BleedGopher
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Brewster says no quarterback change for the Gophers right now
By Marcus Fuller
Despite a fifth straight loss Saturday, 41-23 at Wisconsin, Gophers coach Tim Brewster said he would not make a quarterback change this week.
Brewster talked entering the season about senior quarterback Adam Weber having to lead his team to victory to keep from losing his job to sophomore backup MarQueis Gray.
The Gophers aren't winning, obviously. But...
"If I thought like we would be a better team, have a better chance to win playing MarQueis Gray at quarterback, I would do it in a heartbeat," Brewster said.
Weber completed just 44 percent of his passes against the Badgers, going 11 for 25 for 249 yards. Weber threw three touchdown passes, but two of them were to Da'Jon McKnight when the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter.
I'm certainly not advocating for Gray to replace Weber. But I asked Brewster how he knew Gray wasn't the spark the team needed to win if he hasn't had an opportunity to play at quarterback so far this season.
Gray hasn't been used in the Wildcat formation this season. He didn't even get a chance against Wisconsin when the Gophers faced a 25-point lead with six 1/2 minutes left in the game. Last year, Gray played at the end of a blowout loss at Ohio State and had success.
"I feel good about the play that we're getting from Adam Weber," Brewster said. "And I feel that we're a stronger team right now with MarQueis at receiver and Adam at quarterback. That's a very simple answer."
Again, I asked Brewster if he would feel the same way about the quarterback situation if the team kept losing this season.
"Offensively, we've been pretty darn good," he said. "What we've got to do is stay with the plan offensively and continue to improve on defense."
I gave Brewster a hypothetical situation if Gray were his starting quarterback though. And he said that the Gophers would then likely have to make some adjustments offensively to fit Gray's athletic ability.
Like I said, I believe Weber hasn't played poorly enough overall through six games to be benched. I don't think he will play bad enough this season for that to happen. He's also the most durable and experienced quarterback in the nation, sort of college football's version of Brett Favre in that regard. So Gray probably won't get to start this year because Weber gets injured.
I think the only way Gray starts at quarterback this season is if the Gophers decide to play for next season at some point. They would start getting Gray comfortable with his receivers and with the tweaks to the offense now, which would help him make an easier transition in 2011. But that probably won't happen, because Brewster can't feel certain if he'll be around next season.
-- Teams are starting to key on Gray and are limiting his impact on the game. He has just four catches for 21 yards in the last two games. Brewster said that it should open up other receivers. And he said that Gray had to "be unselfish" and "just take advantage of opportunities that come (his) way when they present themselves."
-- The fact that McKnight is getting better each week makes me believe that he'll be a great go-to receiver for Gray next season, along with tight end Eric Lair. Receiver Bryant Allen also showed some nice things against Wisconsin with two catches for 73 yards, including a 60-yard catch late in the game. Running back Duane Bennett is also a nice pass-catching threat.
-- There was speculation that sophomore defensive end D.L. Wilhite dropped some expletives in the direction of Brewster when he walked off the field angered after back-to-back costly penalties in the third quarter Saturday. Wilhite also bumped senior cornerback Ryan Collado on the way off before that.
But Brewster, who put his hand on Wilhite's arm to settle him down, said that never happened.
"You know what he said, he said, 'Coach I'm trying to get to the passer. I'm trying to make a play'," Brewster said. "He's a wired-up kid. We don't deal with emotionless robots."
-- Brewster said holder Adam Lueck took the blame for kicker Eric Ellestad missing the extra point try against Wisconsin. Brewster was proud to say it was the first PAT missed during his coaching tenure at Minnesota.
-- The Gophers "probably will" wear the white helmets again against Purdue this week, Brewster said. The brand new helmets were his idea to try something different to spark the players last week.
-- Brewster said athletics director Joel Maturi agreed with what he did after the game by showing his frustration for Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema going for a two-point conversion with a 25-point lead at the end of the game.
"I would be less of a man if I didn't stand up for my kids who I would fight to the death for," he said.
http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2010/10/brewster-says-no-quarterback-c.html
Go Gophers!!
