#92Noon! Nordo in for PA! 9am Hour 10/2 Mike Grimm!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Minneapolis Saint Paul Metro.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
It's Nordo in for PA for now to start nine
to noon on the Fans sixty five one carpets plus Studios,
text lines always open six four six eight six Brad
Shawn Bryan KFA and text line the talkback machine always fun.
Hit that microphone, give us up to your best thirty seconds.
We will scan them for FCC violations and then play them.

(00:22):
Big show coming up today from London. Ben Lieber is
set to join around ten am. You'll hear from Vikings
wide receiver. Justin Jefferson, the host himself, PA set to
be in the mix at some point and he has
an interview in the mix and some tricks up his sleeve.
So looking forward to that, but looking forward to under
the bright lights of Ohio Stadium, the Horseshoe as it

(00:46):
is on Saturday, six thirty pm, kickoff your home for
Gophers football. The fan joining me now is the vox himself,
Mike grim At Mike Grim three via X. You know,
like Ron Johnson put the number first, you chose to
do it after yards.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
We were both and we both used three. How about that?
Good to see you?

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, and how about that Drake Lindsay performance last Saturday.
It was one of the better quarterbacking performances I've seen
in my time. There's been good ones over the years.
Adam Weber had bunches of yards over the years. When
I first got to town.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
You know, Adam's big issue was he had a new
offensive coordinator every third week, it seemed like, and so
he was learning new offenses every year. But what a
talent he was. And then you know, I don't want
to you know, I'll leave guys out. But Tanner Morgan
had a couple of big three hundred plus passing yard games. Obviously,
Brosmer had his day last year, his days last year.
And this is I mean, it isn't very often one

(01:41):
a quarterback throws for over three hundred for the Gophers.
He threw for three twenty four in his fourth career start,
with three touchdowns no interceptions against the Rutgers defense that
statistically hasn't been very good this year. But they've got
some dudes that that defense is probably underperforming a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Some of them might be who they've played, probably not
might be some coaching related sabotage they are going on
in terms of the defensive coordinator and in his history
and all that stuff. But the bottom line is they
have and they're too deep on the Rutger side of
the defense. Twenty two guys on the two deep, seventeen
or seniors, nine of them the eleven are senior starters.
So they've they've got some guys that have been around

(02:20):
the block. So to throw three touchdowns, no picks, go
for three twenty four against him, pretty good for a
guy in his fourth career. Start well and into the game.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
It's not that, you know, I'm deep diving and losing
sleep at night trying to dig into exactly how PJ
wants to attack a team, because, frankly, I think trends
have become stereotypes that have become habits and routines and philosophies.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
He likes to run the ball.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, and I actually thought into this game, and you know,
Darius Taylor, we had talked about this a week ago.
His availability was tenuous and we just got to, you know,
got to wait this thing out, right, But I thought
they'd be able to run it against Rutgers a little bit,
and even without Darius Taylor.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
It's just it should have been because they've been giving
up a lot of yards and they completely shut that
thing down. And just having PJ on a Monday, you
guys get the chance on Tuesday at Tipsy Steer to
chat with him on the gop of Football Weekly Show.
You know, just that had to be a big confidence
builder from the standpoint that PJ likes to do what
PJ likes to do, PJ can't do that. And to

(03:20):
be able to say, well, this is becoming a throwing
game quickly with the score line the way it was,
I'm gonna let Drake try to handle business and then
he does like that. That was just kind of fun
to see how things trans not transgressed, but progressed. I
should say it transpired either or transpired. Yes, I leaving
us inspired. Yes it did.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
I thought that that third quarter drive to come out
to start where they went no huddle and guards. You
mentioned this as well on the Coaches Show on Tuesday,
and I agree with him in the sense of if
you watch the TV replay, they really did a nice
job of showing how in control Lindsey was in that
case with the hand signals and tapping the helmet and

(03:59):
getting the subs. Well, there were no subs, but getting
the guys lined up in the right spot in a
relative quick hurry. I think they ran it was either
seven or nine straight plays without any huddle, without any
time in between, which they have not done all season.
They are a melking the clock kind of a team,
and which also could be a partial shift. They might
be thinking, look, we're gonna need to score some points

(04:21):
here to win games this season, just the way college
football is and looking at the schedule and who you're playing,
you know, I don't know if there's going to be
a lot of you know, sixteen to thirteen slog fest.
Maybe there will. That's not to say I don't think
this defense is going to be good. I think it is,
But I just think that the offenses are so good
that maybe you start shifting a little a little. We're gonna

(04:42):
have to score some points. That was a total sidebar
to my point. That is one of the better drives
I've seen in my time here. Really. I mean, there
have been some good ones over the years. We cited
it on the radio show with PJ some of the
good ones over the years, but just the way he
commanded it, just the way he you know, methodically, a
quick short passing game. Boom boom boom, quick hitters down

(05:03):
the field, and before you know what, they're in the
end zone and they covered whatever it was, seventy five
or eighty five yards and you're right back in the game.
It's a tie game. And then they come back and
engineer the game winning drive basically in a similar fashion,
utilizing I think he was nine or ten different receivers
throughout the game as well, which is nice. So he's
a guy that sees the field. Not to say he's perfect.

(05:25):
I did see on the TV. I don't watch the
All twenty two way some do, and I'm jealous of that,
but I do watch the TV copy once or twice,
usually just to see what I missed or just to
see it. Is funny when you in live action, there's
once or twice a game where you're convinced of something
you watch the TV broadcast, like, oh okay, I totally
totally different than I remembered, or totally different than I

(05:47):
thought unfolded there. But there was one or two plays.
There was one play where he did throw to the
to the receiver on the out and if you watch
the replay, Jamison Gears is just streaking down the scene
with absolutely nobody covering him. So it's not perfect and
and maybe that was the third read on that progression
and so you never get to it because the first
guy's open and it just was unlucky that that that

(06:08):
that and maybe you know, there's partially some of how
they defend it that way because they know where that
first read is. I don't know, but that was one
that that that looked like maybe maybe you don't throw
it to the right guy. But again I don't know
what the what what the first and second, third reads
are And so, yeah, he's not perfect. The the field
is gonna or the level of competition will clearly step up.

