Gopher Football
Bryan Cupito
For the third straight season, Bryan Cupito will be the starting quarterback for the Gopher football team. Cupito is a 6’1″ senior from Cincinnati, Ohio and finished 4th in the Big Ten in passing yards last year with 230 yards per game. The highlight of his season was his performance against his home state Buckeyes, a game in which he completed 25 passes on 36 attempts for 396 yards. That performance showed just how much Cupito has improved since he became the Gopher starter and should make Gopher fans feel a little more at ease about his increased role in the offense this year.
Rarely do college quarterbacks not have a lot of pressure on them, but I think that during his first two seasons Cupito has had with about as little pressure as is possible for a college quarterback to have. During this period he’s played behind one of the best offensive lines in the nation and had three outstanding running backs lined up behind him. The running game has been the best in the nation over the past two seasons, so with all of the defensive attention focused on that it made passing the ball a little easier than it normally would be. The challenge this year for Cupito and the Gopher offense as a whole will be to improve on and succeed in the passing game knowing that opposing defenses will be waiting for it. With the talented wide receivers and offense line the Gophers will feature it certainly looks like it should be possible, so all that should be left is for everyone to go out and execute. What is certain though is that the coaches are counting on #3 to go out there and be the play maker and leader for the offense. Even though he doesn’t have the strongest arm the Big Ten, the Gophers have smart enough offensive coaches to develop schemes that will play to his strength. Cupito has also added some muscle and is checking in this fall at a solid 210 pounds. If Cupito plays like the 5th year senior he is and is able to avoid mistakes I think we’ll see that the Gopher offense will surprise and not fall off as much as everyone is predicting.
Depth
Even though the backup quarterbacks for Minnesota only have a combined one start, depth for the Gophers at this spot isn’t nearly the concern this season as it was a year ago. Sophomore Tony Mortensen started the Wisconsin game last year when Bryan Cupito was out with an injury, and threw for 99 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Considering it was his first career start Tony looked understandably shaky in this game, but he did make some good throws showed enough to suggest he could be a decent QB some day. Tony will likely start the fall as the top backup, but I’m sure the coaches hope that fellow sophomore Mike Maciejowski will push him. Maciejowski has only taken a few snaps so far as a Gopher but will now be starting his third season on the team. During the off season Marcel Jones parted ways with the team after some legal issues, which makes true freshman Adam Weber the quarterback of the future. Barring a disaster Weber will redshirt this year, and by next year he’s expected to be in the mix for the starting job.
Around the Big Ten
In my Defensive Backs Preview from last week I detailed how thin the Big Ten is at the cornerback position, well, it couldn’t be any more opposite at quarterback. Two of the best quarterbacks from the conference last year have been lost to graduation, but the other 9 teams in the conference all bring their signal callers back, and there are several quality ones to choose from. Ohio State’s Troy Smith, Michigan State’s Drew Stanton, and Iowa’s Drew Tate are the cream of the crop, and any of them could wind up being the top guy in the conference this year. All three are seniors. In the next tier are Wisconsin’s John Stocco and Michigan’s Chad Henne. Of these two, Henne has the most talent and if gets it together this season the junior could move into the top group. Rounding out the returning starters are Purdue’s Curtis Painter, Indiana’s Blake Powers and Illinois’ Tim Brasic. All in all it will be the year of the quarterback in the Big Ten; a scary thought if you’re one of the 15 new starting cornerbacks in the league.
Last Year
With Mortensen and Maciejowski unproven redshirt freshmen the offense couldn’t afford any injuries to Bryan Cupito last year. Even though Cupito did miss about 1 ½ games due to injury, he for the most part stayed healthy and played pretty well. He really took good control of the offense, establishing himself as a leader in the huddle and directing the running game very well. But maybe more of a surprise was the breakout year he had as a passer. Many experts dismissed Cupito’s passing ability before last season even began, but they no longer felt the same after his breakout Ohio State game. Even though the overall numbers weren’t as impressive as some other quarterbacks in the league, I’d have to say that the season was a success for the QB’s based on the expectations they had leading in.
Bottom Line
Well, it doesn’t get any more exciting then this if you’re Bryan Cupito. After spending the past two seasons handing the ball off 50 times a game, chances are very good that the offense will pass a lot more this year. The past couple days at the Big Ten media day, Cupito was repeatedly asked about this. His response was that it wasn’t as much about abandoning the run as it was the offense trying to utilize the talent, and this year the wide receivers and tight ends are the talented players on offense (he humbly left the quarterback out of his statements though). Before you get too worked up about the Gophers abandoning their bread and butter rushing attack, rest assured there still will be rushing yards. It just so happens that this year though there will be a good passing quarterback to go along with solid receivers. Cupito is being given a chance to shine this year and hopefully for him, the team and fans he will capitalize on it and keep the offense humming at the pace it’s established the past three seasons.
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