Minnesota Football News: Contest of rookies QB's when Panthers take on Vikings

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CHARLOTTE - It will be a battle of rookie quarterbacks Sunday when the Vikings clash with the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday.

The Vikings fell to 1-6 on the year with a 33-27 home loss to the Packers. Taking over for Donovan McNabb, Christian Ponder was 13-of-32 for 219 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first NFL start.

The Panthers notched their second win of the season this past Sunday, beating the Redskins 33-20. Cam Newton threw for 256 yards and a TD and also ran for a score as Carolina moved to 2-and-5. Minnesota beat Carolina, 20-10, the last time the two teams met in 2008.

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Minnesota State-Mankato picked up a key NSIC victory last night, knocking off Augustana 27-26 at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato. The win gave the Mavericks at least a share of the NSIC South Division crown. Augustana had 504 yards of total offense compared to only 292 for MSU, but the Mavericks were able to take advantage of some big played and scored the go-ahead points with 3:28 left in the game. Minnesota State-Mankato is now 7-2 overall, 7-1 in the league.

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The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers will look to snap a four-game slide as they host the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers are coming off a 41-14 loss to Nebraska last weekend to fall to 1-6 overall and remain winless at 0-3 in Big Ten action. Minnesota beat Iowa, 27-24, in its season-finale last season.

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University of Iowa defensive end Broderick Binns is returning to his homestate to take on the Gophers on Saturday. Binns is from St. Paul and played high school football at St. Paul's Cretin-Derham Hall. He chose Iowa over Minnesota and several other schools. And, now the Hawkeye senior returns to the Twin Cities to play in front of family and friends on Saturday. Minnesota beat Iowa last season and Binns says while playing in his hometown is important, winning the game is even more important.

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University of Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill is celebrating the signing of his new multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract by hosting his own "Student Appreciation Day" this Saturday prior to the Minnesota-Iowa football game. Kill and his wife have purchased thousands of hot dogs, bags of chips, and all kinds of candy to hand out to students as they arrive in the student section prior to Saturday's game at TCF Bank Stadium. Kill says the students are the lifeblood of the program and he feels the need to show them his gratitude. The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m.

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