Inside Minnesota: Locker rooms the size of Decatur

Check out Bob's video interview with another Minnesota writer here

Bob Asmussen's chat with  St. Paul Pioneer-Press sports editor and Illinois alum Mike Bass (not the kicker)

What are your impressions of TCF Bank Stadium?

It's on campus, and it's not the Metrodome. Those two reasons alone make this stadium a success. At the Metrodome, you sometimes wondered which team was the home team. And have you heard about the locker room? It's the size of Decatur.

What kind of impact do you think it will have on the Minnesota football program?

Huge, potentially. Imagine trying to sell a recruit on playing at the Metrodome. "If you come here, kid, you'll ... well ... your parents won't have to worry about a traffic jam on game day." Now a recruit can walk on campus to a football palace, see one of the biggest video screens anywhere for football, enter the biggest locker room ever built for football and watch a game with fans actually cheering for the tenant. It doesn't have the tradition of an Ohio Stadium or Michigan Stadium, but how many major-college programs can show you a brand-new stadium? For the Gophers to become a Big Ten contender after all these years as also-rans, they desperately needed something like this to lure recruits.

Has the stadium improved the homefield advantage for the Gophers?

There were times the Metrodome was more like a neutral site – or worse. The Metrodome works for the Vikings, because the place is packed in purple and the noise can be inspiring to the team and deafening to the opponent. Have you ever been to the Dome when Wisconsin was here? Or Iowa? There seemed to be at least as many fans rooting for the visiting team and with a lot more passion. Can you imagine Northwestern coming to Memorial Stadium, beating the Illini and Wildcats fans tearing down the goalpost? It happened here one year when Iowa beat Minnesota. Now the Gophers have sellout crowds and fans who aren't collecting Social Security. They are creating an atmosphere that should help the team. The question is, will the team be good enough in the future to keep people coming back?

How much is Minnesota going to miss Eric Decker?

He was Minnesota's best player and only effective playmaker on an offense that was a huge disappointment. That said, the Gophers relied way too much on him instead of developing other options. Their switch from the spread to a pro-style offense, and quarterback Adam Weber's regression under what seemed to be his 786th offensive coordinator, was backfiring. Without Decker, they are forced to look at other players, and it actually seemed to work last week against Michigan State. Weber finally had a breakout game, passing for more than 400 yards, and at least temporarily ending the screams for freshman MarQueis Gray to replace him instead of occasionally rotating in for him.

It's Year 3 of the Tim Brewster Era. Is it a hit, a miss or too close to call?

This seems to change every week. We know he has helped recruiting. We know the boosters and the community really took to his enthusiasm and accessibility, hearing him go on and on about "Gopher Nation" (when people didn't even know there was such a thing) and reaching the Rose Bowl (when people had forgotten there was such a thing). Year 1 was a one-win nightmare, blamed on rebuilding. Year 2 was bizarre, a 7-1 start followed by an 0-5 collapse. Year 3 was supposed to be about building something more reliable, dealing better with adversity, proving he was worthy of a contract extension. Back-to-back losses at Penn State and Ohio State were understandable, but not that brutal offensively (one consolation touchdown over the two games?), and you had to start wondering whether Brewster could prevent another collapse. But the win over Michigan State leaves the Gophers one game from bowl eligibility – with a likely gimme coming a week from Saturday against South Dakota State. A win over Illinois this week should mean the Gophers will match last season's victory total, which seemed inconceivable going into this season, considering the schedule.

When's Minnesota going to tear down that dump Williams Arena?

Why not ask when Minnesota is going to close all its lakes, disown Garrison Keillor and burn its hockey sticks? Williams Arena is an icon. Would you tear down the Alma Mater? Or Papa Del's? It's the Barn, my friend. It's the raised court. It's the history. Is it a little dated? Perhaps. But it's on campus – and at least it's not the Metrodome.

Give us a prediction for Saturday's game with a brief explanation.

Will we see The Good Juice Williams again? Will we see The Good Adam Weber again? If we see both, it could be a wild game. If we see neither, this one could rival that classic 0-0 Northwestern game I (gulp) witnessed as an Illinois undergrad. But this one means too much for Brewster to lose. It's against his alma mater, which hired Ron Zook instead of him. It would guarantee him a second straight bowl game, all but assure him of as many wins as last season, and boost his case for a new contract. And he can turn to the talented yet green Gray if The Bad Adam Weber reappears. Minnesota 27, Illinois 23.

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