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Daily Nugs 10.14.2009

Penn State blog Zombie Nation gives some quick hits regarding the Nittany Lions including injury reports and personnel updates.

Chicago Sports then and Now has the Gophers ranked number 6 in the Big Ten power rankings:

The Purdue Boilermakers started out fine in their game at Minnesota. They led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. Minnesota was not firing on all cylinders. But miscues and turnovers cost the Boilers, eventually allowing the Gophers to go ahead 14-10 as the first half concluded. The third quarter proved to be a disaster as myriad miscues cost the Purdue team 3 touchdowns. The score ended up at 35-20 in favor of Minnesota who rebounded and found their game in the late going.

Another Penn State blog, The Lions Den, previews this weekend's matchup:

Joe (Paterno) addressed the issue of the Minnesota Offense:

Q. From your point of view, is it harder to defend a passing game that primarily features one guy, like Minnesota does with Eric Decker, or a passing game that really spreads the ball around?

Well, you've always got to be aware of the superior wideouts such as Decker. Decker is a great football player. There's a great chemistry with him and the quarterback (Adam Weber). And the quarterback has so much confidence in him, he'll make throws to him that you ordinarily wouldn't make. You've got to know where he is all the time. If you don't, he'll catch seven, eight, 10 passes for a lot of yards and a couple scores. That's one thing.

But, it's hard. When you say one receiver as opposed to three good receivers, offensive line, kind of pass protection, handle certain blitzes, quarterback, can he read certain things when he's working with three receivers, it's just not that simple to answer that question. I think each one of them, depending on the cast of characters, gives you problems. Decker gives you a problem. He's not the only guy. You know, that No. 11 (Troy Stoudemire) is a good football player and return guy....No. 5 (MarQueis Gray), they've got a couple other guys that can go catch the football. Fall asleep, (they will) throw the ball to the tight end. In the clutch, it's a one-man show maybe, but it's not a one-man show the entire game. You can go overboard trying to cover Decker. They can hurt you other ways. So it's a combination. When you're dealing against a team that's as well-coached offensively and defensively as Minnesota is, then you've got to be available to handle a lot of different things, and one of them obviously, top of the list, would be, don't let Decker beat you.

Every Day Should be Saturday takes a look at the Big Ten year to date:

Eric Decker and 21 other people performing various functions superfluous to Eric Decker's awesomeness=Minny football 2009. Do we want to devote more words here? No? Moving on.

The Star Tribune interviews Joel Maturi regarding the Gopher basketball program:

Maturi said he's made no decision on whether incoming junior-college transfer Trevor Mbakwe, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound power forward, will be allowed to play in games for the Gophers basketball team this season.

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I hate this indecision with Mbakwe!

Maturi is doing the wrong thing and sending the wrong signal on the Mbakwe “suspension.” He’s got no “balls.” Either suspend him or reinstate him right now. How can you let this hang over the program and the kid? What ever happened to “innocent until proven guilty?” He should let him practice and play until after his trial. He’s just trying to be politically correct and it isn’t working. Jerk!

by COJOMAY on Oct 14, 2009 9:59 AM CDT reply actions  

Even my sister

who is very critical of College Athletics thinks you need to let him play until he is proven guilty, unless you really think that he did it.

by TheEvilProfessor on Oct 14, 2009 12:06 PM CDT up reply actions  

I take it then

that you are all in agreement that Dominic Jones and the rest of the Gopher players in that sexual assault ordeal were wrongly kicked off the team by coach Brewster? And that Dandridge and McKinley should not have been suspended for 2 games this year because they weren’t found guilty in a court of law of anything?

There are huge differences between violating team rules, violating University standards, and violating the state and federal penal codes. Don’t conflate the three.

by JG2112 on Oct 14, 2009 12:57 PM CDT up reply actions  

Last I heard...

…Mbakwe is enrolled and is attending class at the U under scholarship (correct me if I’m wrong, I haven’t been following the situation closely). If the kid is proving himself in other facets of his life (like making grades, attending class, staying out of further headlines) and more can be found out about his situation, I’m fine with leaving the matter an open case.

Innocent until proven guilty is only in a court of law; it doesn’t apply to college athletics. Based on the fact that he is allowed to practice, I would assume that he would be cleared to play unless there are further developments that implicate him in the alleged crime. So if he is exonerated, he won’t miss much from a basketball standpoint.

by rencito on Oct 14, 2009 10:22 PM CDT reply actions  

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