BleedGopher
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Brewster high on Weber even after second loss
By Marcus Fuller
Gophers coach Tim Brewster said previously he would bench starting quarterback Adam Weber in favor of MarQueis Gray if Weber didn't lead the team to victories.
After two straight losses, Brewster is still praising Weber, even though the fifth-year senior has four turnovers in his last two games. Weber hit Gray for a 22-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of Saturday's 32-21 loss to No. 18-ranked Southern Cal.
But before that last drive when the Trojans had their reserves in the game, Weber was struggling going 10 of 21 for 145 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
"Adam did some good things today, he did some really good things today," Brewster said. "Obviously, I thought he made a poor decision with the throw at the end of the half. Other than that, I thought he handled the pressure very well, threw some really good balls. With his feet, I thought he did some good things."
One media member in the press box I won't name shouted that Gray would replace Weber in the next game. But as much as I would like to see what Gray can do taking snaps, I still don't think Weber has played poorly enough to be benched.
Of course, Weber's only win as a starter was in the season opener at Middle Tennessee State behind a great rushing performance. But he hadn't thrown an interception until Saturday.
Gray, who had four catches for 98 yards and a touchdown, is also showing more and more of his potential as a wide receiver and arguably one of the best in the Big Ten. Although, I think Gray should be thrown in there in Wildcat situations or reverse pass or run plays to get him the ball even more.
Bottom line, Brewster has to get Gray the ball at least eight to 10 times a game. If he's only going to play receiver, then Weber needs to throw it to him that many times. He did versus South Dakota, but not against USC. I was disappointed Gray had just one catch in the first half. He finished with catches of 37, 20, 19 and 22. Mix in a couple of short passes and he easily could have reached 100 yards receiving.
-- Everyone was wondering what former Kansas coach Mark Mangino was doing on the sidelines Saturday. Mangino and Brewster are friends and so are their wives, Mary Jane and Cathy. Mangino isn't coaching right now. He was supporting Brewster in a big game. I don't think there's more to him being there than that.
-- Brewster said the running game was fine Saturday, but it wasn't with just 83 yards. The Gophers got some nice runs by freshman Donnell Kirkwood and DeLeon Eskridge. But neither of them are feature backs. Duane Bennett is that guy, but I'm not sure what happened to him after his seven carries for six yards in the first half.
Bennett never returned to the game in the second half, but Brewster said Bennett was healthy when I asked him after the game. How could he be fine if he sat out?
Eskridge kind of hinted at something when I asked him about Bennett.
"Duane he works hard," he said. "I know this whole week coming up, he's going to rehab and work on getting better."
The question is rehab from what? I guess we'll just have to ask Brewster Sunday, unless somebody already knows something I don't.
-- Special teams don't seem like the most important area of the game, but it can be. Just look at Saturday's games featuring Big Ten teams.
Gophers go up 14-13, but they fall behind after giving up a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to Robert Woods. Of course, kicker Eric Ellestad sending a kickoff out of bounds and punter Dan Orseske failing to pin USC inside the 20-yard line a couple times was also critical.
Obviously, Michigan State defeated Notre Dame after scoring on a fake punt pass in overtime.
Iowa had a punt blocked early. The Hawkeyes also gave up a kick return 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to fall behind Arizona 21-7 in the second quarter. They then trailed 27-7 at halftime.
Wisconsin escapes with a 20-19 win against Arizona State after blocking an extra point to end the game.
Massachusetts nearly came back against Michigan after blocking a punt in the second half.
Brewster, who helps John Butler coach special teams, has taken pride on being successful in that area. But it's beginning to hurt rather than help the Gophers through three games.
And I didn't even mention Ellestad going 2 for 5 on field goals in the first two games.
-- Northern Illinois is not going to be an easy game this week. The Huskies were within two points of Illinois until giving up a 29-yard touchdown run with 1:43 left in the game.
Minnesota's defense didn't have to worry about a running quarterback against USC's Matt Barkley. But Northern Illinois' Chandler Harnish passed for 208 yards and ran for 117 yards, including a 47-yard run and a 37-yard touchdown run against Illinois on Saturday.
The Gophers had trouble containing runs to the outside against the Trojans, who had 216 yards rushing, including 131 yards from Allen Bradford.
This Harnish guy might be even better than South Dakota quarterback Dante Warren, who had 433 total yards against the Gophers on Sept. 11. That's kind of scary to think about. If Harnish has a big day this weekend, then Minnesota falls to 1-3 heading into Big Ten play.
-- Junior Anthony Jacobs got his first start this season at defensive end while replacing redshirt freshman Matt Garin. Freshman Brock Vereen, who had four tackles, also replaced sophomore Michael Carter at a starting cornerback spot.
-- Redshirt freshman Ra'Shede Hageman picked up his first tackle this season Saturday in his new spot at defensive tackle.
http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2010/09/brewster-high-on-weber-even-af.html
Go Gophers!!
