Hello, again.
Yes, it’s me. I’m back. I know, I know, it’s been a while. But I had some time off coming and I took it. I wiped my vacation time clean and now I’m in this for the long haul. We’re just over a month from the start of training camp. There is a new stadium about to be finished (which I and a number of my co-workers will tour again next week) and I’m going to be around, now, for the duration.
 A lot  has happened in the time I’ve been gone. Both good and bad.
 The Gophers got a good start on the 2010 recruiting class, having already landed a number of three- and four-star recruits. The most recent is Tinley Park (Ill.) offensive tackle Mark Lenkiewicz, a 6-5, 250-pounder who brings the current list of verbal commits to nine.
  Of those, a total of five had been added since I last blogged.  They include offensive linemen Lenkiewicz, Matt Eggen and Zac Epping. Eggen is a 6-5, 290-pound tackle from La Crosse, Wisconsin. Epping is a 274-pound center from Kenosha Wisconsin. The Gophers also got commitments from Colorado kicker Kip Smith and Houston, Texas cornerback Allen Veazie.

(mid-day update: The class grew by one again, according to Rivals.com with the addition of three-star running back Donnell Kirkwood  from Delray Beach, Fla. who picked the Gophers over Rutgers.)
  Some thoughts on recruiting so far:
  –The Gophers very much needed to add a highly-rated kicker. They would have added one this year but didn’t have a scholarship available, using one up for punter Dan Orseske. As a result the Gophers are headed into this season with all the kicking duties lying squarely on the shoulders of Eric Ellestad. Ellestad has been waiting his turn, and has the ability to fill Joel Monroe’s shoes. But, right now, the Gophers don’t have a lot of options should Ellestad not work out.
 –Minnesota continues to lure players from Wisconsin. Eggen, Epping and quarterback Tom Parish are all from next door.
 –The Gophers’ drive for bigger, stronger offensive linemen continues to be seen in the 2010 class of recruits.

Greetings

Well, the Gophers had their final practice before Saturday’s spring game. They went without pads in the 80-degree heat preparing for a game that will be played in possible rain and temps around 50.
  Typical Minnesota spring.
  Brewster, of course, is undaunted. ”Playing football in Minnesota, outside, in some conditions, that’s what Minnesota has wanted for a long time. Now we’ve got it. It will be a blast. It will be good for our team to get into the weather, focus and compete in conditions that are less than perfect.”
  The 1:30 game will be held at the University of St. Thomas.
  It will consist of four 12-minute running-time quarters, the clock stopping only for changes in possession. Brewster said it will look like a real game, with the kicking game incorporated into the mix. The first-team offense will play the second-team defense, and the second-team offense will take on the top defenders.
  Both the offensive and defensive schemes will be pretty bland. ”We’re not trying to show our whole package on Saturday,” Brewster said. ”We want our team to go out and play well.”
  Just about everybody is healthy enough to participate, with a few exceptions: Running back Duane Bennett (knee) won’t play, nor will wide receiver Ben Kuznia (hamstring). There is a chance running back Shady Salamon, who got a ding to the head in a team scrimmage, won’t play either.
  Fans who attend should be ready to see a lot of young players and new faces. They are Brewster’s focus. The experienced veterans will get a little playing time, then give way to the youngsters. Brewster and the coaches want to see how guys who haven’t played for the Gophers in game-like situations perform.
  There are a lot of players on that list: Transfers Matt Carufel at guard and Kim Royston at safety. Quarterback MarQueis Gray, running back Kevin Whaley, linebackers Spencer Reeves and Keanon Cooper. Offensive tackle Jeff Wills.
  Just to name a few.
  ”At this point you want to see the young players,” Brewster said. ”I’m really excited about cooper, (Tim) Dandridge, Reeves, Sam Maresh, seeing Jeff Wills and Carufel on the offensive line. The veteran, experienced guys, you want to get ‘em out there, give ‘em a taste of it and back them out of there. It’s a day for the young guys to prove their mettle.”

Greetings

 The Gophers had their final full-pads practice before Saturday’s spring game at the University of St. Thomas; the players will practice without pads Thursday.

Tuesday head coach Tim Brewster talked a bit about what he wanted to see in Saturday’s spring game, which will have four 12-minute, running-time quarters.