(06:30):
This might be the best defense in the country that
they're about to play. Matt Patricia, you know, he who
what's the who's the rest of the pops out of
the casket? What's his name? The undertaker?

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yeah, yeah, that Patricia. His career has been dead like
three times now, and all of a sudden, he pops
out of the casket. Ohio State hires him to be
the defensive coordinator and they are absolutely stopping people and
and we'll see what the Gophers have for that for
that defense and that new coordinator there.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
You know, it's kind of I'm glad you mentioned that
particular drive in the third quarter. Just one or two
more on Drake. There's more people on the team I
know than Drake Lindsay.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
But the quarterback is such a fun it's such an
important position. It gets all the all the blame and
all the credits, so it's worthy of extra discussion.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Well, and it's it's one of those things too, where
you move on from Athan, you do the one and
done with with Brosmer. And I'm not saying PJ needs
Drake Lindsay to do what he will. In this particular case,
the team needed Drake Lindsay to do what he did.
But in a sense, you kind of feel like there's
an urgency is you have to at some point pick
a freaking guy and develop him. And it was cool

(07:38):
what Brosmer did. Thanks for your service. And now he's
whooping it up. And there are many Gophers fans actually
they are like this offensive line in this situation and
what I just watched from Carson, just put number twelve
in their place.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Just put Brosmer in there by the way sidebar. If
people have been to a Gopher game, they at some
point always flash up the guys that are in the NFL.
They play the Fox music, you know, Da Da da
and flash them up. And so this year they've been
saving Brozmer for last, all right, and so they'll they'll
fly and Cashman they're the last two because you know,
obviously they're playing for the hometown team. And so you know,
Winfield comes up and people cheer, and Coke Keith comes

(08:11):
up and people cheer, and then it gets to a
winfield and the Vikings logo comes up and people cheer,
and then they flash Brozemer up in the place. Each
of the home games has just gone wild. It's pretty fun. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
But the but I'm glad you mentioned those drives because
you have you have the the moments where you're just
impressed with him throwing it, you know, fifty yards on
a dime to Jalen Smith, the Mancato kid yep, who
takes it down to the doorstep.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
You need those types of plays.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
But the issue, whether you're a Vikings fan, you're watching
your favorite pro team or you're watching the Gophers, the
ability to when you have to go on a thirteen
play drive, when you have to settle for these eight
nine yard completions and matriculate if you will, you're your
way down the field, that that would be the sign
of getting it.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
That would be the sign of a sign of command.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
And everybody misses receivers, right, I mean, you know Tom
Brady missed receiving, no question, and uh and and hopefully
is it saying what what what saying? Is it Julian
saying that?

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah? Hopefully for Ohio State, who's also a red shirt freshman,
we need we need him to miss a few guys
on Saturday and we hope if he does, hopefully he
misses him right into the Gophers hands.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
But the but the sign of command I think was
the step for me that that he took on Saturday.
And again, as we need to we need this kid
to develop. I don't want him to be one and done.
I want to see what he does, no question, with
a bigger spread of opportunity. And I just really loved
it on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yeah, I agree, I thought he made and this is
what you look for, right, And it's not going to
be linear like Drake Lindsay's not going to start here
at point B as I no one can see this
but point B and then just immediately get to point
Z on a straight line, like like, I'm not predicting this,
but it could be he could make a few mistakes
against this defense. It is possible. It could be that

(09:51):
you take a couple of steps forward and and then
you have a blip. Let's hope not Let's hope he
takes a step forward. But when you're his age and
you're going through a lot of stuff for the first time,
first Big ten road game is quite well, go to
the horseshoe, go see what you can do. Great, So
he's going to be you know, it's not going to
be linear. You just hope this over the course of
a month. You know, if you break it up into

(10:12):
four game segments, and that's where we're at now through
game four, I think you do see progress in each
one of the games. And again, it won't be perfect.
He's not going to throw for three twenty four every night,
but some night you might throw for three sixty four, yeah, right,
and four touchdowns if you need it, and another night
it might be like you say, dude, your job is

(10:33):
to hand off to Darius Taylor because we're just mowing
these people over and we'll see, But I agree with you.
I thought from the col game where he was good
but not great, I mean that wasn't I don't think
he was the main issue and why that game went south.
And then you get the bye week, you sit on
and then you get ready for Rutgers and after a
slow start, he got things going. And yeah, I thought

(10:56):
there was great progress for sure.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, great progress and okay, in a game, by the way,
that had good times bad times like you sack eighth
and seven times?

Speaker 1 (11:05):
I forget is it? My goodness?

Speaker 2 (11:07):
Why am I I'm losing the running backs name because
he went for like a buck six to do for them,
but was a.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Hang on it. It's Antoine Raymond Raymond.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
Yes, yeah, he had an unbelievable game, like you had
the good times bad times of that, but the ability
to stick with those punches. Again, when's the last time
PJ won a game but lost time of possession?

