Author: David Shama

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.”

The Vikings resume play on Sunday after a bye week but a few players interviewed by Sports Headliners didn’t believe the layoff will affect timing.  Wide receiver Aundrae Allison, for example, said yesterday the rest can give players fresh legs and feel the sort of “explosiveness” experienced on opening day.

Place-kicker Ryan Longwell, a 12-year NFL veteran, said any challenges with timing are more than offset with the benefit of a rested body.  The layoff isn’t so much timing anyway, he said, it’s more about adjusting to game-like speed.

Last year the Vikings won six of their last nine games to finish 8-8.  The 3-4 Vikings play Houston at home on Sunday and coach Brad Childress was asked this week about the remaining games.

“Well, it’s key in the fact that there are nine games to go,” he said. “Yeah, I would expect them to be better as we go. …It’s not stuff that isn’t correctable. You look at your flaws, you share them together. … But yeah, I expect them to get better and better and better. The good teams get hot and play well as they finish through November and December.

“There is no reason to believe that we can’t continue on something like last year.  But our whole focus has to be the Houston Texans.  We can’t look beyond the horizon, I don’t believe.”

The Vikings meet a Houston team that also has a 3-4 record, having won three consecutive games.

Before the bye on October 19 the Vikings not only had their best offensive performance of the season against Chicago with 439 yards of total offense, they also controlled the ball for over 35 minutes in the 48-41 loss to the Bears.

The Vikings have two players among the NFL’s top 15 sack leaders.  Defensive tackle Kevin Williams is tied for the lead among tackles and tied for seventh overall with 6.0 sacks.  Defensive end Jared Allen is tied for 15th with 5.0 sacks.

Safety Darren Sharper makes his 175^th career regular season start on Sunday.

Coach Tim Brewster said the surprising Gophers, 7-1, “have been the Bear” but the team is becoming the “hunted.”

The Gophers named sophomore safety Kyle Theret the team’s weekly Defensive MVP and Special Forces MVP for his outstanding game against Purdue.  The 5-foot-10, 185 pound Theret is an exceptional tackler and smart player.  “His heart is as big as his body,” Brewster said.

A source, who requested anonymity, said Northwestern declined to move tomorrow’s game at the Metrodome from an 11 a.m. start to 2:30 p.m. because of airplane arrangements.

Former Gopher wrestler Dave Henry, along with his 90-year-old mother, his daughter, aunt and uncle, two brothers, three nephews, two nieces, and other family rented a motor home and drove from Minnesota to last week’s Purdue game.  Henry’s mother has a 1933 Purdue-Minnesota scorecard.

Coach Tubby Smith’s basketball team will hold a free practice and scrimmage open to the public beginning at 4 p.m. tomorrow at Williams Arena.

Former KSTP anchorman Joe Schmit, now president of the John T. Petters Foundation, reports the good news that his lymphoma has “stalled” and he’s not undergoing treatment.  Schmit will speak briefly this evening at the fourth annual Lake Minnetonka Monster Mash, a Halloween benefit for the Lymphoma Foundation.  The event will be at the Bayview Center in Excelsior and entertainment includes Jimi Jamison, former Survivor lead singer and also Alex Ligertwood, former Santana lead singer.  Tickets are available in advance and at the door, with more information available at 952-470-8439.

The Lee County Commission voted 3-1 earlier this week to approve a new spring training baseball home for the Boston Red Sox, according to news-press.com that reports news in the Fort Myers, Florida area where the Twins also headquarter.  The proposed new ballpark will seat approximately 10,000 and resemble famed Fenway Park.

Four MIAC football games were decided by a total of 12 points last Saturday. The largest margin of victory was Saint John’s 20-14 overtime win at St. Olaf.  During the last two weekends, only one MIAC game has been determined by more than six points. Through the first 24 games of the MIAC season, 17 games have been decided by eight points or less.  With three weeks left in the regular season, six of the nine MIAC teams have one or two losses.

Saturday’s big game is Gustavus at Bethel.  Both teams are 3-2 in conference games. All-MIAC sophomore running back Logan Flannery leads the run-oriented Bethel offense.  Senior running back Ray Wilson set a school single-game rushing record with 258 yards on 28 carries in a 34-31 victory over Augsburg College on Saturday in St. Peter.  He was chosen the MIAC offensive player of the week.

Because Saint John’s has a bye this weekend, football coach John Gagliardi will be able to attend his induction into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in suburban Chicago on Saturday night.  Gagliardi broke former Grambling State head coach Eddie Robinson’s NCAA record for the most games coached (588) earlier this season.  Gagliardi’s 60 years of collegiate coaching is the most in college football history.

The 2008 MIAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships are Saturday at the Como Park Golf Course in St. Paul. The men’s race is set to begin at 2 p.m. and the women’s race starts at 3 p.m. The Saint John’s men and the St. Thomas women are trying to win third consecutive championships.

The NSIC has five schools ranked in the NCAA DII Wrestling Coaches Association top 20 poll.  Minnesota State is ranked No. 2 in the country followed by Upper Iowa (10), St. Cloud State (12), Augustana (14), with MSU Moorhead is tied for 17^th with Truman State of Missouri.  Upper Iowa’s Travis Eggers is ranked first in his 157 pound weight class.