1982 Golden Gophers

[Gold Rush]

In 1982, I was a freshman at the U of M and this was the first year I had season tickets. It also was the first year at the Metro Dome, which Coach Joe Salem called a "football palace." The team came in with a lot of hope and promise and Gopher broadcaster Ray Christensen proclaimed a pre-season prediction of 8 and 3 with Ho hen see. The games were almost all sell outs over 60,000 fans. I had terrible seats but I didn't care - it was going to be a blast!

QB Mike Hohensee was one of my all time Gopher favorite QB's - he had lit up Ohio St the year before 35-31 as well as an upset of #6 Iowa 12-10 and it appeared the Gophers were heading to a big year.

The Gophers had a really nice slashing RB named Tony Hunter who appeared destined for a big year, but they also had RB's Valdez Baylor, Allan Reid and Frank Jacobs who were all reliable backs. Their WR corps featured Dwayne McMullen and Lonnie Farrow as well as TE's Mike Curtis and Jay Carroll. Their captain was Ed Olson, whose sons played for the Gophers years later, but G Randy Rasmussen who played later for the NY Jets in the NFL and Bill Humphries were their best offensive linemen. Defensively, Karl Mecklenburg was the team MVP, but they also had defensive standouts Anthony Davis and Fred Orgas on the line and Kerry Glenn and Glen Cardelli at DB. Peter Najarian and Joe Christopherson were freshmen LB's who played right away and looked good right away.

The Gophers breezed through their first 3 games 134-24 over Ohio U, Washington St. and Purdue. The Gophers were ranked #19 and everyone was pretty excited. They were locked in a tight game with Illinois in the 4th quarter.........and then disaster struck. A seemingly harmless pass in the flat turned into a long TD for the Illini and a 42-24 thrashing. The Gophers were down -- and they lost to a downtrodden Northwestern team the next week in an embarrassing upset 31-21. The next week Indiana came to town for homecoming and one of their fans held a sign saying "Roses are red violets are blue, even if you beat us Northwestern beat you." Well, the Gophers fumbled the kickoff and Indiana went on to beat us. They rallied one last time and played Iowa tough at home but lost 21-16 but after that, the team lost the rest of the games and they weren't even close in any of them, finishing 3-8.

I have never seen a team beaten down with so many injuries maybe ever. There were at least 2 times when 2 different players came off the field at the same time with major injuries. It just got worse and worse and they were never able to recover the rest of the season. When 1983 came around - I knew we were in big trouble, it was probably the worst year in Gopher football history and Joe Salem was fired at the end. But 1982 stands as a year of great promise, one where they were ranked in the top #20 - and a disastrous fall to the bottom. I never want to see that one ever again. When things aren't going your way you have to fight even harder than ever and you need to come together as a team to right the ship. In 1982 they simply couldn't come back due to lack of manpower which demoralized the team, but this game vs. Rutgers is a very important game for us and we need it bad. We can still have a good season but it has to start right now vs. a team we are favored by 2 TD's against. Let's get it done!!

 

[Unregistered User]

Peter Najarian and Joe Christopherson were freshmen LB's...

There was another freshman linebacker, Eric Johnson, #52 who was named either B10 freshman defensive player of the week, or just B10 defensive player of the week twice that season.

Sadly, he severely suffered from depression and took his life after the season, by jumping off a bridge.

He was a really good guy.

 

[FredCoxRocks]

In 1982, I was a freshman at the U of M and this was the first year I had season tickets. It also was the first year at the Metro Dome, which Coach Joe Salem called a "football palace." The team came in with a lot of hope and promise and Gopher broadcaster Ray Christensen proclaimed a pre-season prediction of 8 and 3 with Ho hen see. The games were almost all sell outs over 60,000 fans. I had terrible seats but I didn't care - it was going to be a blast!

QB Mike Hohensee was one of my all time Gopher favorite QB's - he had lit up Ohio St the year before 35-31 as well as an upset of #6 Iowa 12-10 and it appeared the Gophers were heading to a big year.

