Author: David Shama

Gophers football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners that Adam Weber will be the starting quarterback for the Iowa game on Saturday, as well as the bowl game, and will enter spring practice next year No. 1 at his position.  Weber has been the starter all season for an inconsistent Gophers offense that ranks No. 11 in Big Ten Conference rushing and No. 7 in passing.

The redshirt junior is seventh among conference quarterbacks in passing yards per game (197.1) and 10^th in total offense (186.5).  The offense has at times been precise but often ineffective.  Weber and the Gophers produced 505 yards of total offense in the 42-34 victory over Michigan State on October 31.  Against Illinois the next week Minnesota managed only seven first half points and lost 35-32.  Last week against small school South Dakota State the Gophers managed just 231 total yards and no offensive touchdowns in a 16-13 win.

Freshman quarterback MarQueis Gray has frequently been on the field for one play in a series.  Brewster said going forward Gray might be in for an entire series but don’t expect a surprise move of Gray being the starter against Iowa, or in the coming weeks for the bowl game (destination and date to be determined).

While certain positions on the team will be wide open in spring practice next year, Weber will enter that period as the No. 1 quarterback.  However, Brewster said that doesn’t mean Weber won’t have competition to retain his status.

It’s evident Brewster believes Weber, who has been the Gophers starter since his redshirt freshman season of 2007, is the best choice to quarterback the team.  Weber’s problems have included at times throwing the ball short of intended receivers.  It’s a difficulty caused by being off balance and rushing throws, according to offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch.  Asked if this will be corrected, Fisch said, “Oh, yeah.”

While Weber, the offensive line, receivers and running backs have been critiqued this fall, so too has the coaching staff including Fisch, 33, who is in his first season as offensive coordinator.  Play calling has been questioned but earlier this week Brewster had no criticism of the coaching.  He has insisted that the Gophers’ problems rest with lack of execution, and he expects improvement going forward including next year when experience and some new players presumably will give the offensive unit a lift.

The Gophers experienced their most one sided defeat in three seasons under Brewster when they lost 55-0 to Iowa last year at the Metrodome.  In Iowa City on Saturday the Gophers bring a struggling offense to face one of the Big Ten’s best defenses (Iowa is No. 1 in the conference against the pass, No. 3 versus the run).

Is all of the above an intimidating mix for the offense? “I wouldn’t say it’s intimidating,” quarterback Adam Weber said.  “It’s a challenge.  If guys are intimidated, I think they’re playing the wrong sport.”

Weber said the mistakes made against South Dakota State will need to be corrected against Iowa or all the errors will be “exploited ten-fold.”   The Gophers, 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the conference, will be about a 10 point underdog against Iowa, 9-2 and 5-2.

Weber, though, is looking forward to the game with its challenges and the rivalry of Iowa-Minnesota.  The one-sided result of last year is on his mind, too.  He describes the defeat as the “most brutal” of his career.  “No matter what, we just couldn’t get anything going,” he said.

Is there resolve to make up for last year.  “Oh, definitely,” Weber said.  “For the past two seasons we haven’t beat Iowa.  It’s a big, big deal for us, especially coming off the way we played last season.

“Coach Brew even talked about it on Sunday.  It’s about respect.  When you play a brutal game like football it’s about your opponents respecting you, and having mutual respect.  We didn’t earn any respect last year against Iowa.  They were able to just kind of run all over us offensively and defensively.  You take that personally.  So this year it’s pretty important for us to go out there and earn some respect there.”

The Gophers have won two games by three points each.  The team has shown poise in close games and not flinched on defense in the fourth quarter.  Before Brewster’s arrival the Gophers preferred a Charmin-soft nonconference schedule but this year’s games were the most formidable in more than 15 years.

The Gophers will bus to Iowa, their only trip not by plane.  Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said most Big Ten Conference teams are busing to at least one game, a policy of fiscal restraint.

Brewster described the change in travel as “refreshing.”  The Gophers will ride for about two and one-half hours on Friday, then stop for a short break before continuing the trip.

