eligible."

Gophers coach Tim Brewster, normally a very optimistic person, was about as unhappy as he has been after any victory.

It's hard to believe the Gophers played so well in the second half last week against Illinois, certainly a better team than South Dakota State, and then failed to score touchdowns the three times they got in the red zone Saturday.

Now No. 15 Iowa (9-2, 5-2 Big Ten) is next. And judging from the way the Hawkeyes played at Ohio State even though they lost 27-24 in overtime, they will be a very tough team to handle.

The positive thing is that the Gophers are in a bowl game. This gives them 15 extra days to practice, as Brewster said, to help them become a better team next year.

Hungry team Outstanding Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams doesn't believe the Detroit Lions will be a pushover today, despite their 1-7 record.

"They're a hungry team still," Williams said. "They're in a lot of games; they just can't finish at the end. So we're going to have to stay true to our game plan and put the guys away early."

"We feel good, but we know there's a lot of room for improvement," he said. "We're in a good position right now. We've got to keep stacking wins and for the most part, teams remember what's done in November and December, not what's done in September and August."

Williams, who played one year for Vikings defensive line coach Karl Dunbar as his position coach at Oklahoma State, credits Dunbar for a lot of his success.

"He's been a tremendous help," Williams said. "He gave me, I'm not going to say the tools, but he just gave me the push that I needed to put the tools I already had into place."

Dunbar doesn't believe there is a better defensive tackle in the NFL than Williams.

"He's fundamentally sound," Dunbar said. "There's not a day that goes by that we're not working on fundamentals, and I think a lot of defensive lines don't work on that anymore. We work on fundamental pass-rush, run-stopping. Everything we do is back to basics."

"They usually double-team me," Williams said. "That center, he's always lurking somewhere to help the guard out, or they chip through me with the back, but it's just part of the game now. I really don't pay much attention to it."

Jottings Of the 26 seniors who played their final home football game for the Gophers against South Dakota State on Saturday, only five were recruited by Brewster. The rest of them are players signed by former Gophers coach Glen Mason. The junior college transfers recruited by Brewster who played their final game Saturday are defensive back Traye Simmons, linebacker Simoni Lawrence, Cedric McKinley, David Pittman and Derrick Onwuachi.

USA Today's midseason All-Pro team included five Vikings: guard Steve Hutchinson, running back Adrian Peterson, kick returner Percy Harvin, defensive end Jared Allen and defensive tackle Kevin Williams. Ex-Vikings safety Darren Sharper, who has seven interceptions and has returned three of them for touchdowns for New Orleans, also was named to the team. The offensive coordinator named to the team was Rochester, Minn., native Tom Moore of the Colts.

Matthew Stafford, the rookie Lions quarterback who will face the Vikings today, threw five interceptions last week in a 32-20 loss to Seattle for a passing rating of 42.2.

Lions running back Kevin Smith, who rushed for 976 yards last year, has 460 yards so far this season but is averaging only 3.3 yards per carry.

That was Taylor Grant, the son of Eden Prairie coach Mike and grandson of ex-Vikings coach Bud, who scored the only touchdown for the Eagles in their 7-3 victory over defending champion Wayzata in the Class 5A football quarterfinals on Friday. ... South Dakota State received a guarantee of $300,000 for playing the Gophers on Saturday.

Former Twins manager Tom Kelly is on the list to be considered for baseball's Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committees.