The Gophers had a really nice slashing RB named Tony Hunter who appeared destined for a big year, but they also had RB's Valdez Baylor, Allan Reid and Frank Jacobs who were all reliable backs. Their WR corps featured Dwayne McMullen and Lonnie Farrow as well as TE's Mike Curtis and Jay Carroll. Their captain was Ed Olson, whose sons played for the Gophers years later, but G Randy Rasmussen who played later for the NY Jets in the NFL and Bill Humphries were their best offensive linemen. Defensively, Karl Mecklenburg was the team MVP, but they also had defensive standouts Anthony Davis and Fred Orgas on the line and Kerry Glenn and Glen Cardelli at DB. Peter Najarian and Joe Christopherson were freshmen LB's who played right away and looked good right away.

The Gophers breezed through their first 3 games 134-24 over Ohio U, Washington St. and Purdue. The Gophers were ranked #19 and everyone was pretty excited. They were locked in a tight game with Illinois in the 4th quarter.........and then disaster struck. A seemingly harmless pass in the flat turned into a long TD for the Illini and a 42-24 thrashing. The Gophers were down -- and they lost to a downtrodden Northwestern team the next week in an embarrassing upset 31-21. The next week Indiana came to town for homecoming and one of their fans held a sign saying "Roses are red violets are blue, even if you beat us Northwestern beat you." Well, the Gophers fumbled the kickoff and Indiana went on to beat us. They rallied one last time and played Iowa tough at home but lost 21-16 but after that, the team lost the rest of the games and they weren't even close in any of them, finishing 3-8.

I have never seen a team beaten down with so many injuries maybe ever. There were at least 2 times when 2 different players came off the field at the same time with major injuries. It just got worse and worse and they were never able to recover the rest of the season. When 1983 came around - I knew we were in big trouble, it was probably the worst year in Gopher football history and Joe Salem was fired at the end. But 1982 stands as a year of great promise, one where they were ranked in the top #20 - and a disastrous fall to the bottom. I never want to see that one ever again. When things aren't going your way you have to fight even harder than ever and you need to come together as a team to right the ship. In 1982 they simply couldn't come back due to lack of manpower which demoralized the team, but this game vs. Rutgers is a very important game for us and we need it bad. We can still have a good season but it has to start right now vs. a team we are favored by 2 TD's against. Let's get it done!!

Thanks for sharing this. I was a freshman in high school. I remember Salem's comment about the Metrodome becoming "the Taj Mahal of college football".
I remember the downfall, too. One of my high school teachers was a Gopher fan and was excited about the top #20 ranking. He had a '82 Gopher schedule in his room (a Schmidt Beer one at that! ...different times, right?). He took pride in writing a "W" with the score next to each of the first three games. Then after about the 5th "L", he just gave up and left things blank.

Also, FWIW, there were two Randy Rasmussens that played in the NFL...both guards. The one that played for the Jets I think went to Nebraska or something and played most of his career in the 70s...I only know this because I have a ton of his football cards...A TON. I probably hold some kinds of record for having the most Randy Rasmussen cards by one collector. The Randy Rasmussen that played at Minnesota in the early 80s went on to play for the Steelers and then the Vikings...a good NFL career, about 5 years or so. And a side note...his daughter went to the U of M as well and played hockey.

 

[Gold Rush]

Thanks for sharing this. I was a freshman in high school. I remember Salem's comment about the Metrodome becoming "the Taj Mahal of college football".
I remember the downfall, too. One of my high school teachers was a Gopher fan and was excited about the top #20 ranking. He had a '82 Gopher schedule in his room (a Schmidt Beer one at that! ...different times, right?). He took pride in writing a "W" with the score next to each of the first three games. Then after about the 5th "L", he just gave up and left things blank.

Also, FWIW, there were two Randy Rasmussens that played in the NFL...both guards. The one that played for the Jets I think went to Nebraska or something and played most of his career in the 70s...I only know this because I have a ton of his football cards...A TON. I probably hold some kinds of record for having the most Randy Rasmussen cards by one collector. The Randy Rasmussen that played at Minnesota in the early 80s went on to play for the Steelers and then the Vikings...a good NFL career, about 5 years or so. And a side note...his daughter went to the U of M as well and played hockey.