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (11:28):
You know what I mean, You're right, well, it was
it was real early. It was the Golphers I think
had two three and outs and Rutgers had fourteen points
in a block field goal and it was something it
was something like fourteen to four, right, minutes or or
time of possession fourteen for them, four for Minnesota. And
then they did flip the script. They controlled. I think

(11:48):
Rutgers only ran like four plays in the third quarter.
It might have been six plays something like that because
the Gophers really had to you know, the touchdown drive
and the field goal drive in the third quarter, which
which put him ahead. So it was a really good
second half obviously, and the defense did what it had
to do. There's still areas that they can get better.
Perish on that blitz was like a missile. That was
an incredible sack. I loved it. Yeah, and then Maverick

(12:10):
Bernowski had a great sack where he just just basically
pushed the running back to the point where he almost
hit the quarterback with the running back and then sacked him.
And Anthony Smith had a couple of sacks and it
was you know, they made plays when they had to.
And then, as always, you need a little luck and
so the ball snapped through the quarterback's feet at the

(12:30):
at the best time you could possibly ask for it.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
When when you're you know, you're close to the team,
it's it's not like you're in the locker room every day,
but all the same, you you have access that the
average roub like myself doesn't have. And you know, I'm
curious because even with with Ohio State around the corner,
I even got it from the text line as soon
as you come on and we start chatting this particular texter.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
For instance, the.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Last time Ohio Stay lost a regular season Big ten
game to a team not named Michigan or Oregon was
due in twenty eighteen.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah, like I feel, and maybe that's the inclination.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
Ohio State, more talented team, Ohio State, more highly touted,
four star We get all of that. I'm just curious
what the team's mindset is because I'll hear what PJ
has to say, but in the end, it's like, you
know you're up against it. You know you are a
massive dog under the lights at the shoe. You probably
will lose the game. But I'm just curious what their

(13:24):
mindset is because from a fan base standpoint, it's like,
all right.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Just can you try to look respectable? Yeah, on a
Saturday night on the big screen. Right When you look
at recruiting rankings, when you look at budgets, when you
look at fan bases in terms of what a fan
base is willing to spend on a ticket. How many
people are going to buy tickets, how many people are
going to donate to an nil? It's you know, it's
the haves and the have nots in all of college sports,
and that gap is getting bigger in some cases. And

(13:50):
so that's a hard that's hard for Minnesota to compete
against Ohio State. And that's why they're twenty three and
a half point underdog this week. It's why no one
not named Michigan and Oregon was it. Did he say
hasn't beaten him in their place? Didn't? I didn't fact
check that. I'm just going to assume that it's gaudy
because I got messed up by AI the other day

(14:12):
when I was on with the Morning Guys and said
that the last time that Ohio State lost at home
to an unranked team was that Purdue game in twenty eighteen,
because that's what AI told me. And as it turned out,
that game was actually in West Lafayette. And you don't
have to go nearly as far back as we thought
last year's Michigan game. Remember the controversial Michigan game at
the end when there was the fight and guys, were

(14:34):
I don't know, planting flags and all this stuff that
was at Ohio Stadium and Michigan was unranked in Michigan
beat them. So it hasn't been but two or three
home games ago for them that that has happened. But again,
Michigan is also fishing in different waters than what others
in the country are, including Minnesota. So every now and then,
you know, if you're on the if you're on the

(14:55):
lake with all the fish, and I'm on the lake
with with just a few fish, that doesn't mean I
can't aasally catch a fish and win a game like this. True,
usually much harder you do, and you gotta work harder,
and you gotta have some luck, you gotta cuts right.
And so the bottom line is once or twice a
season there's a game like this. It happens where the

(15:17):
number one or two or three or a top ten
team loses to somebody that they're not supposed to lose to.
Remember last year Alabama lost to Vanderbilt, and now it
turned out Vanderbilt was pretty good. But Vanderbilt is no
better than where the Gophers are, I would say at
this point, and no one thought Vanderbilt would go in
and beat Alabama when they did last year.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
So maybe there's By the way, does anybody think of
the equipment guys when you start tearing down upright posts
and things right exactly? And maybe this is a Bama game,
didn't they? They they marched the fan based day with
the uprights and threw it in the river the river,
And now we got equipment guy taking an l and
we have potentially the city getting involved to figure out.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
And the SEC finds those teams for that. Now, if
you feel the dish in the SEC, oh wow, you
get fined. I think most leagues now have a fine
on the field rush and and the court storm means
and all of those things. And now some teams have
gone to this deal where the goalpost is on a
hinge and as soon as the game's over, it just drops.
Oh that's smart, I think. I don't remember where did

(16:17):
I just see that somebody did it? But anyway, so
so that they wouldn't have the goal post toward down.
But you're right.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
I just searched on I just searched on Google and
AI says that it was October of twenty eighteen.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah, so screwed me up, screwed you up. So it's
not right because that game was at and West Lafayette.
I remember this, I'm not going to be totally accurate.
We could probably do an AI search to me. Ohio
State took a big step. Now, Ohio State's always been
a power, right, They've always been, you know, since the sixties.
They've always been a power of fact. You could argue
a little bit they in Minnesota swap positions a little bit.

(16:52):
In the early to mid sixties, Gophers had won seventeen
or eighteen Big Ten titles and five or six national
championships before the Night Teaen sixty sixty was the Gophers
last title. The Vikings show up in sixty one, and
the landscape of this place changes forever, becomes an NFL town,
and that changes stuff, let's face it, and and and
then you know, and other varying aspects throughout the deal

(17:14):
have changed it. Ohio State starts to become a little
bit more of a power. Columbus, Ohio grows into a
big city without pro sports. I mean, you still think
about how big of a city that is. They still
only have the Columbus Blue Jackets. So all of that
money and a bunch of insurance companies are based. They're
all kinds of stuff is rolling into Ohio Stadium. And
so since that point, Ohio State has taken off. But

(17:37):
it changed. Even when Tressel won the national title in
whenever it was to one or oh two, that was big.
It was huge for the Big Ten. It was their first.
I mean, I think Michigan won at ninety seven, Ohio
State won. It was either one or O two. I'm sorry,
I don't have it in front of me, yep exactly.
And then they then they played for a couple more