By Marcus Fuller
Gophers coach Tim Brewster said previously he would bench starting quarterback Adam Weber in favor of MarQueis Gray if Weber didn't lead the team to victories.
After two straight losses, Brewster is still praising Weber, even though the fifth-year senior has four turnovers in his last two games. Weber hit Gray for a 22-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of Saturday's 32-21 loss to No. 18-ranked Southern Cal.
But before that last drive when the Trojans had their reserves in the game, Weber was struggling going 10 of 21 for 145 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
"Adam did some good things today, he did some really good things today," Brewster said. "Obviously, I thought he made a poor decision with the throw at the end of the half. Other than that, I thought he handled the pressure very well, threw some really good balls. With his feet, I thought he did some good things."
One media member in the press box I won't name shouted that Gray would replace Weber in the next game. But as much as I would like to see what Gray can do taking snaps, I still don't think Weber has played poorly enough to be benched.
Of course, Weber's only win as a starter was in the season opener at Middle Tennessee State behind a great rushing performance. But he hadn't thrown an interception until Saturday.
Gray, who had four catches for 98 yards and a touchdown, is also showing more and more of his potential as a wide receiver and arguably one of the best in the Big Ten. Although, I think Gray should be thrown in there in Wildcat situations or reverse pass or run plays to get him the ball even more.
Bottom line, Brewster has to get Gray the ball at least eight to 10 times a game. If he's only going to play receiver, then Weber needs to throw it to him that many times. He did versus South Dakota, but not against USC. I was disappointed Gray had just one catch in the first half. He finished with catches of 37, 20, 19 and 22. Mix in a couple of short passes and he easily could have reached 100 yards receiving.
-- Everyone was wondering what former Kansas coach Mark Mangino was doing on the sidelines Saturday. Mangino and Brewster are friends and so are their wives, Mary Jane and Cathy. Mangino isn't coaching right now. He was supporting Brewster in a big game. I don't think there's more to him being there than that.
-- Brewster said the running game was fine Saturday, but it wasn't with just 83 yards. The Gophers got some nice runs by freshman Donnell Kirkwood and DeLeon Eskridge. But neither of them are feature backs. Duane Bennett is that guy, but I'm not sure what happened to him after his seven carries for six yards in the first half.
Bennett never returned to the game in the second half, but Brewster said Bennett was healthy when I asked him after the game. How could he be fine if he sat out?
Eskridge kind of hinted at something when I asked him about Bennett.
"Duane he works hard," he said. "I know this whole week coming up, he's going to rehab and work on getting better."
The question is rehab from what? I guess we'll just have to ask Brewster Sunday, unless somebody already knows something I don't.
-- Special teams don't seem like the most important area of the game, but it can be. Just look at Saturday's games featuring Big Ten teams.
Gophers go up 14-13, but they fall behind after giving up a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to Robert Woods. Of course, kicker Eric Ellestad sending a kickoff out of bounds and punter Dan Orseske failing to pin USC inside the 20-yard line a couple times was also critical.
Obviously, Michigan State defeated Notre Dame after scoring on a fake punt pass in overtime.
Iowa had a punt blocked early. The Hawkeyes also gave up a kick return 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to fall behind Arizona 21-7 in the second quarter. They then trailed 27-7 at halftime.
Wisconsin escapes with a 20-19 win against Arizona State after blocking an extra point to end the game.
Massachusetts nearly came back against Michigan after blocking a punt in the second half.
Brewster, who helps John Butler coach special teams, has taken pride on being successful in that area. But it's beginning to hurt rather than help the Gophers through three games.
And I didn't even mention Ellestad going 2 for 5 on field goals in the first two games.
-- Northern Illinois is not going to be an easy game this week. The Huskies were within two points of Illinois until giving up a 29-yard touchdown run with 1:43 left in the game.
Minnesota's defense didn't have to worry about a running quarterback against USC's Matt Barkley. But Northern Illinois' Chandler Harnish passed for 208 yards and ran for 117 yards, including a 47-yard run and a 37-yard touchdown run against Illinois on Saturday.
The Gophers had trouble containing runs to the outside against the Trojans, who had 216 yards rushing, including 131 yards from Allen Bradford.
This Harnish guy might be even better than South Dakota quarterback Dante Warren, who had 433 total yards against the Gophers on Sept. 11. That's kind of scary to think about. If Harnish has a big day this weekend, then Minnesota falls to 1-3 heading into Big Ten play.
-- Junior Anthony Jacobs got his first start this season at defensive end while replacing redshirt freshman Matt Garin. Freshman Brock Vereen, who had four tackles, also replaced sophomore Michael Carter at a starting cornerback spot.
-- Redshirt freshman Ra'Shede Hageman picked up his first tackle this season Saturday in his new spot at defensive tackle.
http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2010/09/brewster-high-on-weber-even-af.html
Go Gophers!!