Good catch!! I actually had the Steelers down as I wrote it, then fact-checked it and "corrected" it to the Jets!! haha. The similarities from the 1982 team to this year's team are there in that it went from a seemingly great ranked team that got absolutely derailed a few games into the season.

We have got to really pull together now and avoid this from happening again. We do not want to go down this road ever again!

 

[gopherbadgerman]

In 1982, I was a freshman at the U of M and this was the first year I had season tickets. It also was the first year at the Metro Dome, which Coach Joe Salem called a "football palace." The team came in with a lot of hope and promise and Gopher broadcaster Ray Christensen proclaimed a pre-season prediction of 8 and 3 with Ho hen see. The games were almost all sell outs over 60,000 fans. I had terrible seats but I didn't care - it was going to be a blast!

QB Mike Hohensee was one of my all time Gopher favorite QB's - he had lit up Ohio St the year before 35-31 as well as an upset of #6 Iowa 12-10 and it appeared the Gophers were heading to a big year.

The Gophers had a really nice slashing RB named Tony Hunter who appeared destined for a big year, but they also had RB's Valdez Baylor, Allan Reid and Frank Jacobs who were all reliable backs. Their WR corps featured Dwayne McMullen and Lonnie Farrow as well as TE's Mike Curtis and Jay Carroll. Their captain was Ed Olson, whose sons played for the Gophers years later, but G Randy Rasmussen who played later for the NY Jets in the NFL and Bill Humphries were their best offensive linemen. Defensively, Karl Mecklenburg was the team MVP, but they also had defensive standouts Anthony Davis and Fred Orgas on the line and Kerry Glenn and Glen Cardelli at DB. Peter Najarian and Joe Christopherson were freshmen LB's who played right away and looked good right away.

The Gophers breezed through their first 3 games 134-24 over Ohio U, Washington St. and Purdue. The Gophers were ranked #19 and everyone was pretty excited. They were locked in a tight game with Illinois in the 4th quarter.........and then disaster struck. A seemingly harmless pass in the flat turned into a long TD for the Illini and a 42-24 thrashing. The Gophers were down -- and they lost to a downtrodden Northwestern team the next week in an embarrassing upset 31-21. The next week Indiana came to town for homecoming and one of their fans held a sign saying "Roses are red violets are blue, even if you beat us Northwestern beat you." Well, the Gophers fumbled the kickoff and Indiana went on to beat us. They rallied one last time and played Iowa tough at home but lost 21-16 but after that, the team lost the rest of the games and they weren't even close in any of them, finishing 3-8.

I have never seen a team beaten down with so many injuries maybe ever. There were at least 2 times when 2 different players came off the field at the same time with major injuries. It just got worse and worse and they were never able to recover the rest of the season. When 1983 came around - I knew we were in big trouble, it was probably the worst year in Gopher football history and Joe Salem was fired at the end. But 1982 stands as a year of great promise, one where they were ranked in the top #20 - and a disastrous fall to the bottom. I never want to see that one ever again. When things aren't going your way you have to fight even harder than ever and you need to come together as a team to right the ship. In 1982 they simply couldn't come back due to lack of manpower which demoralized the team, but this game vs. Rutgers is a very important game for us and we need it bad. We can still have a good season but it has to start right now vs. a team we are favored by 2 TD's against. Let's get it done!!

Too young to remember this but could you imagine the meltdown here if there was the internet back then?

 

[Gold Rush]

Too young to remember this but could you imagine the meltdown here if there was the internet back then?

lol -- it would have been nasty, that's for sure. Expectations were sky-high and things just got worse and worse. By the end of the year, I couldn't even find someone to go with me to the games for free!! I think if the Gophers lose to Rutgers this week I am going to stay away from this board for a few days because it will get pretty bad around here. (I think we will win, though!!)

