Football
20y

Gophers accept Sun Bowl invitation

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Gophers accepted an invitation
on Sunday night to play in the Sun Bowl, although they couldn't
mask their disappointment about being passed over by Alamo Bowl
officials.

"We were hopeful," athletics director Joel Maturi said.

"To say we're disappointed I don't think is fair, because we
are going to a bowl. We're playing a quality opponent. We need to
turn this into a positive," Maturi said.

It's the fourth bowl game in five years for No. 24 Minnesota
(9-3, 5-3 Big Ten) under head coach Glen Mason and the ninth in
program history. The Gophers finished tied for fourth in the
conference this season.

The game -- which will be played Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas -- will
be a rematch of the 1999 Sun Bowl, which Oregon won 24-20. It's the
seventh straight bowl game for the Ducks (8-4, 5-3 Pac-10), who
finished tied for third in the Pac-10.

"This is going to be one of the best teams we've ever played in
a bowl game," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said.

Bellotti said he had talked to some Michigan coaches about the
Gophers. "They said Minnesota could run the ball against
anybody," he said. "I think we have a tremendous challenge ahead
of us in terms of trying to slow down and contain that great
running game."

Michigan defeated Minnesota 38-35 after losing to Oregon 31-27
earlier.

"We know we have our hands full because we know how good
Michigan is and we saw on tape what Oregon did to them," Minnesota
defensive coordinator Greg Hudson said.

The Gophers spent the past few weeks lobbying for an invitation
to the more prestigious Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, but officials
instead chose Michigan State. The Spartans also tied for fourth
place with Minnesota and Iowa but beat the Gophers 44-38 in
October.

Last week, Maturi said he was optimistic about his team's Alamo
Bowl chances but knew the Gophers' reputation for not traveling
well would hurt. Fewer than 2,000 fans followed Minnesota to last
year's Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn.

The Gophers won nine games for the first time since 1905 and
started the season 6-0, but they were criticized for padding their
record with a soft non-conference schedule.

They got off to a strong start in the Big Ten by beating Penn
State and Northwestern, but suffered consecutive losses to Michigan
and Michigan State. They were routed in their season finale 40-22
at Iowa. And the Gophers didn't have to play Big Ten powerhouses
Ohio State or Purdue this year.

"This is the penalty we pay if you want to look at it as
such," Maturi said. "But that's not fair to the people of El Paso
and the Sun Bowl."

The university said tickets would go on sale Monday.

Sunday's decision was delayed because bowl officials were
waiting to see if Ohio State would get an at-large bid in the Bowl
Championship Series. But it also gave Gophers fans one less week to
make travel plans.

Mason was traveling and unavailable for comment.

Minnesota safety Eli Ward said the team is happy to be playing
in a bowl, even if it's not the one they were hoping for.

"We did lose a couple of close games," Ward said. "If we
would've pulled those out, we might be going somewhere better. I'm
happy to go to a bowl game regardless."

Offensive tackle Rian Melander agreed.

"I'm not really disappointed. We have a great opportunity to go
on national television and prove once again that we're a good
team."

^------=

Andres Ybarra can be reached at aybarra(at)ap.org

^ Back to Top ^