It’s a refrain as old as laces on a football. When a team isn’t winning, fans campaign to change quarterbacks. Gophers quarterback Adam Weber passed for only 162 yards against North Dakota State two weeks ago and just 99 in the Michigan game last Saturday. Weber, a redshirt freshman, is a better passer and runner than junior backup Tony Mortensen. Third string true freshman Clint Brewster isn’t ready to play.
Unless Weber is injured, he will be the starting quarterback in the team’s last three games, at home tomorrow night against Illinois, at Iowa on November 10 and back home against Wisconsin on November 17. Any team that uses the spread offense like Minnesota places extra emphasis on quarterback performance. Although Weber has had his struggles learning the offense and executing, his statistics are impressive, despite 20 interceptions.
Weber has completed 195 of 340 passes for 2,145 yards and 19 touchdowns. With 286.1 yards per game total offense, he ranks No. 1 in the country among major college freshmen quarterbacks, 21st in the nation including all quarterbacks and third in the Big Ten Conference. He is the only freshman in the country to have passed for at least 2,100 yards. He ranks 15th among all quarterbacks in touchdown passes.
Weber has broken all of the freshman passing and total offense records at Minnesota. Now he’s nearing overall single season school records in several categories. He needs 675 yards to break the record for total passing yards, 20 more pass completions, 46 more passing attempts, four touchdown passes and 348 yards in total offense.
Coach Tim Brewster has stayed with Weber, knowing the former Mounds View High School quarterback gives Minnesota the best likelihood of winning. Don’t be too surprised if the Gophers, 1-8 overall and 0-5 in the conference, win on Saturday night if Illinois makes too many mistakes and doesn’t respect Minnesota. Illinois, 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference, is an athletic team but one that can self-destruct.