 

[GopherPete]

Thanks for sharing this. I was a freshman in high school. I remember Salem's comment about the Metrodome becoming "the Taj Mahal of college football".
I remember the downfall, too. One of my high school teachers was a Gopher fan and was excited about the top #20 ranking. He had a '82 Gopher schedule in his room (a Schmidt Beer one at that! ...different times, right?). He took pride in writing a "W" with the score next to each of the first three games. Then after about the 5th "L", he just gave up and left things blank.

Also, FWIW, there were two Randy Rasmussens that played in the NFL...both guards. The one that played for the Jets I think went to Nebraska or something and played most of his career in the 70s...I only know this because I have a ton of his football cards...A TON. I probably hold some kinds of record for having the most Randy Rasmussen cards by one collector. The Randy Rasmussen that played at Minnesota in the early 80s went on to play for the Steelers and then the Vikings...a good NFL career, about 5 years or so. And a side note...his daughter went to the U of M as well and played hockey.

Must be Terra?

 

[corcorangopher]

It has always hurts to lose to Illinois. Losses to NDSU, NM St, Bowling Green, even Pacific have hurt, but I find the losses to Illinois hurt the most. 1982 for the collapse that followed. 1994 because they did not have replay. Last year. This year. Losing to Illinois screams that we are not a player.

 

[Hates Monikers]

I was a senior in high school and remember being excited about the start of that season, too. And, we had reason to believe the strong start was legitimate coming off the 1981 season. That year we won at Iowa (who finished #6 in the country) and beat Ohio State at home. Of course, we followed that up with two losses to end the season. But Hohensee and Hunter were fun to watch. The drop from the way the 1982 season started, blowing out three teams, and the 1983 disaster was like Mount Everest.

Now that you bring that back, I'm thinking of this year. I don't think the next season-and-a-half will turn out the same way.

 

[restovich]

In 1982, we wer just decimated by injuries. Then things seemed to snowball. Morale plummeted, the defense go more porous......... bad memory!

 

[FredCoxRocks]

It has always hurts to lose to Illinois. Losses to NDSU, NM St, Bowling Green, even Pacific have hurt, but I find the losses to Illinois hurt the most. 1982 for the collapse that followed. 1994 because they did not have replay. Last year. This year. Losing to Illinois screams that we are not a player.

Don't forget 2014!

 

[metrolax]

This recent skid has had me thinking of 1982 also. Sadly. Also, over time, we have suffered some
shocking losses to the Illini at the worst times. But, alas, there will always be Gil Fash in 1973!

 

[rugger14]

In 1982, I was a freshman at the U of M and this was the first year I had season tickets. It also was the first year at the Metro Dome, which Coach Joe Salem called a "football palace." The team came in with a lot of hope and promise and Gopher broadcaster Ray Christensen proclaimed a pre-season prediction of 8 and 3 with Ho hen see. The games were almost all sell outs over 60,000 fans. I had terrible seats but I didn't care - it was going to be a blast!

QB Mike Hohensee was one of my all time Gopher favorite QB's - he had lit up Ohio St the year before 35-31 as well as an upset of #6 Iowa 12-10 and it appeared the Gophers were heading to a big year.

The Gophers had a really nice slashing RB named Tony Hunter who appeared destined for a big year, but they also had RB's Valdez Baylor, Allan Reid and Frank Jacobs who were all reliable backs. Their WR corps featured Dwayne McMullen and Lonnie Farrow as well as TE's Mike Curtis and Jay Carroll. Their captain was Ed Olson, whose sons played for the Gophers years later, but G Randy Rasmussen who played later for the NY Jets in the NFL and Bill Humphries were their best offensive linemen. Defensively, Karl Mecklenburg was the team MVP, but they also had defensive standouts Anthony Davis and Fred Orgas on the line and Kerry Glenn and Glen Cardelli at DB. Peter Najarian and Joe Christopherson were freshmen LB's who played right away and looked good right away.

