Minnesota
Penn State Vs. Minnesota: Keys to the Game
Penn State is entering its penultimate game of the 2024 regular season, a final away matchup at Minnesota to face P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers. Minnesota (6-4) stands in the way of a potential 11-1 finish for the Nittany Lions. And while Fleck’s squad is unranked and a 12-point underdog, according to DraftKings, it has enough talent to cause fits for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions (9-1) have excelled this season when favored to win, avoiding letdowns against unranked opponents. A 33-30 overtime victory over USC is the closest call that James Franklin’s group has had. To maintain that success, Penn State will need some strong execution against a rested and well-prepared Minnesota squad.
Penn State vs. Minnesota predictions
Protecting the ball
Minnesota’s defense feasts on turnovers. While they’ve mostly come through 16 interceptions, the Golden Gophers also have forced seven fumbles, recovering four. Ball security, of course, is key in every game but will become especially important for Penn State when facing an opportunistic defense that tends to end up with the ball one way or another.
“They do have some ball hawks in their secondary, but they make plays when the plays come to them,” Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said. “I can’t just give them opportunities, because they’ll capitalize on it. And you know, a decent amount of their picks have actually been forced by their D-line, whether it’s like, a tipped pass that just falls into a linebacker or the quarterback getting hit and the ball … just finds a way to their hands.”
One mistake from Allar or Beau Pribula through the air could easily become a wasted possession for Penn State. With the Nittany Lions ranked fourth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, they can’t afford to give Minnesota’s offense extra scoring chances and find fuel for a potential home upset. The turnover battle could wind up telling the story of Saturday’s game, especially if it happens to swing in Minnesota’s favor.
“We’ve always preached about ball security, no matter what, who we’re going against, and it’s definitely a talking point for us every week, so we’re going to take great pride in that,” Allar said. “Obviously, with a team like this, the way they’re built, they’re similar to us in the fact that they want to control the ball and they want to force turnovers. So we’re just going to have to be disciplined and stick to our game plan.”
An efficient offensive ground game
Going back to its success in favorable matchups, Penn State is 66-3 against unranked teams since 2016, when factoring out the 2020 season. For as much criticism as Franklin and the Nittany Lions faced for losing to Ohio State a few weeks ago, and for losses against other top-5 opponents in past seasons, they almost always take care of business when they’re “supposed” to win. And one key in avoiding potential upsets is keeping the opposing team’s offense off the field.
Against unranked, but certainly capable opponents in West Virginia, USC, Wisconsin and Washington, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen racked up a combined 494 rushing yards on 99 attempts, nearly 5 yards per carry. As Penn State faces a similar opponent this week, controlling the clock and letting two of the top backs in the Big Ten go to work can help the Nittany Lions diminish any momentum Minnesota finds.
With Fleck’s secondary also being one of the conference’s best, Penn State would be wise to avoid risking any big-shot throws and attack the defense where it’s most vulnerable. The Golden Gophers allow 119.8 rushing yards per game — and in each of its conference losses to Iowa, Michigan and Rutgers, Minnesota allowed at least 109 rushing yards.
“I would say where we need to get better at is just being able to strain a little bit more in the run game, and get more finishes and more movement against teams to create more running lanes for Nick [Singleton] and Kaytron [Allen],” offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh said Wednesday. “I feel like going into [practice] and going into this game, we’re going to have a really good plan to be able to combat [Minnesota’s takeaways].”
Andy Kotelnicki brings his Minnesota roots to Penn State’s offense
Make Darius Taylor’s day a rough one
Minnesota starting back Darius Taylor has three games this season with at least 120 rushing yards. Minnesota won each game, including a 25-17 victory over ranked Illinois. In the Golden Gophers’ three conference losses, Taylor managed just 32.7 rushing yards per game and ran for 3.0 yards per carry.
Taylor adds some complexity as a strong receiving back (312 receiving yards), but when he’s running well out of the backfield, Minnesota’s offense has clicked much more. Quarterback Max Brosmer, completing 67.1 percent of his passes this season, is also at his best when he has a strong ground game to lean on, focusing on his efficiency and avoiding turnovers rather than having to do the heavy lifting offensively.
In 2022, Penn State successfully slowed Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis in a blowout win. But when the Golden Gophers pulled off a 31-26 upset in 2019, the Nittany Lions’ defense let quarterback Tanner Morgan do whatever he wanted, racking up 339 yards and three touchdowns on 18-for-20 passing. That type of production from Brosmer would be disastrous this time around. But should the Nittany Lions handle Taylor and Minnesota’s run game well, containing the Golden Gophers’ senior quarterback should become simpler.
“[Brosmer] I think is playing really well. … In the last three or four games he’s done a really good job of protecting the football. Their running back, No. 1, Darius Taylor, is a big back and has been playing really well for the last two years,” Franklin said. “… We’re going to have to go and play well to find a way to get a win on the road here in the Big Ten.”
The Nittany Lions will take on Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS.
More Penn State Football
Is Penn State’s defense getting overlooked this season?
For James Franklin, another pivotal moment at Minnesota
James Franklin weighs in on the Big Ten, SEC and the College Football Playoff
Daniel Mader, a May 2024 graduate of Penn State, is an Editorial Intern with The Sporting News. As a student journalist with The Daily Collegian, he served as a sports editor and covered Nittany Lions women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and more. He has also covered Penn State football for NBC Sports and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with additional work in the Centre Daily Times, Lancaster Online and more. Follow him on X @DanielMader_ or Instagram @dmadersports.
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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