Minnesota
Minnesota vs Maryland: 10 Terrapins to know ahead of Saturday
Minnesota vs Maryland: 10 Terrapins to know ahead of Saturday
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-3, 2-2) will look to improve to over .500 in Big Ten play this weekend when they play host to the Maryland Terrapins at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Gophers enter week nine fresh off their first bye week of the season, a much needed bye week after seven grueling weeks including a west coast trip to UCLA in week seven. After back-to-back wins over USC and UCLA, the Gophers are over .500 for the season and two wins away from bowl eligibility.
Maryland enters this weekend with a 4-3 record overall after picking up their first conference win of the season last weekend against USC with a 29-28 win, coming back from a 14-point deficit against the Trojans.
As we continue to prepare for Saturday’s matchup, Gophers Nation offers up 10 Terrapins that Golden Gophers fans should know.
Edwards leads the Big Ten in completions, passing yards and passing yards per game this season. Through seven games, he’s totaled 2,113 passing yards and is averaging 301.9 passing yards per game. He’s been very efficient this season with a 70.1% completion percentage and 13 touchdowns to just four interceptions.
One of the more underrated tailbacks in the Big Ten, Hempby is averaging 4.8 yards per carry this season and is averaging 53.1 yards per contest. He also has 22 receptions for 144 yards and one touchdown. He is looking for a third straight season of 1,000+ yards from scrimmage but will need to pick up the pace with just 516 yards through seven games.
The Big Ten’s leading wide receiver, Felton has 64 receptions this season for 803 yards and six touchdowns. After recording 100+ receiving yards in each of the Terrapins’ first four games, he amassed 199 yards over the last three games.
Prather gets overshadowed quite a bit by Felton but is a strong wide receiver in his own right. The former West Virginia Mountaineer is in his second season with the program. This season he has recorded 43 receptions for 461 yards and three touchdowns. He had his first 100+ yard game of the season last week against USC with nine receptions for 111 yards.
Maryland’s most dangerous defender when it comes to getting into the backfield, Wyatt has 22 tackles this season including a team leading seven tackles for loss and is tied for the team lead in sacks as well with three.
Another dangerous linebacker for the Terrapins, Wheatland has 28 tackles this season cinluding six tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. He’s one tackle and one sack off in setting new career highs. He also has one fumble receovery and two pass deflections this season.
The Terrapins linebacker room is pretty good if you haven’t noticed and Hyppolite might be the best of the bunch. He has 33 tackles this season including three tackles for loss. He also has one interception and one pass deflection. The former four-star prospect is coming off one of his best game of the season with seven takcles against USC.
Miller has been Maryland’s best cornerback this season which is notable considering the Terps have allowed 269.4 yards per game through the air this season. Miller has been targeted more than any other cornerback this season for Maryland has done an admirable job. He’s only allowed two touchdowns while intercepting four passes and breaking up an additional three.
The Bowling Green transfer has been solid in his first season with Maryland, recording 30 tackles but also picking off three passes and breaking up one additional pass.
The former Notre Dame punter is one of the best punters in the Big Ten this season, averaging 46.5 yards per punt. The mark ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 11th nationally. He’s a true weapon at the punting position and can flip field position from virtually anywhere.
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Minnesota
Vikings Have a Dubious Connection to the Dexter Lawrence Trade
Of the many terrible roster decisions Minnesota sports teams have made over the past 30 years, the worst of the bunch may have been trading Randy Moss to the Raiders for the No. 7 pick in the draft and linebacker Napoleon Harris.
Why are we bringing up a trade that happened 21 years ago? Because the New York Giants traded defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 pick in this week’s NFL Draft. It was the first time a non-quarterback has been traded for a top-10 pick since the infamous Moss trade in 2005.
Minnesota traded Moss for the Raiders’ first-round pick, Harris, and a seventh-round pick on March 2, 2005. The Vikings used the No. 7 pick on wide receiver Troy Williamson, who never panned out in the NFL. He had 24 catches for 372 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, 37 receptions for 457 yards and zero touchdowns in 2006, and just 18 catches for 240 yards and one touchdown in 2007.
Williams led the league with 11 dropped passes in 2006. Minnesota traded him to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick after the 2007 season, where he played in 10 games over two seasons and totaled just eight catches for 64 yards. He was cut before the start of the 2010 season, and that was a wrap on the former South Carolina speedster’s NFL career.
Moss didn’t put up jaw-dropping numbers with the Raiders for two seasons, but he set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches in 2007 with the New England Patriots. He caught 47 touchdowns in 48 regular-season games with the Patriots from 2007 to 2009.
Whether it was trading Moss to the Raiders, the Timberwolves sending Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics — or drafting Ricky Rubio AND Johnny Flynn over Steph Curry — or the Twins cutting David Ortiz and watching him become one of the greatest players in MLB history with the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota sports teams have a long history of making terrible decisions.
