Reflecting on that big Vikings win, plus a preview of Minnesota vs. Iowa
Minnesota Vikings fullback C.J. Ham enters the end zone for a touchdown as Buffalo Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard, 43, and linebacker Tyrel Dodson, 53, try to defend in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Joshua Bessex | AP
Vikings fans can’t wipe the smile off their faces after last Sunday’s win. And how are the Gophers looking ahead of this weekend’s game against Iowa?
Host Cathy Wurzer talked with our sports guys Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson about all that and more.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Vikings fans can't wipe the grin off their faces. The Vikes are on a roll. One of the topics we're going to talk about with our sports guys Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Wally's the founder of Minnesota Score sports magazine and the co-host of 10,000 Takes on radio and TV. Eric Nelson's the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports' Eye on the NFL. Eric is also the co-host of 10,000 Takes. Hey, guys. How are you?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Great. How are you?
CATHY WURZER: It's been a long week.
ERIC NELSON: Cathy, good to chat.
CATHY WURZER: Likewise, Eric. Thank you very much. All right. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop with the Vikes, but it has not done that yet. They've won seven straight. It's amazing.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. Well, it looked like it was going to drop about four different times last Sunday in Buffalo, but somehow, someway, as Viking fans know, they pulled one out of the fire again. And they have now won, as you mentioned, seven in a row. And not only have they won seven in a row, but they have won seven one score football games. It's amazing.
Last year, they lost eight games that were decided by one score or less. Now, the win in Buffalo came courtesy of some spectacular plays none better than the one by Justin Jefferson. The Vikings were facing a fourth and 18 basically on about their own 20 yard line, and he goes up and makes some ridiculous one handed catch that kept the drive alive. And they eventually go on to win the football game.
The highlights that were shown on Sunday Night Football at halftime, after the game, Monday Night Football-- they all led with this Vikings/Bills game. And they called it the game of the Year in the NFL. Again, I don't need to tell Viking fans how much fun it was to watch that game. It was a roller coaster, but they won. And on they go now, and the Dallas Cowboys are coming to town.
CATHY WURZER: Have you ever seen a catch, by the way, that was that good?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: You're right. There aren't many better catches in Viking history-- maybe in NFL history-- than the one we saw last Sunday.
CATHY WURZER: Eric?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, no doubt one of the more acrobatic grabs I think anybody's ever seen in the history of the NFL. The legend of Justin Jefferson just keeps growing week to week. He's played 40 games in his career. In 20 of those games, he's gone over 100 yards receiving. That is remarkable. Now, Wally mentioned Dallas comes in here on Sunday. The Cowboys are 6 and 3. They are a solid team, and it'll be interesting to see how the Vikings fare against Dallas.
CATHY WURZER: Let's talk about the Gophers-- Gopher football. Now, are they still Bowl eligible?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, they're Bowl eligible, but the chances of them winning the Big Ten West are rather slim. They're going to need a lot of help. First of all, they've got to beat Iowa and Wisconsin, and let's take Iowa first. Under PJ Fleck, they have not beaten Iowa. If they do beat Iowa, then they have to go to Wisconsin and beat the Badgers-- something that they have been able to do of late.
PJ Fleck has actually done well against Bucky, but they're going to still need some help outside of that because they lose the tiebreaker with Purdue. And they also lose it with Illinois, but Illinois has to go to Michigan this week, so I think we can pretty much write Illinois off. But Purdue-- get this. They have Northwestern, and the Gophers saw how bad Northwestern is. And then they have Indiana, and Indiana isn't much better than Northwestern.
So they would need Purdue to lose one of those two, and the Gophers would have to win their last two if they want to win the Big Ten West and go to the Big Ten Championship game. But anyway, the point is that Minnesota does have Iowa in town. And of course, the pig is at stake on Saturday. The Floyd of Rosedale trophy goes to the winner annually of the Minnesota/Iowa football game.
CATHY WURZER: A pig trophy, OK.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: The pig!
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. And Cathy, get ready for the Iowa invasion. The Hawkeye fan base travels extremely well, and I expect them to stage their biannual coup de tau of Dinkytown and the Twin Cities. I think there will probably be anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 Iowa Hawkeye fans-- going to be a lot of black and gold in the venue.
