Minnesota coach gets players'
backing for 2001
Editor's Note: This is part six of a 10-part
series examining every football team in the Big Ten other than Purdue.
The Purdue Preview Tailgate Guide will appear Friday.
By Doug Healey
Assistant
Sports Editor
Minnesota coach Glen Mason is ready to put the
off-season behind him.
Mason, who played linebacker at Ohio State and
was an assistant coach there from 1978 to 1985, interviewed in the off-season
for the head coaching position at his alma mater.
"I tried my best to get it," Mason said. "After
all, I wouldn't be a major college coach if it weren't for Ohio State."
Jim Tressel got the job in January, but the Golden
Gopher players were still frustrated that Mason interviewed elsewhere.
Mason had a closed-door meeting to address the
Minnesota players before the season started. He encouraged players to
give their opinions in an open discussion. Many players felt betrayed
and unhappy.
"But before we left, we took a vote," Mason said.
"If the majority wanted me to resign, I would have."
But the players voted in favor of keeping Mason
in Minneapolis for a fifth straight season.
"That's old news now," Mason said.
Now that that one problem has been solved, Mason
has a bigger one to deal with — the loss of nine starters, including
Karon Riley, the 2000 Big Ten co-defensive lineman of the year, from
a defense that ranked fifth in the conference last season.
But Minnesota (6-6, 4-4 Big Ten last season) has
a chance to do something the school's never done before — go to
a third straight bowl game. Last year, the Gophers lost 38-30 to North
Carolina State in the Micronpc.com Bowl in Orlando, Fla. In 1999, they
played in the Sun Bowl, a game they lost to Oregon 24-20. Minnesota
is one of four Big Ten teams to have gone to a bowl game each of the
last two seasons.
If they are to go to a third consecutive bowl game,
it will likely be an experienced offense that gets them there.
The Gophers return nine starters from an offense
that set a school record for yards per game (429.1) last season.
The offense is led by the school's first 1,000-yard
rusher/receiver combination. Senior Ron Johnson, a first team All-Big
Ten selection last year at wide receiver, will be the team's go-to receiver
again this year. In 2000, the 6-foot-3, 216-pounder set school records
for receiving yards (1,125), touchdowns (11) and career TD's (22).
Junior running back Tellis Redmon rushed for 1,368
yards last season, the fourth highest total in school history. He ended
the 2000 season with a 246-yard performance in the Micronpc.com Bowl.
Redmon will have a large and experienced offensive
line to run behind. The average Minnesota lineman is 6-5, 300 pounds.
The line is missing two starters, however, including
right tackle Adam Haayer and center Ben Hamilton.
"Ben Hamilton is the best center I ever coached,"
Mason said of the two-time first team All-America selection.
The Gophers also have two quarterbacks with Big
Ten experience. Travis Cole played in 10 of 12 games last season, passing
for 1,982 yards and 11 TDs. His 137.8 passing rating ranked No. 1 in
the Big Ten. Sophomore Asad Abdul-Khaliq started the first four games
last season. Cole is a traditional drop-back passer and Abdul-Khaliq
is a talented passer and runner.
Minnesota will have one of the best kicking duos
in the country. Junior punter Preston Gruening led the nation last year
with a 45.2-yard average. Junior kicker Dan Nystrom set a school record
and tied the Big Ten record with 25 field goals last season. He has
been a semi-finalist twice for the Lou Groza award, annually given to
the nation's best kicker.
Although his team isn't picked to finish near the
top of the conference, Mason thinks the Golden Gophers have as good
a chance as anyone.
"It's who ends up winning it at the end," Mason
said.
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