Shame Watch Congratulations

Congratulations are in order for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. They ended 2007 with a ten-game losing streak--tied for the nation's longest active streak--and they let a 24-13 third quarter lead get away when Northern Illinois scored midway through the fourth to take a 27-24 lead. They even fumbled away their next drive, but quarterback Adam Weber marched his team down the field for a 10-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD run from Duane Bennett with 22 seconds remaining to seal the 31-27 victory. Sophomore Weber played decently last year, starting all 12 games as a freshman (2895 yards, 24 TDs), with the exception of one category--his 19 interceptions tied for the second most in the nation in 2007. However, 2008 began nicely 24-37, 298 yards, 2 TDs, and most importantly no interceptions. Bennett, also a sophomore, carried the ball 18 times for 92 yards with a 61-yard TD scamper in addition to his game winning dive.

Congrats again, Golden Gophers, and best of luck next week at Bowling Green.

Shame Watch also wishes to congratulate

• Duke on ending their 9-game losing streak in David Cutcliff's first game as head coach with a 31-7 victory over I-AA James Madison. Of course, their I-A losing streak is still alive.
• UNLV on ending their 8-game losing streak with their 27-17 win over Utah State.
• South Carolina on ending Steve Spurier's career longest five-game losing streak once they got things in gear in the second half of their 34-0 win over NC State on Thursday night.
• Ole Miss on winning Houston Nutt's debut, beating Memphis 41-24, and they ended their five-game losing streak to I-A opponents.