(17:59):
national ties. I don't think LSU beat them. PJ was
was a grad assistant on that OSU team that lost.
I think Florida might have beaten them in there anyway.
But when when urban Meyer took over, that changed it.
They moved into Alabama territory. They moved into like top
two or three where you're just getting guys and become
like urban Meyer in his career, lost like three Big
Ten games, right and Ryan Day has kind of picked

(18:21):
up where he left off, obviously winning the national title
last year. And so it's a nine hundred pound guerrilla
to try to go up against that team right now,
and to me, well, I looked it up this morning.
When Minnesota last won there was in two thousand year.
Guy Ron Johnson had a huge catch in that game
and Glenn Mason. Our team went in and won. Ohio

(18:42):
State was ranked sixth, they had their eyes on a
potential national title, and Mace went in and beat them,
and the Gophers were a ten and a half point
underdog there. So that tells you. And that was a
good that was a good Gopher team, but they needed
to win the last game of the year to get
to a bowl game that year. You know, kind of
a little up and down. You're obviously up with that

(19:02):
two thousand win, the win in two thousand, but they
were ten and a half points. I don't think in
relative terms, this current Goalfer team is any on the
landscape of college athletics, is any worse than that two
thousand team. They're twenty three and a half point underdog
this week, which tells you just where Ohio State, even
from that point, has gone. Now. They were ranked six,
then they're ranked one. Now it is There's no question

(19:24):
it's an uphill fight, but they're in a different it's
a total different stratosphere. It's just they have to they
think up ways Like Minnesota and Iowa and Wisconsin and
some of these others, they're trying to find ways to
save money because it's, well, we got twenty million. Now
you got to pay to the players right off the top,
and how do we balance this budget? And you got
to figure out ways to save money. Maybe you got
to bus to a certain volleyball game or football buses

(19:46):
to one game or whatever. And Ohio State's just inventing
ways to spend money. They're like on their third basketball
practice facility in like fifteen years, because they just they have.
Me mean, they got one hundred plus thousand people paying
over one hundred bucks a ticket. Some of those tickets
are two or three hundred dollars in the real good seats.
And when we were there last time, they were building

(20:07):
new premium seats. Of course you're not building you're not
putting that kind of money in unless those premium seats
are already pre sold, right right. So yeah, it's a
different stratosphere. So and I'm not saying there's no hope.
Like I said, once or twice a year, there's a
game like this where you're like, how the heck did
that happen, and the golfers aren't dog me like the
golphers have. Some players absolutely and in fact, the last

(20:28):
time they were there that it was close at halftime
and then the talent just you could just tell the
gap was there, and I think the first hand off
of the second half was an eighty yard run and
pretty soon it was another big score, and all of
a sudden, instead of being tight at halftime, I forget
what the final was, you know, lost it by the
career that would have been Travion It was I think
Travion Henderson.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
Yeah, yeah, that's crazy, you know. It's you mentioned the
stratosphere and I was just thinking about it. I have
a neighbor of three or four houses down down my
block and he's he's an Ohio State guy and his
parents were boosters that they actually walked around with the
buck eyes in their pocket.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
Yeah, with a little Are they like nuts? I think
it's a nut, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
And I had no idea what a buck guy was
and I even asked, and of course he was very,
very willing to pull them out of his pocket.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
It's kind of weird when someone's like, well, let me
show you my not Yes, I have, I hold them
in my pocket. It's kind of a weird thing, but
I've gotten past it and they're they're terrific people. Well,
they've like one of their big fan sites, like the
Ryan Burns of of Ohio State is literally buck nuts
dot com. It is okay, well to that end, to
that end, my neighbor actually told me after that team

(21:40):
won the national championship they weren't sure if they wanted
to keep Ryan.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
No. Right, it's it's just insanity.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
And we can't relate of course here in the in
the Midwest with with our situation and you know, urban
campus versus institution town and Columbus, et cetera. But they
are so nuts about that team and so and simultaneou
so down on Ryan's days that he brings you the
trophy you've been begging for. Yeah, I don't really know

(22:07):
if he should stick around. It's because he lost to
Michigan twice in a row.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
That's's it. Like, remember after that game, there were people saying,
I think.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
There are fans that would rather he go undefeated for
a decade against Michigan and not win a title versus maybe.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
Lose to Michigan.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
Here there even twice, as you mentioned, but bring titles
if it's kind of.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
Crazy, and I don't think it's beyond the realm. So
who did they play or they played Oregon? Right in
that first game of the playoffs. Oregon really got stricted
by the way by the seating. Oregon was the number
one seed in the tournament. I think, right, they were
number one, and they had to play Ohio State in
the first round because the remember the weaker conferences champions
got buys. Yeah, yeah, and so I think Ohio State

(22:50):
lost to Oregon in the regular season. So Oregon was
the Big Ten champion. I think they were, and they
won the Big Ten championships. I think they were the
number one overall seed. They got the to buy and
their their gift was you got to play the eighth
seed or whoever Ohio State and they got rocked by twenty. Well,
a lot of State beats Tennessee in the home game, right,
So if Ohio State loses to Tennessee, there's a ninety

(23:12):
percent chance Ryan day is is fire probably about that. Yeah,
if he loses to Oregon, it wouldn't have been beyond
the realm of possibility that he gets fit better than
a coin flip maybe right, Yeah, I mean, which is crazy,
It's insane. So in essence, he wins the national title
to save his job because he lost to Michigan. Uh

(23:32):
and yeah, that's the that's the man.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
I'm remembering this playoff like the cam scattabo from from
Arizona State, like that game with Texas. I think it
went to overtime. This playoff system kind of kicks ass.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
I mean that they have changed the rule now to
where it doesn't go to the bid or the buy, right.
I think they have changed that rule where the bye
does not now go to the four conference champions, although
that could I don't know if that starts this year
or into the future, but you know, there's often now
we have many things. Essentially it'll be a sixteen teamer.
The Big Ten's talking about a twenty eight teamer, you know,

