emann: I totally disagree with your attack on Weber and in trying to say a qb...
is totally responsible for a team losing. Obviously, the team was NOT preforming up to it's ability under this brewster character. HOWEVER: who was qb-ing the team during the wins over Illinois and iowa????????? That's right, it was Adam Weber. What was different in the wins over Illinois and iowa?????? The WHOLE team stepped up. The defense. The offensive line. The defensive backs. The running backs. EVERY position on the team played better than they had in that long string of losses. I would contend that perhaps more important to the losing string that ended brewster's career at Minnesota was the overall play of the TEAM...not merely the play of the qb. And, I still maintain that regardless of who the coach was...it was the coach who decided who would play qb.
We have not seen yet how well Gray will handle the qb duties in 2011. However, I will guarantee you that if he looks less than great, it will NOT be entirely his problems that we see on the field. There are SO many moving parts to a football team that to try to pin ALL the problems on the qb is total foolishness. IF Coach Kill chooses to play Gray I will know that is because Coach Kill believes that Gray gives the Gophers the best chance to win playing qb...AND...I will defend Gray and will look to see what OTHER problem positions are also impacting Gray's ability to "look successful" on Game Day Saturdays. It is a TEAM game emann...it is TOTALLY a team game...and if one other position screws up, it can make the qb look bad. So If the coach goes with Mr. Gray, I will know it is because Mr. Gray gives the Gophers the BEST chance to win. Period.
emann: you are totally biased and I believe you have distorted just what a qb can do. This is a TEAM game... The last time Gray was given a chance to DO something at the qb position with the game on the line was in that bowl game against Iowa State in the bowl game of the 2009 season. He fumbled the game away. Against iowa, he picked up a HUGE first down and didn't turn the ball over. That was great...but...it was because ALL KINDS of players from MANY positions stepped up and came up BIG against Illinois and especially against iowa that the Gophers WON. He was put in the game with that play in mind. It pitted his strength and ability against the iowa defense. It was a SUPERB play! It was a GREAT call. It was exicuted BEAUTIFULLY. Gray was FANTASTIC on that play! The TEAM was fantastic on that play. THAT was Big Ten football at it's finest!
You know emann: you wouldn't have really been too impressed with Sandy Stephen's ability at the qb position, I don't think. Passing was not the most important thing to be focused in on with that offense, that style of smash-mouth football and the entire concept that field position was the name of the game. There wasn't so much "free-substitution and platoon football..." back then. The BEST players played offense, defense and many times special teams. Sandy Stephens was a COMPLETE football player who was surrounded with SO MUCH TALENT. Players at EVERY position were beyond competent and were many times flat-out better than the players on the other teams. Sandy Stephens was NOT flash...he was the leader and was hard-nosed, strong and played within the game plan. He was capable of doing just enough to let the superior talent that played on his team physically wear down and shut down the teams they were playing. Lots of times, it was a one yard option play 1st down run that Sandy would convert that would allow the possession game to work well enough to gain an extra three downs and ten yards of valuable field poition which would set up the next Gopher punt that would pin the other team down inside their own 20, that eventually would allow the Gophers to win a low scoring PHYSICALLY exhausting ball game. In some games, it was in the 2nd half when the Gophers would break the spirit, the will and the backs of teams after having worn them down for 2 1/2 quarters. For instance, in 1961, the Gophers lost to Missouri 6-0. They beat Oregon 14-7 and Northwestern 10-3. They did blow out Illinois 33-0 (Illinois tied with Indiana for 9th & 10th place in the Big Ten in 1961) The Gophers beat Michigan 23-20 and MSU 13-0. They beat iowa 16-9. They beat Purdue 10-7 and then lost to wisky 23-21.. They went on to beat UCLA 21-3 in the 1962 Rose Bowl.)
WHEN the Gopher Football Team played as a TEAM in 2010, at the end of the season, they won 2 Big Ten games. You are one of those: "qb-focused" fans aren't you emann????? The qb can NOT do it alone. ONLY a team...a complete team effort and competence from all positions can win Big Ten football games. Even IF a qb appears to have a "great game..." it is ONLY because the offensive line, the running backs, the receivers ALL step up and have "great games..." They have to ALL show up for the game. IF the front seven of the other team is abusing the offensive line, and the running backs, the odds are that the passing game is not going to do diddly squat. When the receivers and the qb are not on the same page, unless the running game is picking up at least 4 1/2 yards a pop CONSISTANTLY throughout the entire game, there is going to be hell to pay. In offenses predicated on "big plays, UNLESS the defense can shut down the other team you are going to get your head handed to you unless the other team's defense is even worse than your defense.
No, you would have felt "let down" by Sandy Stephen's game emann. He was surrounded by so many stars who SHOWED UP for most every game that he wasn't called on to put the team on his back. But, he always showe up. On offense...on defense...on special teams. He didn't make a lot of mistakes. But when he did, he was surrounded by difference makers who had ways of making the mistakes "go away" or to cover in some way.
But, Sandy Stephens was a LEADER...a MANAGER...and he truely WAS the All-American qb on a truely GREAT team...that played as a team and almost always showed up as a team. Football IS a team game emann. Did you know that?
Gray had a great run against iowa late in the game. THAT is what a TEAM does. Everyone contributes when called upon to do so. That was a great play. That is what you NEED players to do when you put them in to pit that individual's strength against the other team. There are SO many key players who HAVE to step up. When teams are looking really bad and are not executing, it is the fault and responsibility of each and every player. There are 11 positions, and if ONE of those positions...or two...or five...or nine players don't get their job done on that play, the play does NOT work. The final two games of the season, MORE members of the Gopher Team showed up to play. THAT is what it takes to win Big Ten football games. The TEAM needs to show up. It is the responsibility of the coach to insure THAT happens. The coach calls the shots. The coach does what ever he thinks gives his team the best chance to win. If you have a problem with the way things went down...bitch about the coach. However, obviously, Coach Horton knew a heck of a lot more about what the team needed than brewster did.