The other thing is Iowa's got a ton of motivation. Wally laid out the way Minnesota can win the Big Ten West-- their path to the Big Ten title game. But for Iowa, it's real simple. If the Hawkeyes win their last two games of the season and Illinois loses at least once-- and they should probably go down at Michigan-- Iowa is the Big Ten West Champion. So a lot at stake for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and they are playing much better than they were earlier in the year.
CATHY WURZER: OK. Let's talk about high school football. I say that because, of course, the semifinals are coming up at US Bank Stadium.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: They're underway today, as a matter of fact, and will go through Saturday. The big game tonight features a rematch of last year's big school championship-- that's Class 6A-- Lakeville South, the defending state champions, playing Maple Grove. And Maple Grove is the number one team in the state this year, and they are unbeaten so far now at 11 or 0 having won their first three playoff games. So big match up tonight, 7:00, US Bank Stadium.
And then tomorrow night, the other half of the semifinals in the big schools, Eden Prairie and Rosemont. And Rosemont has not lost the football game this year either, so the winners of those two games will meet in Prep Bowl, which is actually two weeks away.
This year, they're playing it the week after Thanksgiving-- that would be the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving-- because the Vikings are at home on Thanksgiving night, so they did not want to give up the stadium that quickly the day after Thanksgiving. So that's a little bit of a change this year.
CATHY WURZER: We, of course, talked about a lot of football here this afternoon. Let's talk about the World Cup because, of course, Eric, we've got a lot of listeners who love soccer.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. It all starts this weekend in Qatar of all places. Normally, the World Cup is staged in August, but they had to push it back because of the scorching heat in Qatar. So they're going to start this weekend, and it is the single biggest sporting spectacle on planet Earth. I know some folks in the US might disagree because we are Super Bowl-centric and NBA and NHL, MLB-- all that stuff.
But the entire globe will be watching. And the US plays Wales on Monday, then England on November 25, Iran on November 29, so it's going to be a difficult group to get out of for Team USA.
Minnesota United-- there's a connection. Their outstanding goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair is on the Canadian World Cup team. He grew up in Ontario, Canada, and that's the same Dayne St. Clair who was the MLS all-star game MVP back in August-- definitely busy, busy times in the world of sports.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, exactly. And you guys do such a good job. All right. I got to go. I know you do too. Thanks so much.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Cathy.
ERIC NELSON: Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Wally Langfellow, the founder of Minnesota Score sports magazine and the co-host of 10,000 Takes on radio and TV. Eric Nelsons, the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL and the other host of 10,000 Takes.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Great. How are you?
CATHY WURZER: It's been a long week.
ERIC NELSON: Cathy, good to chat.
CATHY WURZER: Likewise, Eric. Thank you very much. All right. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop with the Vikes, but it has not done that yet. They've won seven straight. It's amazing.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. Well, it looked like it was going to drop about four different times last Sunday in Buffalo, but somehow, someway, as Viking fans know, they pulled one out of the fire again. And they have now won, as you mentioned, seven in a row. And not only have they won seven in a row, but they have won seven one score football games. It's amazing.
Last year, they lost eight games that were decided by one score or less. Now, the win in Buffalo came courtesy of some spectacular plays none better than the one by Justin Jefferson. The Vikings were facing a fourth and 18 basically on about their own 20 yard line, and he goes up and makes some ridiculous one handed catch that kept the drive alive. And they eventually go on to win the football game.
The highlights that were shown on Sunday Night Football at halftime, after the game, Monday Night Football-- they all led with this Vikings/Bills game. And they called it the game of the Year in the NFL. Again, I don't need to tell Viking fans how much fun it was to watch that game. It was a roller coaster, but they won. And on they go now, and the Dallas Cowboys are coming to town.
CATHY WURZER: Have you ever seen a catch, by the way, that was that good?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: You're right. There aren't many better catches in Viking history-- maybe in NFL history-- than the one we saw last Sunday.
CATHY WURZER: Eric?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, no doubt one of the more acrobatic grabs I think anybody's ever seen in the history of the NFL. The legend of Justin Jefferson just keeps growing week to week. He's played 40 games in his career. In 20 of those games, he's gone over 100 yards receiving. That is remarkable. Now, Wally mentioned Dallas comes in here on Sunday. The Cowboys are 6 and 3. They are a solid team, and it'll be interesting to see how the Vikings fare against Dallas.