The outing is favorable compared with California’s round trip bus ride to UCLA earlier this fall.  The ride from Berkeley to Los Angeles is about seven hours each way.

Brewster said center Jeff Tow-Arnett, who broke his leg in the Wisconsin game on October 3, was cleared to play against South Dakota State but didn’t.  He could play at Iowa and most certainly will in a bowl game.  As the team’s starting center, his absence has been one of the challenges faced by the offense.

The Gophers, like all opponents who have used the visiting locker rooms in Kinnick Stadium, will dress surrounded by pink walls.  The pink walls were painted at the direction of former Iowa coach Hayden Fry who thought the passive color might give his Hawkeyes an edge.  Brewster said when he was a player at Illinois his coach, Mike White, had the walls covered with “meat locker paper.”

The U2 concert on June 27 next year at TCF Bank Stadium will allow the University to earn about $200,000, according to Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi.  Capacity for the outdoor concert will be about 58,000.  No alcohol will be allowed at the event.

Coaches aren’t the only ones who work long weeks.  Maturi said he’s in the office every Sunday and expects to work “11 hours” this coming Sunday.

High hopes: senior basketball guard Lawrence Westbrook said on a recent WCCO Radio postgame show that the Gophers believe they can be a Final Four team.

Gophers assistant coach Saul Smith said forward Rodney Williams could rank with the best freshmen in the Big Ten.  He also said the players have been talking for some time about next week’s Thanksgiving night game against highly ranked Butler (No 11 or 10 depending on the poll).

Vikings coach Brad Childress said Tarvaris Jackson, not Sage Rosenfels, is the team’s No. 2 quarterback behind Brett Favre.  He told Sports Headliners that unless Jackson is needed in a full game it won’t be possible to totally judge Jackson’s improvement.  “You don’t know until you know,” Childress said.

Seattle coach Jim Mora (whose Seahawks play here on Sunday) was asked if Favre’s performance this season has surprised him.  “You know what? I don’t know if that guy will ever surprise me. We’ve played him so many times. I have two favorite players since I have been in the NFL and that’s Ronnie Lott and Brett Favre. Those are the two guys that I respect the most. He will never surprise me.”

Larry Fitzgerald Sr. said his son Larry’s Arizona Cardinals, who made the Super Bowl last season, should be included with New Orleans and the Vikings when naming NFC favorites.  The Cardinals have won five of their last six games.  He said his son’s best friend on the team is quarterback Kurt Warner and among their common interests is a strong religious conviction.

It wouldn’t be surprising if 38-year-old catcher Mike Redmond, who has spent five      seasons with the Twins, ends his career soon and joins the organization as a manager or coach.   The Twins have three promising catching prospects in Wilson Ramos, 22, and Joe Morales and Sal Butera, both 26.  Butera is the most advanced defensively, Morales the best offensively.

Five-year-old Josh Sacco will lead the crowd in “Let’s Play Hockey” prior to Friday night’s home Wild game against the Islanders.  Sacco’s rendition of Herb Brooks’ famous speech from the movie Miracle has been viewed nearly 1.9 million times at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CdJTfGiRCI. Sacco, a native of the Nashville area, recited the speech, performed in the movie by actor Kurt Russell, after watching Miracle with his father more than 100 times. The video was originally uploaded to YouTube so extended family could watch it.

Saint Paul native Kyle Okposo had the H1N1 virus but is expected to join his Islanders teammates in tomorrow night’s game.  He ranks third on the club with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 20 games.

Grand Rapids native Alex Goligoski, who has been leading the Penguins defensemen in scoring, will be out two to three weeks with a lower-body injury.

Senior forward David Martinson had seven points to help Gustavus earn a tie and win in an MIAC series against St. Olaf last weekend.  Martinson had two assists in Friday’s 3-3 tie at Northfield, and then scored four goals in the Gusties 5-4 win in St. Peter on Saturday. Martinson, a 2008-09 All-American, has scored five goals and registered seven assists for 12 points in six games this season.  He is the MIAC men’s Hockey Athlete of the Week.