Sid Hartman: Mason says Gray had his best day

Nobody was more impressed by the performance that the 27 1/2-point underdog Gophers put forth in losing 31-24 to No. 15 Michigan State -- a team that had the second-ranked defense in the country -- than former maroon and gold coach Glen Mason, who broadcast Saturday's game for the Big Ten Network in East Lansing, Mich.Mason had been at the Gophers practice Thursday and talked to coach Jerry Kill, who had a feeling that the Gophers were going to come up with their top performance of the year, and they did.

Mason was especially impressed by the Gophers offensive line that went against a great defense while missing two starters and still helped the Gophers rush for 120 yards, all the while protecting quarterback MarQueis Gray whenever the junior threw the ball.

"I thought they did a real good job," Mason said. "You know, you had the worst rushing team in the league playing against the [best] rushing defense, but I thought for the most part the defense absolutely shut down Michigan State's run, and they played extremely well."

Mason said it was the best he had seen Gray play.

"He was really good up until that interception that he threw late in the game," Mason said, referring to Gray's final pass with the Gophers trying to score a tying touchdown. "I thought they really had a good game plan, they stuck with it, they were right in the game, and you know, you have a turnover there at the end of the game trying to move the ball, but other than that, he played really well."

Better than other QBs Gray had the biggest day of his career against the great Spartans defense by completing 19 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns, something other Michigan State opponents had not been able to do.

In comparison, Michigan State completely shut down Michigan's Denard Robinson on Oct. 15, completing only nine of 24 passes for 123 yards with one touchdown and one interception Oct. 15. Russell Wilson went 14-for-21 for 223 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in Wisconsin's last-second loss at Michigan State on Oct. 22. Nebraska's Taylor Martinez threw for only 80 yards against the Spartans on Oct. 30, although the Cornhuskers ran 58 times in a 24-3 victory.

The truth of the matter is that after being awful to start Big Ten play, the Gophers have really become a competitive team, going back to the second half of the Nebraska game, when they outscored the Cornhuskers 14-7. They then beat Iowa 22-21 and Saturday saw them in position for a potential road upset against a Spartans team that had already beaten Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The experts said the only hope for the Gophers to have any type of success in 2011 was if Gray had a big year. Gray started out slow but has gotten better with each start.

And on the basis of Gray's recent performances and those of his teammates, the Gophers have hope of beating Northwestern and Illinois.

Big year for Punto No doubt the Twins made a mistake not re-signing Nick Punto last offseason. But Punto said that when he found out he wasn't coming back to Minnesota after seven years here, he picked a winner in the St. Louis Cardinals, as it turned out to be an incredible year.

Punto battled injuries in 2011, playing only 63 games with the Cardinals. But he hit .278, his highest batting average since hitting .284 in the 2008 season with the Twins. St. Louis won the World Series for the 11th time after overcoming a 10 1/2-game deficit in August to earn a playoff spot.

As for how he ended up playing for Tony La Russa, Punto said: "A good buddy of mine, Skip Schumaker, who lives in Orange County, he started recruiting me in the offseason. He said, 'Hey, man, you'd really like coming here, a good group of guys and we have a chance to win.' It was kind of a no-brainer for me.

"Tony La Russa was calling me, too, right before I was about to sign. That's always a nice thing, too."

Like everyone who watched Game 6 of the World Series between the Cardinals and Texas Rangers, Punto agreed it was one of the most incredible games he had seen.

"We were down to our last strike twice, David Freese hitting that huge triple to drive in two and tie the game, it was just incredible," he said. "To be down to one last strike in two different occasions and come back and win that game was unbelievable.

"Once we got into the postseason, I knew this team would do well, because we were hot, and the hot team is always a tough team to face."

Jottings

• The obituary that ran in the Star Tribune on Friday about famous Mayo Clinic doctor David Utz included former President Ronald Reagan among the many patients he operated on, but it didn't mention that this great man was the doctor for the Dodgers while they trained in Vero Beach, Fla., all those years and that he was the personal doctor for the O'Malley family when they owned the team.

• Despite the fact that relief pitcher Matt Capps was not effective for much of the 2011 season, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is eager to have the free-agent righthander back for 2012. ... Former Twins catcher Wilson Ramos, who was traded to the Washington Nationals for Capps in July 2010, is hitting .322 with nine home runs through 47 games in the Venezuelan Winter League. ... Apparently the Yankees don't have any further interest in Twins free agent Jason Kubel now that they have picked up the option they had on right fielder Nick Swisher.

• Last season, Brian Robison finished with two sacks, a career low for the Vikings defensive end. This season, his fifth in the NFL, his 4 1/2 sacks through eight games have already matched his career high, set in 2007 and '09. The Vikings starter he replaced, Ray Edwards, has only two sacks in seven games for Atlanta this year. Last season, he had eight sacks with the Vikings, and he had a career-high 8 1/2 in 2009.

• In the Upper Midwest High School Elite League, Gophers hockey recruit Justin Kloos of Lakeville South led the league this year with 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists). Jake Guentzel, son of Gophers assistant Mike, was second with 41 points (14 goals, 27 assists). Vinni Lettieri, another Gophers recruit, had 27 points.