(24:06):
who knows where it all is going to end and
whatever we.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
Can do for I mean, and this is with all
respect to to the Gophers. When you're in a conference
right now that's eighteen deep and potentially there's still room
to grow there and we have Oregon in Michigan and
Ohio State, et cetera. I don't want to say, what's
the point but to some end, like what is the
end goal for a good program, a solid, stable program

(24:32):
that when the schedule comes out, you probably, if we're
all being honest and realistic, you don't have the playoff
bracket is not accessible to you.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
You will not be a part of that.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
So you can appreciate New Year's Bowls and all of
this and good games and the frivolity and the pomp
and circumstance of it, but in terms of hoisting titles,
you're probably out of the mix. So is it expanding
the playoffs? And maybe it's splitting these larger conferences. I'm
just curious because that that's something they.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Absolutely have to work on. Yeah, I think I think
it's accessible. I wouldn't go as far as you just
did twelve teams. I mean indianimated. I don't mean to
be negative. No, No, that's true. You know, like if
Indiana can make it, But that's signetty cap man he
can call. He may have completely turned around that program,
no doubt they're they're playing well again. So what he's
done is mighty impressive. And you have to tip your
cap he timed it well. And I'm not. This is

(25:23):
not to take anything away from him. This is just
a couple of observations. Timed it well in that and
again the transfer portals open to anybody. All those guys
he took, other teams could have tried to out recruit
him for but he did get some benefit in that.
He got was it James Madison? I believe he came
from He got like twelve guys from there that come
in former president? Yeah, former president? Was he James Madison

(25:45):
a president at some point?

Speaker 3 (25:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (25:46):
I think I think he might have been early ones. Yeah, anyway,
he he he brought in guys from there that knew
the system. So now instead of having to teach everybody
what your system is, you have thirteen guys walking around practice,
who can you know? As PJ O he says, player
led teams are the best teams. And so you got
players that know the system, they don't all have to
start over. And let's face it, ten years ago, nine

(26:07):
years ago and PJ took over, there was no portal.
And this isn't to suggest that there's a correlation here
or not, but it was much harder right off the
bat to flip it and to Signetty's credit. He brought
those dudes. He got a quarterback from the MAC who
turned out to be a Heisman Trophy candidate. And the
guy can coach and he's so brazen about it, it's unbelievable.
Like even in the in Vegas well two years ago

(26:29):
in Indy for the Big Ten Tournament, for the Big
Ten mediad, I should say, and this is where when
PJ in the pre this year he was talking about
being delusional. Let's just be delusional enough to think we
might be able to make the playoffs. I will say this.
When I was two years ago in Indianapolis, Mike Loxley,
that Maryland team was coming off of a pretty decent year.

(26:49):
The prior year would have been the twenty three SEASONI
and into twenty four and he basically had he delivered
one of the great lines which I've actually used, because
he was like, I'm going to say it. You want
to be a playoff team, we want to contend for
the Big Ten title. And he goes. People are going
to laugh at that. I know it. He goes, and
this is one I want to I'm gonna paraphrase, I think,
but it's close to this. He goes, and I don't
care because my give a crap tank is pretty much

(27:11):
on empty unbelievable line, and I'm thinking, well, this guy
is a little crazy. And then like three coaches later,
Kirk Signetti gets up there for Indiana. You're like Indiana
and he's like, yeah, we're going to contend and we're
gonna win right away. And I'm like, this guy is delusional.
I literally thought this guy's delusional. And then he takes
into the playoffs. So anyone who you know wants to

(27:31):
snark a little bit at PJ saying b delusional. So
back to your question, I wouldn't say that. I'd say, actually,
access is is. Nothing's easy, but access is better now
obviously than when it was four teams. But I do
think I think your general point is correct. People in
Madison are having to figure out, oh, we're not going

(27:52):
to make a Big ten title game anymore. Why fickle
fickle there are besign him to an extension. It's awful. Yeah,
regardless of who the coach is there, the thing has
changed now there is no Big ten West and East,
so access to the Big Ten championship game means you
have to finish one in two, one or two in
an eighteen team league, that access is probably not available

(28:15):
to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa. The way it has been, Iowa
played in like two of the latter or three three
of the last five Big Ten championships. Before that, Wisconsin
played in a bunch, so that those two fan bases
are gonna have to choose a week West. Of course,
for Iah it was it was and look the two
the two divisions were basically equal. Yeah, except one division

(28:37):
had or had Michigan and Ohio State. Because if you
if you eliminate those two, like the West would have
been fine, West would have been better had those two
teams been in the West. Even look at I mean
if if even one of them had been in the West,
because had to head outside of those the West actually
beat the East more if you take out those two.
So it was basically those two teams nullified everything. And
in the East you had to play those two teams

(28:58):
every year and in the West you got them every
now and then. So yeah, even Penn State would be
complaining about that. The reason that they're not.