The Gophers breezed through their first 3 games 134-24 over Ohio U, Washington St. and Purdue. The Gophers were ranked #19 and everyone was pretty excited. They were locked in a tight game with Illinois in the 4th quarter.........and then disaster struck. A seemingly harmless pass in the flat turned into a long TD for the Illini and a 42-24 thrashing. The Gophers were down -- and they lost to a downtrodden Northwestern team the next week in an embarrassing upset 31-21. The next week Indiana came to town for homecoming and one of their fans held a sign saying "Roses are red violets are blue, even if you beat us Northwestern beat you." Well, the Gophers fumbled the kickoff and Indiana went on to beat us. They rallied one last time and played Iowa tough at home but lost 21-16 but after that, the team lost the rest of the games and they weren't even close in any of them, finishing 3-8.

I have never seen a team beaten down with so many injuries maybe ever. There were at least 2 times when 2 different players came off the field at the same time with major injuries. It just got worse and worse and they were never able to recover the rest of the season. When 1983 came around - I knew we were in big trouble, it was probably the worst year in Gopher football history and Joe Salem was fired at the end. But 1982 stands as a year of great promise, one where they were ranked in the top #20 - and a disastrous fall to the bottom. I never want to see that one ever again. When things aren't going your way you have to fight even harder than ever and you need to come together as a team to right the ship. In 1982 they simply couldn't come back due to lack of manpower which demoralized the team, but this game vs. Rutgers is a very important game for us and we need it bad. We can still have a good season but it has to start right now vs. a team we are favored by 2 TD's against. Let's get it done!!

I cut the AP poll out of the paper and hung it on my bedroom wall. I was so excited. Good training for future Gopher football seasons.

 

[oak_street1981]

In 1982, I was a freshman at the U of M and this was the first year I had season tickets. It also was the first year at the Metro Dome, which Coach Joe Salem called a "football palace." The team came in with a lot of hope and promise and Gopher broadcaster Ray Christensen proclaimed a pre-season prediction of 8 and 3 with Ho hen see. The games were almost all sell outs over 60,000 fans. I had terrible seats but I didn't care - it was going to be a blast!

QB Mike Hohensee was one of my all time Gopher favorite QB's - he had lit up Ohio St the year before 35-31 as well as an upset of #6 Iowa 12-10 and it appeared the Gophers were heading to a big year.

The Gophers had a really nice slashing RB named Tony Hunter who appeared destined for a big year, but they also had RB's Valdez Baylor, Allan Reid and Frank Jacobs who were all reliable backs. Their WR corps featured Dwayne McMullen and Lonnie Farrow as well as TE's Mike Curtis and Jay Carroll. Their captain was Ed Olson, whose sons played for the Gophers years later, but G Randy Rasmussen who played later for the NY Jets in the NFL and Bill Humphries were their best offensive linemen. Defensively, Karl Mecklenburg was the team MVP, but they also had defensive standouts Anthony Davis and Fred Orgas on the line and Kerry Glenn and Glen Cardelli at DB. Peter Najarian and Joe Christopherson were freshmen LB's who played right away and looked good right away.

The Gophers breezed through their first 3 games 134-24 over Ohio U, Washington St. and Purdue. The Gophers were ranked #19 and everyone was pretty excited. They were locked in a tight game with Illinois in the 4th quarter.........and then disaster struck. A seemingly harmless pass in the flat turned into a long TD for the Illini and a 42-24 thrashing. The Gophers were down -- and they lost to a downtrodden Northwestern

I was at two games that year, having been at the big Ohio State win, my last game at Memorial Stadium the year before.

I remember going to the Washington St game with a HS bud and two girls from High School and all co-workers at the Hy Vee in town. It was not really a double date, but I was old enough to drive so I arranged it. We had a few beers at an apartment on the West Bank with an older former co-worker that was a U of M student, then walked over to the Metrodome. The win was OK, we all were not much impressed with the Metrodome experience, but those two girls were pretty,, tall, smart plus good athletes, who could drink a few beers, so it was a pretty great day for RT and me.

Then the next week I vaguely recall seeing the Gophers crush Purdue at Ross Ade Stadium, so it must have been a rare early 80s TV game.