”We want to go out and put on a nice performance for our fans,” he said. ”We want to finish (Spring ball) the right way. I want our kids to play well, I want them to perform. Quite honestly, it will be scaled back from what we put in this spring.”

Why? He wants his players reacting rather than thinking. So much of what you’ll see will be basic stuff. One key for Brewster is to show the strides he feels the team has made in the running game.

”That’s a big thing,” he said. ”We want to have a physical presence in the running game,” Brewster said. ”What you also want to get out of the spring game is to see how improved your young guys are, guys like Keenan Cooper, Spencer Reeves, Brandon Kirksey and Tim Dandridge. You want to see how they’ve come along, and how they play in front of a crowd.”

Greetings on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

  The Gophers held their second of two spring scrimmages today at their practice field. Here are some things I was able to glean from talking to folks about the day’s events:
  1. The defense is still leading the offense. No surprise, really. It’s been that way from the start of spring ball. But coach Tim Brewster was happy with the team’s four-minute drill, an exercise dedicated to running down the clock and protecting a lead. Brewster was encouraged by the team’s ability to run the ball in that situation.

 2. Running back DeLeon Eskridge returned to full action today, but Kevin Whaley continues to look good in spring practices. It appears he has taken full advantage of his opportunities this spring.

  3. Defensive tackles Garrett Brown and Eric Small continue to play very, very well. Those two plus Lee Campbell at middle linebacker makes the Gophers very strong up the middle. And you can put safety into that conversation as well. Just about everybody I talked to today said that Kim Royston looked very good today. He’s a safety with cover skills who isn’t shy about hitting.

  4. MarQueis Gray continues to look good. Brewster, who has said Gray will play some this year, said today that the team will have a package of plays for Gray for every game this fall.

Greetings.

 So, as we begin our glide towards the April 25 spring game, some news: The offense is starting to show itself.  Folks in the media aren’t able to watch practice, but I heard from a few people that the first practice of the week featured an offense that is getting up to speed.

 Coach Tim Brewster agreed.

”We did some really good things,” Brewster said. ”We moved the ball well. At the end of practice the offense scored, both the ones and the twos. The defense has kinda had their way somewhat in the spring, as is the case in most places. And so I think it’s good.”

The Gophers coaches, led by new offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, were very aggressive installing the new offense. This was, in part, done by design; Brewster said he wanted to get a good idea how well some of the players would handle it. But, recently, the install pace has slowed and the offense is starting to run more smoothly.

Meanwhile, Deleon Eskridge returned to practice today for the first time since being banged up in the team scrimmage 10 days ago.

One other note. I listened to the Big Ten coaches on their spring football conference call today. Down in Indiana Bill Lynch talked about moving away from being a full-out spread team. He said he’s going to have Kellen Lewis play more wide receiver. He also went on about wanting to run the ball better. Considering the same thing is happening at Minnesota, I find it interesting how cyclical things are. Bottom line is everybody knows they have to run the ball to win in the Big Ten.

Greetings.

There was a little attitude adjustment made Friday afternoon by Gophers coach Tim Brewster.
  Maybe it was that the Gophers are only about half-through with spring ball. Maybe it was because it was the third and final practice before the weekend. For whatever reason, the troops weren’t inspired enough for Brewster’s taste. You could sense something was up when Brewster barked at some offensive linemen for being late to the outdoor practice field. Moments later, unhappy with the way things were going, Brewster stopped practice and sent the team back to the locker room. When they returned, there was considerably more fire.
  ”It was nothing more than setting the tempo,” Brewster said after the practice, which — no surprise — ran a little late. ”It was just a re-adjustment of their mindset. It’s kind of like the middle of two-a-day practices. You’re not near the end where you can see the end of the day. But you have to grind through. That was my message. We needed to have a great practice today, and I thought we did.”

Other notes from the day:
–Running back Shady Salamon, banged up in the team scrimmage last Saturday, returned full-bore to practice Friday after doing some limited things Thursday. DeLeon Eskridge is still being held out, but Brewster thinks he’ll be back next week.

Greetings.