Speaker 2 (29:05):
Divisions is Penn State they had they had to take advantage,
I mean they should. They could have beaten in the
whiteout game against Oregon. That's that's recent. But James Franklin's like,
what do I gotta do here? Want to produce the
top five teams every season? But as long as I
got a hardship the house.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Yeah. But Penn State was pushing the Big Ten to
eliminate divisions anyway because they always had, you know, just
talking to people, they always had Wisconsin on the mind,
like Wisconsin should not be in that Big Ten title
game this much, We're better than Wisconsin. He's probably right.
That was well, it wasn't him, but it was people
at Penn State really pushing for years about that. And
then when they went to no divisions, the people at

(29:40):
Penn State were saying, well, let's see how Wisconsin for
They just had dialed in on Wisconsin making a lot
of those Big Ten championship games. So places that have
been used to going to some Big Ten title games
that's off the table now. However, the access now that
teams need to be playing for like Minnesota and Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa.
You know, to me, those are the three players. Is

(30:02):
the playoff. Here's a twelve teen playoff in twenty nineteen.
There's a pretty good chance Minnesota would have made a
twelve team playoff. Yeah, they were ten or eleven rank
they were ten to two. I think the rankings would
have been a little different. The fact that they lost
the last game of the regular season I think could
have played a role that could have knocked them out,
and that was an ugly game against wiscons Most years,
I think a ten win team in a twelve division

(30:25):
or a twelve team playoff will likely be in Okay,
and it's going to go to sixteens. There's no question
it's going to go to sixteen. So then you have
even more access. So the fan base not just here,
what's cut wherever, is going to have to change the
Big Ten title game one. It's really rendered meaningless other

(30:45):
than the winner gets the buye in the playoff, right,
the loser has to play a play in game or
a quarter whatever you want to call it, quarterfinal play
and I don't know what they first round whatever you
want to call it. On campus somewhere. You might host it,
you might be on the road, depending on where you
fall in the seating. I think Ohio or a Penn
State lost the Big Ten title game and hosted was
it SMU or something something like that last year in

(31:07):
the Big in the first round. Forget who they hosted anyway,
they got to host a first round, it was SMU. Yeah.
So so the point is that's now what you're shooting
for is a playoff situation. So if the longest answer
in the history of the world now of that question,
what what should Minnesota fans think? My theory is you
should expect and hope that your team every now and then.

(31:31):
I don't think it can be in every year thing
unless somebody wants to write a billion dollar check and
you know, scholarship it out over the course of a
number of years to where you can you can get
into the same serving line as Ohio State and some
of those others. But that doesn't make it illegal to
try to contend for a playoff. Berth right, every few years,
be in it, be in the mix. You don't even

(31:52):
mean you have to be you know, get into November
with a chance to look if we go, if we
go three and on in these last three games, got
a shot to be in the playoffs. That's the new
what's got to be the new push. And over the
course of a decade, if you can do that two
times would be great. Once would be fine. If you
go ten or twelve or thirteen years without that, then

(32:12):
you it's a little lean. You got a problem, you know.
So that would be my opinion. And some people are
going to say why you're short serving it because I
live in reality, man, Yeah, you know, And and I
don't even think people in charge it att And I'm
not saying that's just Minnesota's deal. That's going to be
like Wisconsin's been really good. Yeah, that's got to be
part of their new attitude as well. I agree, I agree,

(32:33):
that's that's awesome. Man.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Thanks for hanging out with the studio this morning, and
have a blast at at Ohio State. And yeah, could
see the shoe and shock the world do it. Let's
get into the playoffs. Why don't we get into the
bus playoffs?

Speaker 1 (32:47):
Do you have something via the power trip you're supposed
to say, I do one other quick thing on that
the way places that are a little under under resource less. Sure,
the way you can do that is kind of what's
brewing a little bit here. You got a red shirt
freshman quarterback with some talented young pieces around, some transfers
that have come in that have multiple years and if

(33:08):
it's not this year. Then you move along, bring everybody back,
add a couple more pieces, and all of a sudden
you hit the right mix of guys that have played
with each other for a while, and you hit it
and then you get interested like part of a couple
of these guys that are young kids. The twenty nineteen
season still resonates for some of them because Drake Lindsey said,

(33:28):
that's when he first found out about Minnesota. He's watching
them play and roll the boat. That's kind of cool.
And you know, in twenty nineteen he was like thirteen
years old, right, So you get one hit like that
and all of a sudden you create some interest. So
that's how you do it at an under resource place
is you get a group of kids that are together
and on year two or three of them being together,

(33:50):
and you supplement it with a few pieces and transfer
portal kids. And at the end of the day, you
got to have excellent quarterback play. There's no teams making
the playoffs without excellent quarterback play anymore. And I think
I think the golfers have a chance over the next
few years to have excellent quarterback play.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
I'm excited for Drake and I'm excited for you and
Darryl and guards you on the call Saturday night, my friend,
thanks so much.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
You gotta thank you, Nord. I'll always enjoy it. And
I do have a line. Yes, I can't remember it though.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
That's fine. Hockey emailed it to me so perfect. You'll
have to tune in listen on Saturday night.

Speaker 1 (34:21):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
That's Mike grim at Mike Grimm and the Number three
via x Gophers at Ohio State Saturday night, six thirty pm.
We're a bit behind it, but we got a cash
giveaway and Brett will take care of that.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
We'll be back in minutes. Nine to noon, The.

Speaker 4 (34:35):
Fanto two minute and Junk Truck want to give you
shot to win bonus bucks of the National Cash Contest.
Head to kfan dot com. The keyword is cash this hour.
Keyword cash cafan dot com keyword cap.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
Time for a truncated edition nine to noon of Vikes Bites,
which is always presented by Thousand Hills Lifetime grazed grass
fed Beef. You can shop on linebox and meat shows
up at your doorstep your local Kowalski's and Coburn's locate
local co ops. They're proud sponsors that Gophers athletics as well.
So Thousand Hills, we love you for Clearwater, Minnesota's finest

(35:08):
Thousand Hills. Time for a couple of bites here, some nibbles.
What do we got, Brett.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
Fikes bites, Hikes bites.

Speaker 4 (35:16):
Yeah, we've got a lot. We're trying to piece together
the injury report for today. I can look at yesterday's
but just piecing together the reporters that were there at
the practice in the English countryside. Darre saw another rest day,
so that was planned, part of the plan. No problems there.
No jurgins as well for the second straight day. JJ
McCarthy made a few throws on the side. But here's

(35:38):
the big thing. The following This is an Alex Lewis tweet.
The following offensive Lineman, we're taking center snaps today in
the English country side. Do this Blake Brandell, something called
Henry byrd verse, Sean Lee and the guy who apparently
kicked your puppy Pete and your cereal and slashed your tires.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Joe Huber. First of all, I must say this, Joe
Huber is just a name that.

