<b>Sid Hartman:</b> U needs to fix anemic offense

If there was any doubt in the minds of Gophers football followers about Tim Brewster coming back to be the coach in 2010, their competitive 12-0 loss to Iowa on Saturday ended that.

Had it been 55-0 like it was for the Hawkeyes a year ago, it might have been a different story.

But one thing Brewster must find an answer to before the bowl game is the horrible offense that has managed to score only one touchdown in four of their past six games -- losses to Penn State, Ohio State and Iowa and a narrow victory over South Dakota State. And that lone touchdown was scored against Ohio State after the Buckeyes led 38-0 and had the game in hand.

On the other hand, the defense, with nine senior starters, held the 15th-ranked Hawkeyes to their second-lowest point total of the season (Northwestern beat Iowa 17-10) and played most of the game without linebacker Nate Triplett, who was hurt on Iowa's first drive. The Gophers forced Iowa to kick field goals of 30 and 45 yards and allowed only one touchdown.

The offense didn't help the Gophers' cause. It turned g the ball over three times in the first half and then was unable to score from the Iowa 2 in four tries early in the fourth quarter. They also turned the ball over on downs with 6:20 to go after reaching the Hawkeyes 22.

Strange as it might seem, the Gophers offense did outgain the winners 201-171 yards, but Minnesota went 4-for-20 on third-down conversions, and 2-for-6 on fourth-down chances. Quarterback Adam Weber, running for his life like he has all season, was 14-for-40 for 153 yards. The two teams combined for 17 punts and were 5-for-33 on third down.

This was a game that the Gophers could have won, with Iowa missing No. 1 quarterback Ricky Stanzi and top running back Adam Robinson leaving midway through the second quarter because of a recurring ankle injury.

Respect for Hasselbeck One reason Vikings quarterback Brett Favre has a lot of respect for today's opponents, the Seahawks, is he spent four years with Matt Hasselbeck before he was traded to Seattle.

Vikings kicker Ryan Long-well, also a former Packers teammate, shares that respect as well.

Both Favre and Hasselbeck said they keep in regular contact.

"He's a great guy," said Favre, adding that he did the same things to help Hasselbeck that he does now with the Vikings' reserve quarterbacks. "His problem is that he has been beat up too much."

Since the 2005 season, Hasselbeck ranks third in the NFL with a 91.1 passer rating in the closing two minutes of each half. And during his time in Seattle, he has thrown only nine interceptions and passed for 103 touchdowns while inside the red zone.

While with the Packers, Hasselbeck was Longwell's holder.

"We lived right across the street from each other and I was right there when he got the call that he was traded to Seattle," Longwell said. "I was born and raised in Seattle, so I kind of had some connections, I could tell him about moving out there. So, just a great guy, really happy to see his success. I know he's fought some injuries, so I'm happy to see he's playing healthy again."

Longwell said Favre and Hasselbeck were close. "I remember when we had Brett and Hass -- and then Danny Wuerffel was our third-string quarterback -- and those guys got along really well, and Matt was always joking back to Brett when Brett was joking with him, so they got along really well."

Jottings It will be a big surprise if Vikings Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield plays today, even though his ailing foot might be in good shape. Coach Brad Childress would rather hold Winfield out another week. On the Friday injury report, Winfield is the only player listed as doubtful.

While ticket sales for Vikings games were slow early, it appears all the remaining home games except the final game with the Giants are cinches to sell out. So while there was concern about blackouts, that concern is gone.

Nanne isn't surprised to see ex-Wild winger Marian Gaborik, now with the Rangers, tied for second in the NHL with 16 goals as of Saturday. "The Rangers signed him to a contract calling for $37.5 million over five years and he has proved that he is worth it," Nanne said.

Speaking of the Wild, Tod Leiweke, one of the executives who got the franchise off to a such a good start, is now chief executive of the Seahawks, working for owner Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who unfortunately has cancer. ... Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith paid a real tribute to guard Al Nolen when he called him "one of the finest defenders in the country." And Smith was also high on Nolen for his team-high 21 assists in three games.

Seantrel Henderson, the 6-8 Cretin-Derham Hall football player who is rated the top recruit in the country, made his second trip to Iowa on Saturday along with teammates Mark Alt, Clay Horne and James McGuire.

Grand Rapids native and former Gopher Alex Goligoski, who leads Pittsburgh Penguins defensemen in scoring, will be out two to three weeks because of a lower-body injury. ... Bloomington native Zach Parise is once again on pace to challenge the 50-goal mark. He has 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) through 20 games this season after totaling 94 points (45 goals, 49 assists) last year.

Nate Swift, the former Hutchinson and Nebraska wide receiver, has joined the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. ... Nate Burleson, the former Vikings receiver now with the Seahawks, also returns kickoffs. He has a career kickoff return average of 23.3 yards.