  Well, for the first time this spring, the Gophers actually went outside for part of their practice.
  About half of Thursday’s practice was held outside — all the individual stuff. But then they moved inside for the team session. It’s only spring, but coach Tim Brewster is already thinking of next fall’s season opener in Syracuse, which plays in a domed stadium.
  ”We’ll do a lot of work in our indoor facility approaching that first game,” Brewster said. ”Syracuse has a smaller dome, very loud.”
  Brewster has had music pumped into the facility during part of the practice.
  Thursday’s practice was held in shells — helmets and shoulder pads — after a very physical practice Tuesday.
  ”Today was a teaching day,” Brewster said. ”We’ve had a lot of physical practices, so we took down the tempo a little bit, tried to get a little teaching done, and I felt we did.”

  Here are some other Thursday notes:

–Brewster said he doesn’t think it’s all that unusual for the defense to be ahead of the offense at this point in the spring; he said he’s talked to a number of coaches across the country who are saying the same thing.

Tuesday marked practice 7 for the Gophers. Not counting the spring game, that gives them seven more workouts.

So what have we learned so far? Not surprisingly that the defense is ahead of the offense. That was the one message that came out of Saturday’s scrimmage.

This isn’t surprising, for a number of reasons:

-The offensive line is a big-time work in progress, with new starters at at least three positions since the bowl game.

-New coordinator Jedd Fisch is putting in a new offense.

-And don’t forget, much of the skill the Gophers will be relying on this fall isn’t around. Wide receiver Eric Decker is playing baseball and Hayo Carpenter — the highly-rated junior college wideout — won’t be here until fall. Last year’s No. 3 receiver, Ben Kuznia, is watching with a pulled hamstring. Now, there are a lot of sophomore receivers using this time to vie for playing time. But I would expect Decker and Carpenter to enter fall practice as the starting wideouts. And don’t forget running back. Duane Bennett, coming back from knee surgery, is taking part in some drills. But he isn’t scrimmaging and won’t play in the spring game. And while Ra’Shede Hageman was watching practice Tuesday, he won’t be in uniform till fall.

Greetings.

Just to let you know: I actually considered breaking this blog entry into two parts just to keep the numbers up. The Gophers aren’t practicing tomorrow and I plan on taking the day off, too.
  I know, I know. I’m about as consistent as the Minnesota Wild.
  Anyway. Bet you’re all wondering how Saturday’s football scrimmage went. Me too. If your name wasn’t Sid Hartman you weren’t allowed to watch it. But, judging from some of the folks I talked to after it was over, here are some impressions:

–The defense remains ahead of the offense. This comes straight from Adam Weber, whose first throw was intercepted.
  ”It was kind of one of those messed-up plays,” Weber said. ”I’m still trying to get a feel for some of the plays. I truely believe that when we start executing we’re going to be a very, very good offense.”
 
  –There were, overall, about 100 snaps. Weber took all the first-team offensive snaps, with MarQueis Gray taking all the snaps with the No. 2 offense, and providing the day’s best offensive play — a 63-yard touchdown pass to Brodrick Smith that came on a pump fake that got Smith one-on-one with a corner. He caught the ball and ran another 40 yards or so for the score.
  Smith is one of a number of players trying to use spring ball to get a leg up on the competition. Eric Decker is playing baseball and Hayo Carpenter won’t be here until fall. That means Smith and the rest of the sophomore class of highly-recruited receivers are trying to get a head in the playbook and earn future minutes.
  ”This is our chance to shine,” Smith said. ”Our chance to get out there and compete every day. We’re learning every day. At night, when we get home, instead of getting on the computer, we’re in our playbooks.”

Greetings.  There was no practice today, but I thought I’d just drop a quick note about tomorrow’s team scrimmage. After all, I do have Mr. Coffee’s streak to worry about. We in the media won’t be able to watch it, but I’ll update you all with player and coach reactions once it’s over. I will be paying particular attention to the Gophers offense, which has struggled at times while learning Jedd Fisch’s new offense. After practice Thursday quarterback Adam Weber sounded like he could hardly wait for today’s workout.Meanwhile, the folks I have talked to confirm what Sid wrote a few days ago: Hartland (Wis.) Arrowhead High School quarterback Tom Parish is expected to attend today’s scrimmage and commit to the team afterward. That’s about it. Have a good weekend.