The Bengals, meanwhile, gave up the 10th overall pick for one of the best defensive tackles in the league. They’ll likely get great production from Lawrence, while the Giants are now under pressure to get the 10th pick right. New York also holds the No. 5 pick in Thursday’s first round of the draft.
By the way, the Vikings had two picks in the first round of the 2005 draft. After taking Williamson, they used the No. 18 pick on defensive end Erasmus James. He was just as much of a bust as Williams, playing in 23 games in three years with the Vikings. He had four sacks as a rookie, but injuries wiped out most of his 2006 and 2007 seasons before he was traded to Washington for a conditional seventh-round pick.
James was cut by Washington in December 2009, marking the end of his NFL career.
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Minnesota
Boldy, Eriksson Ek help Wild cruise past Stars in Game 1 of Western 1st Round | NHL.com
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who are the No. 3 seed in the Central Division. Wallstedt made 27 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, and Zuccarello had three assists.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Wallstedt, a rookie. “I think it shows that it means something to you. I like a little bit of nerves. I think it’s something good. There were definitely some nerves throughout the day and then a little bit extra rolling into the game. But after the national anthem was over and the first couple pucks started coming, you’re good.
“I wanted to play and I felt like I have been going good. I was a little surprised (to get the start). But I was very excited as soon as I got the news. I just wanted to make sure I was ready today.”
Jason Robertson scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 2 seed in the Central.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think two power-play goals for them, two a little-bit bounces for them where we had guys in the right spot. Just even keel. Playoffs are like this. Sometimes you lose a game, you can feel like you’re done. But that’s the mentality you need to have, you’ve got to reset and learn from mistakes.
“First 30 minutes, we didn’t win enough battles. They were just that little bit stronger in the battles and that’s why they were able to make us defend more than we want to. Just got to be stronger.”
Game 2 is here on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).
“We prepped for a couple days coming into this one. Now, we will gather information from this game and continue to move forward,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “For me, it’s game to game and day to day. We want to continue to get better. We won and they [Dallas] lost. It’s not so much being satisfied where you’re at or that’s what it is. We need to continue to find ways to get better.”
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period on the power play. He scored on a one-timer from the left hash marks to finish a tic-tac-toe passing play with Zuccarello and Boldy, who found an open Eriksson Ek with a pass from the goal line.
“I think every team in the playoffs talks about not getting too high or too low. Just enjoy every day and each game and then we will go from there,” Eriksson Ek said. “I think we played pretty good today. The next game is a new game, so we just have to do it over and over every game. We know they are probably not the happiest with that game, so I am sure it’s going to be hard next game.”
Minnesota
ICE agent assault charge marks a ‘milestone’ for Minnesota prosecutors
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault accusing him of involvement in a February road-rage incident.
Trump administration ends Minnesota immigration operation
Border Czar Tom Homan announced the end of Minnesota’s immigration operation after fatal shootings heightened tension and community backlash.
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault, saying the agent was involved in a February road-rage incident during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., 35, faces two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, according to April 16 Hennepin County court records. He has a nationwide warrant for his arrest.
On Feb. 5, prosecutors said Morgan allegedly drove illegally on the shoulder of a congested Minnesota highway in an unmarked SUV and pointed his weapon at two people in another car.
Morgan is the first agent charged in Operation Metro Surge, the controversial Minneapolis-area federal immigration operation that resulted in two American citizens fatally shot by federal officials, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
The charges “reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in an April 16 video statement.
Second-degree assault with a gun has a presumptive sentence of 36 months in prison if convicted, she said.
“Mr. Morgan’s conduct was extremely dangerous,” she said, adding his actions could have led to “another disastrous incident” in the community.
Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to email requests for comment. A cell phone listed for Morgan, identified as a Maryland resident, didn’t immediately respond to a call or text message.
The incident came less than two weeks after two Customs and Border Protection officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, during a protest in Minneapolis. Pretti would be the second American killed during Metro Surge after an ICE agent in early January fatally shot Renee Good, 37, while she drove her SUV in Minneapolis near an immigration operation.
Later in February, the Trump administration drew down Metro Surge, which officials called the largest immigration operation in modern American history.
Investigators said they interviewed Morgan, who identified himself as the driver. Morgan told investigators he and the other ICE employee were returning from a surveillance shift. Morgan said he feared for his life and others’ safety, so he pulled up alongside the vehicle and drew his Glock 19 firearm. He said he identified himself as police.
State investigators said neither Morgan nor the other ICE agent reported the incident to an ICE supervisor.
The April 16 warrant, signed by District Court Judge Paul Scoggin, said there was a “substantial likelihood” Morgan would fail to respond to a summons, and officials couldn’t locate him.
On April 18, Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the county attorney’s office, said there is no knowledge of Morgan being arrested yet.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
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