Speaker 4 (36:04):
You've been You've thrown him under the bus, it's.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
No, it's not about being down on Joe Huber. It's
just that problems when when you're getting to the names
and you mentioned it, Henry Bird, ver Sean Lee. When
you start getting down the row on some names here
taking center snaps Brandell, there was ash. This has to
be two three camps to go now, maybe because at

(36:28):
one point the team re ups Brandell. It's like a
three year, nine million dollar deal of some sort. But
into the season, I forget what the circumstances were, but
he was actually taking snaps at center and it just
kind of raised a few eyebrowns, like, well, we got Bradbury.
I mean, I don't know what the idea is here,
but certainly Brandell the Swiss Army Knife potentially on the

(36:49):
old line that he is, and it's good to know
that the guy can. There was an issue with Garrett Bradbury.
It's good to know that he could step in and
do his thing. But he's definitely not going to be
playing center. So now you have Brandell, you got Huber,
who again, I have nothing. I hope Joe Huber is
a starting guard in the NFL for a decade. I

(37:09):
hope he's terrific, but under no, I mean just nobody's
fathoming the idea that four games now into week five,
that Joe Huber is potentially going to be taking snaps
at center and practice because they can't freaking figure out
what on earth they're going to do to field five
healthy guys to protect Carson Wentz on Sunday at Tottenham.

Speaker 1 (37:32):
So it's those names are not reassuring.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
Those names do not inspire a ton of confidence in
terms of what the offensive line is going to provide
where people are even going to freaking line up on Sunday.
So yes, it's it's not about Joe Huber. Brett, you
know as you are you're a Packers fan. Are you
a Brewers guy? I know you're a Braves guy. Well,
just well classic classic Iowa like we were talking with

(37:58):
We were talking with Grim last segment where you kind
of do growing up in Iowa have the freedom maybe
maybe it's maybe it's maybe it's Hawkeyes or Cyclones at
the college ranks. You told me that your father actually
infected you with the virus that is the Badgers.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
Is that accurate?

Speaker 4 (38:15):
It's true, I don't really College sports just didn't do
it for me like it used to in high school.
So I wouldn't really hold that against me. You can
hate me for the Packer bit, but that's fine.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
That's the thing.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
There are all things. We all have things we have
to resent our parents for. My father happens to be
a Packers fan, my grandfather is an owner.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
I mean, yeah, it's it's it's it's in your blood.
Christmases are tough, I will tell you that.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
But but to that end, you know, the not no
problem with Joe Hubert, but growing up in Iowa, you
just don't have choices. You're at some point like if
you if you grow up in the Quad Cities, Cubs
or Cardinals, maybe.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Yeah, and maybe it's.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
Hawkeyes or Cyclones to some extent, but I know Bears fans,
Vikes fans. I mean, it's just it. It's a mess
in Iowa for proports, sports love. You can pick just
anybody you want.

Speaker 4 (39:06):
Because it's three hours to hear it's four change to Chicago,
it's five to Green Bay, it's three to Saint Louis,
it's four to Kansas City. I think I got those
numbers mixed up. But like for instance, no one cares
about your fantasy league, but just my group of friends
from high school. Let's see Chiefs, Chiefs, Steelers, Steelers, Rams, Saints, Steelers, Saints, Chargers, Vikings, Falcons, Colts.

(39:36):
That's my high school friend fantasy league. That's their allegiances
could all over the place.

Speaker 1 (39:40):
I can see India.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
If you grow up on the east side, that makes sense,
south southwest side, you're probably going to be a Chiefs fan.
That's okay. What I am glad though I'll say this
to tip my cap to is he didn't mention, Like
I just figured there'd be at least one buddy of
yours who huge Cowboys fan. Oh, he's loving what Aaron
Judge is doing in New York. You can't wait to
see what Lebron and Luca can do this time around.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
Like you didn't. You didn't mention any of those guys,
so you know, cowboys in the mix, etc.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
So I'm I'm glad that you didn't have that going
for you or against you.

Speaker 4 (40:12):
I should say, well, they wouldn't be in my league
if that was the case.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
Or you can also say, on the other hand, the
benefit is you're not by blood and by location latched
onto a team that is zero and four in Super
Bowls and hasn't been back to one since the seventies.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
So there are other ways.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
To look at that too, your ability to peek over
the fence and see if the grass is indeed greener.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
We'll have more Vikes Bites later.

Speaker 2 (40:36):
Yeah, the injury report is preposterous right now, specifically the
focal point being the offensive line. And we're gonna pause,
come back, Ben Lieber, And it sounds like Pa is
actually going to jump on with liber at ten am,
so we're gonna chat with both of them, and I'm
sure health will be part of that conversation.

Speaker 1 (40:52):
But we'll pause briefly, come back, catch up on the
clock here. Nine to noon. Vikes Bites brought to you
by Thousand Hills. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
All of you, whether you are educators, innovators, or I
don't know whatever you are. Thanks for listening tonight to noon.
Thanks for the talkbacks as well. Dramatic pause.

Speaker 5 (41:14):
Sorry, no, this is Ralph ful New Jersey. I am
tired of an offensive line that's inept for all these years.
Who is the strengthening coach on this team? That's what

(41:35):
you've got to figure out. There's too many injuries. Nagan injuries, hamstrings, ankles,
what's going on? Skull forever?

Speaker 1 (41:46):
What's going on? What's going on?