By Marcus Fuller
Despite a fifth straight loss Saturday, 41-23 at Wisconsin, Gophers coach Tim Brewster said he would not make a quarterback change this week.
Brewster talked entering the season about senior quarterback Adam Weber having to lead his team to victory to keep from losing his job to sophomore backup MarQueis Gray.
The Gophers aren't winning, obviously. But...
"If I thought like we would be a better team, have a better chance to win playing MarQueis Gray at quarterback, I would do it in a heartbeat," Brewster said.
Weber completed just 44 percent of his passes against the Badgers, going 11 for 25 for 249 yards. Weber threw three touchdown passes, but two of them were to Da'Jon McKnight when the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter.
I'm certainly not advocating for Gray to replace Weber. But I asked Brewster how he knew Gray wasn't the spark the team needed to win if he hasn't had an opportunity to play at quarterback so far this season.
Gray hasn't been used in the Wildcat formation this season. He didn't even get a chance against Wisconsin when the Gophers faced a 25-point lead with six 1/2 minutes left in the game. Last year, Gray played at the end of a blowout loss at Ohio State and had success.
"I feel good about the play that we're getting from Adam Weber," Brewster said. "And I feel that we're a stronger team right now with MarQueis at receiver and Adam at quarterback. That's a very simple answer."
Again, I asked Brewster if he would feel the same way about the quarterback situation if the team kept losing this season.
"Offensively, we've been pretty darn good," he said. "What we've got to do is stay with the plan offensively and continue to improve on defense."
I gave Brewster a hypothetical situation if Gray were his starting quarterback though. And he said that the Gophers would then likely have to make some adjustments offensively to fit Gray's athletic ability.
Like I said, I believe Weber hasn't played poorly enough overall through six games to be benched. I don't think he will play bad enough this season for that to happen. He's also the most durable and experienced quarterback in the nation, sort of college football's version of Brett Favre in that regard. So Gray probably won't get to start this year because Weber gets injured.
I think the only way Gray starts at quarterback this season is if the Gophers decide to play for next season at some point. They would start getting Gray comfortable with his receivers and with the tweaks to the offense now, which would help him make an easier transition in 2011. But that probably won't happen, because Brewster can't feel certain if he'll be around next season.
-- Teams are starting to key on Gray and are limiting his impact on the game. He has just four catches for 21 yards in the last two games. Brewster said that it should open up other receivers. And he said that Gray had to "be unselfish" and "just take advantage of opportunities that come (his) way when they present themselves."
-- The fact that McKnight is getting better each week makes me believe that he'll be a great go-to receiver for Gray next season, along with tight end Eric Lair. Receiver Bryant Allen also showed some nice things against Wisconsin with two catches for 73 yards, including a 60-yard catch late in the game. Running back Duane Bennett is also a nice pass-catching threat.
-- There was speculation that sophomore defensive end D.L. Wilhite dropped some expletives in the direction of Brewster when he walked off the field angered after back-to-back costly penalties in the third quarter Saturday. Wilhite also bumped senior cornerback Ryan Collado on the way off before that.
But Brewster, who put his hand on Wilhite's arm to settle him down, said that never happened.
"You know what he said, he said, 'Coach I'm trying to get to the passer. I'm trying to make a play'," Brewster said. "He's a wired-up kid. We don't deal with emotionless robots."
-- Brewster said holder Adam Lueck took the blame for kicker Eric Ellestad missing the extra point try against Wisconsin. Brewster was proud to say it was the first PAT missed during his coaching tenure at Minnesota.
-- The Gophers "probably will" wear the white helmets again against Purdue this week, Brewster said. The brand new helmets were his idea to try something different to spark the players last week.
-- Brewster said athletics director Joel Maturi agreed with what he did after the game by showing his frustration for Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema going for a two-point conversion with a 25-point lead at the end of the game.
"I would be less of a man if I didn't stand up for my kids who I would fight to the death for," he said.
http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2010/10/brewster-says-no-quarterback-c.html
Go Gophers!!
