After 20 career starts, sophomore quarterback Adam Weber has produced a sharp resume. If he remains healthy and Minnesota keeps winning, Weber may secure a place by 2010 as the Gophers’ greatest quarterback ever.
Weber’s to-do list every week is this: pass, run, lead and understand the offense. He has demonstrated a proficiency with all of that unequalled by any Gopher sophomore quarterback in memory. He’s second in the Big Ten Conference in passing average per game at 228 yards. He ranks third in total offense at 241.4. He’s thrown only three interceptions this season and has 10 touchdown passes. With more than two seasons yet to play, he already ranks fifth all-time on the Gopher list in career pass completions, tied for fourth in passing touchdowns, sixth in total offense and seventh in career passing yards.
Weber has run for eight touchdowns in 20 games for the Gophers. His 39-yard fourth quarter run against Purdue last Saturday to set up the Gophers’ last touchdown in a 17-6 win was part athleticism and part moxie. He saw opportunity in the Purdue defense and took off down the field to help the Gophers win for the seventh time in eight games and move to No. 17 in the BCS rankings.
The former Mounds View High School player said earlier this week he’s never missed a game because of injuries as a prep or collegian. The subject came up because Weber isn’t from the slide first school of running, instead choosing to lay a blow into a tackler. He likes his chances of minimizing injury by being an aggressive ball carrier.
Weber’s courage is forming his image as a courageous player and leader. The day after the Indiana game on October 4, he had arthroscopic right knee surgery but six days later was on the field at Illinois to help the Gophers upset the Illini, 27-20.
Weber has command of the Gopher huddle. His poise is exemplary and was a factor when in the closing minutes of the opening game he led the Gophers on a winning touchdown drive to beat Northern Illinois 31-27 and end a 10 game losing streak going back to last season.
Gopher coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners last week that his quarterback has “maturity beyond his years” and it’s an obvious key to leadership. “He has tremendous confidence in his ability to execute our offense because of his preparation,” Brewster said.
While Weber started every game as a freshman, it was no day at the beach for the then 20-year-old, not with struggling to learn the new and complicated spread offense and going through a winless season in the Big Ten Conference.
“Obviously last year we took our lumps somewhat watching him learn, watching him grow, watching him make mistakes,” Brewster said. “You know…it was all part of the process. …Last season was an uncomfortable, challenging experience for us all, but… we knew we had to take two steps back to take that one big step forward.”
Brewster admires his quarterback’s work ethic. “He’s going to put himself into position to be one of the top players in college football, in my opinion,” Brewster said. “The thing about it is that he’s not bashful about working. Adam Weber is a worker and that’s what is going to allow him to become what I feel like is a really good player.”
In the Gophers’ spread system the quarterback is a target to be hit by the defense on most plays. Pass rushers want to sack him; defenders are ready to deliver a blow on his runs. The Gophers’ system limits his rushing attempts per game and Weber’s fearless mentality may help keep him in one piece. His next endurance test comes in tomorrow’s Homecoming game against Northwestern, a team that’s 6-2 on the season and leads the Big Ten Conference in sacks.
If Weber stays healthy, the odds of the Gophers continuing to win go way up. And Brewster reminds that successful quarterbacks are judged and remembered as much for their wins as personal statistics. The Gophers haven’t had an All-American quarterback since Sandy Stephens in 1961. They haven’t been to a New Year’s Day bowl game since 1962. Opportunity waits.
Not that Weber doesn’t need to keep improving. “There’s throws he’s made this season that we’ll take a look at in the off-season and really study, and learn from some mistakes he’s made,” Brewster said. “There’s a ton of the little things, the little nuances that great quarterbacks do that he still has some work yet.”
One day Weber could play in the NFL but he doesn’t have any intention of leaving school early to try the pros. Brewster doesn’t want to talk NFL and Weber. “I think he’s got excellent ability to play in the National Football League at some point, and that’s not worth talking about,” Brewster said. “The most important thing for us to discuss is how good a player he can be for the Gophers, not how good a player he can be for the NFL.”