Speaker 2 (41:50):
Forget what the name of that song? Maybe it's maybe
the song itself is what's going on? I'm asking myself
that exact same question. Ralph school Forever, Good.

Speaker 3 (41:59):
Morning, gentlemen, want Kenny and Dalouth. My question to you is,
I know, as banged up as we are in Cleveland
starting a rookie quarterback, will that be vote well for
the Vikings? Possibly? And also if Cleveland does lose to
the Vikings, is Kevin Stevanski possibly on the chopping block

(42:23):
going one and four? If we win?

Speaker 1 (42:25):
Thanks, have a good day guys. By Yeah, you have
a good day as well.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
Kenny, appreciate the talkbacks free iHeartRadio app Yeah into this game.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
I don't know if maybe maybe it just needs to end.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
Similarly with the Minnesota Twins, if you were thinking, what
are if you put a list together, what are the
top ten reasons that this organization is franchise is as
destitute as it is. I'm sure Roco Baldelli would have
made the top ten of factors involved. But given the

(42:57):
temperature of things, the pulse, given the sentiment of the
fan base. I'd imagine ownership group and Falvee would be like,
I mean, you just write po lads, polelads, Pole lads,
Pole lads, pole ads. Falve maybe Falvey again, and then
injuries to stars. You know who's their strength and conditioning coach, right,

(43:18):
and and you'd put that in there, and then somewhere
in the top ten, let's say it's seven, eight, nine.

Speaker 1 (43:22):
Ish, it would be it'd be Rocco.

Speaker 2 (43:25):
I think I think Stefanski, two time Coach of the Year,
what he has done with the Cleveland Browns, even finding
their way to the playoffs. He was out for that
for that wild card game. I think it was against
the Steelers. Baker and company go out. Maybe Alex van
Pelt was the fill in coach. We dealt with that
in a regular season game. Mike Preefer was coaching the

(43:46):
Vikings while Zimmer Zimmer had that nasty eye situation feeling
muf to punt Jeremiah Searles with a false start on
a two point conversion. Now the two points from the seven.
I think it was an incomplete to Jerrick McKinnon and
that was all she wrote, and the issues abound. I
just I look at this team. I look at the

(44:06):
defense he's built from a health standpoint, whether it's it's
the devastating injury that they endured with with Chubb offensively,
just kind of the in and out nature of things.
Had had some options with, you know, in Djoku. Not
a bad option. Certainly Amari Cooper had some good days there,
but it's really stemmed from finding the right quarterback to

(44:27):
this spot and the front office, even with what was
maybe later confirmed, I forget the timeline of the Deshaun
Watson ridiculousness where when he went to Cleveland, I believe
the buzzards and the news was circling, but maybe there
hadn't been like in process suits yet and they commit

(44:49):
the what two hundred and forty million guaranteed to him,
and that was just a complete disaster. And now DeShawn
whether it was the social implications of that that changed
who he was as a player. Now you're having these injuries.
It's just been nothing short of cataclysmically bad. Uh with
the with the Deshaun Watson situation, and now you're going
back to the well, you're trying your hand with Flacco.

(45:10):
Flaco won you some games a few years ago A
couple of years ago, and now he's just thrown it
to the other team more than he's throwing it to
his own team. You have Shadu or Sanders doing mind
bits in the locker room. Certainly a talented player, but
maybe you kind of start to understand why he was
a Day three selection and nouns Dylan Gabriel, I mean
that the carousel qb for for Stefanski in some ways, it's.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
Almost like he never left the Vikings.

Speaker 2 (45:35):
So he was thinking to himself, I'm looking I'm looking
forward to to a head coaching opportunity.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
You know, for me, it's it's it's not.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
Zimmer ESQ, but it's kind of a Kubiak esque offense.
I'm gonna I'm gonna run the ball and I'm gonna
strike downfield and and I need, you know, to find
their way to Miles Garrett and it just some really
really good pieces defensively he puts this thing together, and
just the quarterback situation, I just I hope when I
find my first head coaching job, I can find some
stability at that position. And he actually picked the franchise

(46:03):
maybe that has had more instability at the quarterback position
than anyone in the NFL, including the Vikings over the
last twenty five years.

Speaker 1 (46:11):
So it's I don't think.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
I don't think his job's going to be in jeopardy
simply because if they lose to the Vikings on Sunday,
I think I think the sand is running out of
that hour glass just in general, where similar to that Roco.
The reason I brought that up is kind of the
idea is, can't fire the players, and so you're gonna
make at some Pointstfanski's probably gonna lose his job because

(46:35):
of their inability to find somebody to operate under center
at a high level. And we'll see what Dylan Gabriel has,
you know, just kind of onto the next one, the
south paw. You know that ball comes out different when
they're left handed. You just say, you just don't know.
It's a completely different universe to catch the thing. But
but it's going to be interesting to see how they
how they employ or deploy Dylan Gabriel, this quinsan when

(46:58):
we're gonna pause, here's get let's get liber and Pa
into the mix, because I am fascinated with this quin
Shawn Judkins and how effective he is at doing what
Stefanski wants to do. However, they haven't really been explosive
or successful with it through the first four games. This
is a Vikings operation, whether it was gain Well finding
his way to nearly he's at the doorstep of one

(47:18):
hundred yards with two tds.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
We saw what Bejon did week two.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
You know, both the Vikings losses, the inability to stop
the run has been a really important and vital part
of the story. And Judkins is a talented cat. So
let's pause. Let's jump out to London Weekly guest. Of course,
Ben liber on site on scene, the host himself. He's
taking a breather. I had to walk like half a
mile from practice to where the the access and everything
is set up.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
So we've given him, i.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Think, proper breathing time, and we're going to reset this
thing around the corner and chat with Pa and the Vox.
Second hour ahead. It's Nordo in for Pa for now.
It's not a noon on the fan.