End game - is it over for Brewster?

Editors Note:

Aaron Ziemer is the News/Sports Director at Marshall Radio in Marshall, MN. He covers the Vikings/Twins/Gophers/Timberwolves/Wild in addition to handling local sports responsibilities in Southwest Minnesota and he is in his 8th year as the voice of Southwest Minnesota State Football/Basketball. We are thrilled to announce he’s also now a contributing writer for Cold Omaha.

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By Aaron Ziemer

The question has to be asked. What is the future of the Gopher Football program?

Count me as one of the people around Minnesota College Football that was stunned. I knew the Gophers had lost to North Dakota State once, and struggled to beat South Dakota State last year, but I never anticipated South Dakota would go into TCF Bank Stadium and give the Gophers a game.

We were told Brewster was a recruiter, not a coach. Clearly he isn’t a coach, but at least Michael Floyd looks great in Maroon and Gold, running pass patterns in the Gophers wide open offense…oh… sorry, he’s in Notre Dame.

Well at least, Seantrel Henderson is doing a wonderful job protecting Adam Weber—about that.

Well at least Eric Decker, the Rocori standout, was a terrific get for Brewster—oh he was a Mason recruit…wait a minute, I thought Brewster was a recruiter.

There is a fine line between talking the talk, and walking the walk, to me, it is glaringly obvious that Brewster is the former, and not the latter. He came in with Rose Bowl Dreams, and less than Music City Bowl results.

Usually in athletics things are never as bad or as good as they seem. But, how do you even begin to prepare a team to face USC, when you have just lost to South Dakota? That is the question that Tim Brewster is asking himself this week.

The question is for how much longer will he be coaching a Big Ten football team? I’m not big on firing a guy mid-season in college football, but was I the only one that noticed the gleaming smile on Glen Mason’s face on the Big Ten Network Saturday after the game. I didn’t think so.

VIKINGS NEED TO FIND A RECEIVER

I am not overly concerned with the Vikings loss to New Orleans. In fact, I think there are some really big positives out of the game, namely on the defensive side of the ball.

The Vikings did a great job keeping the Saints high scoring offense in check. After the opening drive, the Vikings defense rallied and kept them in the game. That was nice to see. I will remind all Vikings fans that 2010, isn’t going to be 2009, the Vikings have a brutally tough schedule, and will have to find a way to win at least three of the following road games this year to win the division.

They play tough road games at New England, Green Bay, Washington, Philadelphia, and Chicago. I think the Vikings need to win at least three of those games, in order to have a shot to win the NFC North. I think that is definitely within reach, for Minnesota, but offensively they need to get on the same page.

A late arriving Brett Favre, Percy Harvin’s health problems, and Sidney Rice’s injuries all played a factor in the Vikings looking out of sync offensively last week at New Orleans. I would expect them to look much more in sync on Sunday against Miami, and I’m excited about Greg Camarillo’s ability to get open for the Vikings offense, but I don’t think that the playmakers are there at the receiver position right now.

The Vikings need to find one, and about the only option out there to help a team out is Vincent Jackson, the soon to be former San Diego receiver. I like him, he’s another big target, and by trading him and signing him long term, would allow the Vikings to have a big target in Sidney Rice’s absence, and just think what it could mean when Sidney returns… maybe a long overdue adieu for Bernard Berrian?

We can only hope.