cant break the guy, Sock said. No mat

MINNEAPOLIS -- The transition in head coaches at Minnesota from Jerry Kill to Tracy Claeys has been subtle, save for a contrast in personality and size.Claeys had one big target for change, though. The offensive line needed to be restored as a power. Road graders was the label he used to describe the type of players desired up front.Jonah Pirsig and the rest of the returners received the message after their 6-7 season a year ago.Offensive linemen have just really bought into the fact that we need to be bigger and we need to be stronger to kind of change the culture, the senior right tackle said, adding: Were only going to see good things from that.With junior college transfers Vincent Calhoun and Garrison Wright joining Pirsig in the starting five, the Gophers will be bigger. Obsessive work in the weight room over the winter and spring has drawn rave reviews, so the group is stronger. Will it be better?Theres no question that theyve made a lot of progress, Claeys said.In 2015, the Gophers were second-to-last in the Big Ten in scoring, third-to-last in yards and fourth-to-last in rushing. Claeys fired offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Matt Limegrover, picking Jay Johnson and Bart Miller as dual replacements. The five up front, of course, will go a long way toward senior quarterback Mitch Leidners success.I know theyve outworked everybody in the entire country, as far as that goes, Leidner said. They straight grind.Here are some other key angles to follow for the Gophers:LEIDNERS HELPERSWith Shannon Brooks hobbled by a foot injury, Rodney Smith will take the lead at running back following a promising freshman year for both of them. Senior Drew Wolitarsky is the only proven wide receiver. Tight end Brandon Lingen, named a captain as a junior, will likely be Leidners go-to guy.Its been an incredible thing to try to help lead this team in maybe some different capacities than I wouldve before, Lingen said.SECONDARY SCRUTINYSpeedster Jalen Myrick, who was second on the team last season with three interceptions, will lead an inexperienced collection of cornerbacks with Briean Boddy-Calhoun and Eric Murray in NFL camps. Safety Damarius Travis has returned for a fifth year after a hamstring injury in the 2015 opener led to a medical redshirt. Myrick and Travis will be counted to maintain the secondary as a team strength.One bonus for the defensive backs is that Jay Sawvel, their fiery former position coach, has replaced Claeys as defensive coordinator.Hes not only yelling at us, Travis said. Hes yelling at everybody.SEASON OPENERThe Gophers host Oregon State Sept. 1, their now-annual Thursday night lid-lifter. After kicking off last season with a 23-17 loss to TCU, ranked then No. 2 in the nation, the Gophers ought to have a smoother start. The Beavers finished 2-10 last year, including 0-9 in Pac-12 play, and allowed an average of 37 points per game that ranked 113th out of 127 FBS teams.KEY GAMESThe Big Ten opener at Penn State on Oct. 1 will be a big test, as will the Nov. 12 trip to Nebraska. For the Gophers, though, rare are the games more important than border-state rivals Iowa (home, Oct. 8) and Wisconsin (road, Nov. 26). The Hawkeyes are the defending Big Ten West Division champions, and the Badgers have beaten Minnesota 12 straight years. The Gophers have lost 10 consecutive games at Wisconsin since winning there in 1994.PREDICTIONBy trading TCU for Oregon State on the nonconference slate and swapping East Division crossover opponents Michigan and Ohio State for Maryland and Rutgers, the Gophers are set up for a significant jump from their 5-7 regular-season finish that got them to a bowl game only because there werent enough eligible FBS teams to fill the spots. An 8-4 record with a 5-4 mark in the Big Ten, now on a nine-game schedule, is a safe bet for 2016. Nine or 10 wins wouldnt be unrealistic, either.Toby Alderweireld Belgium Jersey . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Thibaut Courtois Belgium Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Yannick-Carrasco-Belgium-Jersey/ . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Dedryck Boyata Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Vincent Kompany Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday.WASHINGTON -- Trailing in a tiebreaker against top-seeded John Isner, Steve Johnson managed to put a 146 mph serve into play and then decided to try something even more audacious: lob his 6-foot-10 opponent.Much to Johnsons surprise, the looping backhand worked, winning the point. Hanging in there against the big-serving Isner, Johnson weathered a total of 12 set points and withstood 29 aces to win their all-American quarterfinal at the Citi Open 7-6 (7), 7-6 (15) on Friday.Youre never too tall to lob. I thought he was going to close in really hard. And I just hit a good lob. I mean, thats about it, the fifth-seeded Johnson said about the point that came with Isner ahead 5-3 in the opening tiebreaker. I dont know if Ill ever try to lob him again and itll work, but luckily it worked today.Isners take?I love Stevie to death, he said, but I dont think that backhand lob he it -- I dont think he could do that all the time.Isner is a three-time runner-up at the hard-court tournament, including a year ago, when he beat Johnson in the semifinals. This time, Isner was unable to convert five set points in the opening frame and another seven in the second. When he lost the first tiebreaker on Johnsons forehand winner, Isner mangled his racket by slamming it to the court.The second tiebreaker was even longer and more excruciating for Isner. On his second set point, at 6-4, he got a good look at a short return by Johnson but shanked a forehand long.I dont think hell ever do that again, Johnson said. I dont know what happened.Heres how Isner explained it: I pulled up and got tentative.Not quite the longest tiebreaker of the season -- Isner lost one 18-16 last month -- it ended when he double-faulted for the only time in the nearly 2-hour contest to set up a sixth match point -- so lucky, Johnson said later -- then pushed a forehand wide.Johnson, ranked a career-beest 25th, won despite never earning a break point against Isner.dddddddddddd But Johnson saved all six break chances Isner accumulated and wound up with 22 aces himself.I certainly, in my opinion, put more pressure on him that he put on me, Isner said.Earlier Friday, sixth-seeded Jack Sock lost another two-tiebreaker match, beaten by 13th-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6).Karlovic hit 26 aces, saved all four break points he faced and reached the semifinals in Washington for the first time since 2007. Hell play Johnson on Saturday.Sock had a chance to force a third set against Karlovic, holding a set point at 6-5 in the second tiebreaker. But Karlovic erased that with -- what else? -- a 133 mph ace, then delivered a 130 mph service winner to get to match point. He won when Socks forehand clipped the net tape and flew wide.I feel like I scrap pretty well and get a lot of returns back and I still cant break the guy, Sock said. No matter who he plays -- any round, any tournament -- it comes down to a point here and there.The 37-year-old Karlovic, a 6-foot-11 Croatian, is coming off a title on grass at Newport, Rhode Island, last week.He is the oldest man to win an ATP singles tournament since 1979.Asked what its like to enter events where he could potentially face a teenager -- Zverev, for example, is 19 -- Karlovic replied: Yeah, I mean, I could be their daddy.After a brief pause, he added: And, I mean, who knows? Maybe I am.Then he cracked a big smile, rocked back in his chair and said, No, no, Im joking.The other semifinal will be second-seeded Gael Monfils against seventh-seeded Alexander Zverev. Monfils advanced by beating American Sam Querrey 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, while Zverev defeated No. 4 Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-3. ' ' '