My Dad decided he wanted to see a game at the new "palace of football" so we drove up for the Illinois game. It was all going great, then it turned to crap in a hurry. It was a very quiet ride home. I did not have the heart to tell my Dad at the time that after two games I was not planning to ever set foot in that dump again, and that it was a horrible mistake.

I did not return to the Metrodome for Gopher Football again until Glen Mason's second year when I had season tickets- still hated it. Squatting in the student section and drinking the watery beer made it a lot more tolerable though. The Washington Ave. lots were the other highlight, combined with more respectable football showings those years.

My dad eventually moved back to the Twin Cities, 37 years after he graduated ( and attended 1961 Rose Bowl) and resumed his season ticket patronage (a few years prior even with the 90 mile drive), and loyally stood by the Gophers watching a lot of horrible football in a terrible venue. At least he got to have 7 years at TCF before an unexpected health disaster got him. He never did get to return to the Rose Bowl, which I think was one of his greatest desires.

 

[South Carolina]

I went to the game against Michigan State in mid-November. Gophers lost 26-7. When we came out of the Dome, it was snowing. I kept those ticket stubs for probably 25 years.

 

[restovich]

I went to the game against Michigan State in mid-November. Gophers lost 26-7. When we came out of the Dome, it was snowing. I kept those ticket stubs for probably 25 years.

I was mostly working that fall 1982 season, but did see that particular MSU game. Had season tickets from 1978-1981, including last year at Memorial Stadium. Highlight ther was the 1981 OSU victory with three Jay Carroll touchdowns. I remember from the MSU game the continued feeling that the season was unraveling. And that the Metrodome, despite the "new smell", was kind of over-rated and I missed the old stadium.

 

[Iceland12]

I have never seen a team beaten down with so many injuries maybe ever. There were at least 2 times when 2 different players came off the field at the same time with major injuries. It just got worse and worse and they were never able to recover the rest of the season. When 1983 came around - I knew we were in big trouble, it was probably the worst year in Gopher football history and Joe Salem was fired at the end. But 1982 stands as a year of great promise, one where they were ranked in the top #20 - and a disastrous fall to the bottom. I never want to see that one ever again. When things aren't going your way you have to fight even harder than ever and you need to come together as a team to right the ship. In 1982 they simply couldn't come back due to lack of manpower which demoralized the team, but this game vs. Rutgers is a very important game for us and we need it bad. We can still have a good season but it has to start right now vs. a team we are favored by 2 TD's against. Let's get it done!!

That first artificial turf in the Dome was brutal. Salem was playing 3rd stringers in the last 4-5 games on the season.

Remember calling in to a radio show and asked Darrel Thompson about all the injuries that year and if the turf was that hard to play on?

Host hung up on me saying something about how Gopher fans are always full of excuses.

Thompson then cut HIM off saying that he had been down on that turf many times and it was the hardest turf ever. Finished by saying how glad he was that he never had to play on it.

 

[nitramnaed]

A lot of excitement about what Smokey Joe could do with the team. Even went to a Halloween party dressed like Joe. A very disappointing season. 

 

[Ewert86PC]

Peter Najarian and Joe Christopherson were freshmen LB's who played right away and looked good right away.
one!!

Actually Peter Najarian redshirted his freshman year of 1981. I went through freshman orientation with him. I was jealous he had three (four?) female student orientation assistants helping him with registration, going through the course catalog and giving him advice on how to get the computer punch card for the classes which he wanted. It was the last quarter of punch card computer registration. Winter quarter 1982 was when registration changed to registrars sitting in front of a green screen computer doing the data entry for classes rather than feeding the punch cards into a mainframe type computer.

I'm pretty sure Joe Christopherson redshirted his freshman year of 1981, too I had a couple classes with him during our concurrent academic careers. (An economics class and a statistics class IIRC)

 

[South Carolina]

My first Gopher game was in 1980 against Iowa. Marion Barber II had a big day, and the Gophers won 24-6 in a late October snowstorm.

Are there any season ticket holders remaining from Memorial Stadium?