CATHY WURZER: Let's talk about the Gophers-- Gopher football. Now, are they still Bowl eligible?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, they're Bowl eligible, but the chances of them winning the Big Ten West are rather slim. They're going to need a lot of help. First of all, they've got to beat Iowa and Wisconsin, and let's take Iowa first. Under PJ Fleck, they have not beaten Iowa. If they do beat Iowa, then they have to go to Wisconsin and beat the Badgers-- something that they have been able to do of late.
PJ Fleck has actually done well against Bucky, but they're going to still need some help outside of that because they lose the tiebreaker with Purdue. And they also lose it with Illinois, but Illinois has to go to Michigan this week, so I think we can pretty much write Illinois off. But Purdue-- get this. They have Northwestern, and the Gophers saw how bad Northwestern is. And then they have Indiana, and Indiana isn't much better than Northwestern.
So they would need Purdue to lose one of those two, and the Gophers would have to win their last two if they want to win the Big Ten West and go to the Big Ten Championship game. But anyway, the point is that Minnesota does have Iowa in town. And of course, the pig is at stake on Saturday. The Floyd of Rosedale trophy goes to the winner annually of the Minnesota/Iowa football game.
CATHY WURZER: A pig trophy, OK.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: The pig!
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. And Cathy, get ready for the Iowa invasion. The Hawkeye fan base travels extremely well, and I expect them to stage their biannual coup de tau of Dinkytown and the Twin Cities. I think there will probably be anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 Iowa Hawkeye fans-- going to be a lot of black and gold in the venue.
The other thing is Iowa's got a ton of motivation. Wally laid out the way Minnesota can win the Big Ten West-- their path to the Big Ten title game. But for Iowa, it's real simple. If the Hawkeyes win their last two games of the season and Illinois loses at least once-- and they should probably go down at Michigan-- Iowa is the Big Ten West Champion. So a lot at stake for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and they are playing much better than they were earlier in the year.
CATHY WURZER: OK. Let's talk about high school football. I say that because, of course, the semifinals are coming up at US Bank Stadium.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: They're underway today, as a matter of fact, and will go through Saturday. The big game tonight features a rematch of last year's big school championship-- that's Class 6A-- Lakeville South, the defending state champions, playing Maple Grove. And Maple Grove is the number one team in the state this year, and they are unbeaten so far now at 11 or 0 having won their first three playoff games. So big match up tonight, 7:00, US Bank Stadium.
And then tomorrow night, the other half of the semifinals in the big schools, Eden Prairie and Rosemont. And Rosemont has not lost the football game this year either, so the winners of those two games will meet in Prep Bowl, which is actually two weeks away.
This year, they're playing it the week after Thanksgiving-- that would be the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving-- because the Vikings are at home on Thanksgiving night, so they did not want to give up the stadium that quickly the day after Thanksgiving. So that's a little bit of a change this year.
CATHY WURZER: We, of course, talked about a lot of football here this afternoon. Let's talk about the World Cup because, of course, Eric, we've got a lot of listeners who love soccer.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. It all starts this weekend in Qatar of all places. Normally, the World Cup is staged in August, but they had to push it back because of the scorching heat in Qatar. So they're going to start this weekend, and it is the single biggest sporting spectacle on planet Earth. I know some folks in the US might disagree because we are Super Bowl-centric and NBA and NHL, MLB-- all that stuff.
But the entire globe will be watching. And the US plays Wales on Monday, then England on November 25, Iran on November 29, so it's going to be a difficult group to get out of for Team USA.
Minnesota United-- there's a connection. Their outstanding goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair is on the Canadian World Cup team. He grew up in Ontario, Canada, and that's the same Dayne St. Clair who was the MLS all-star game MVP back in August-- definitely busy, busy times in the world of sports.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, exactly. And you guys do such a good job. All right. I got to go. I know you do too. Thanks so much.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Cathy.
ERIC NELSON: Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Wally Langfellow, the founder of Minnesota Score sports magazine and the co-host of 10,000 Takes on radio and TV. Eric Nelsons, the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL and the other host of 10,000 Takes.
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