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, 21^st 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 15^th 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.

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Speculation is Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr will resign after this season.  Former Michigan assistant Les Miles, now at LSU, might be the next Wolverine coach.

Gopher football coach Tim Brewster said freshman running back Duane Bennett, whose running style is similar to former pro star Emmett Smith, has a “chance to be really, really good.”

Illinois quarterback Isiah “Juice” Williams almost died at birth because of his size, 13 pounds, eight ounces.  The sophomore quarterback was a highly recruited prep player, and he chose Illinois over Ohio State and other powerhouse programs.

Illini offensive coordinator Mike Locksley receives a lot of credit for the team’s recent recruiting success.  Rivals.com ranked him as a top 10 Big Ten recruiter in 2006 and Sports Illustrated rated him a top 20 recruiter nationally.

The Vikings and San Diego play for only the 10^th time when the two teams meet in the Metrodome on Sunday.  The Chargers lead the series 5-4.

Ted Cottrell’s Chargers defense ranks 18^th in the NFL while the Vikings are 27^th.  Cottrell is the defensive coordinator, the same title he held with the Vikings in 2004 and 2005.

The Vikings’ defense is tied for fifth in the NFL with 16 takeaways, including four resulting in touchdowns.  The defense has 18 sacks, 10^th best in the league.

Mr. Perfect.  In his Vikings’ career that began with the 2006 season, Ryan Longwell is 25-25 on field goals of 45 yards or less.

Minnesota freshman goaltender Alex Kangas had a memorable first game last Saturday in a 3-1 win over the U.S. Under-18 team. He had 32 saves, including 21 in the third period. He had a shutout entering the final period and made four straight saves in a 30-second stretch, earning a standing ovation from the Mariucci Arena crowd. The Gophers play Denver tonight and on Sunday at home.

Minnesota Wild prospect Erik Reitz, a defenseman, has been impressive playing for the Houston Aeros.  Through games as of Tuesday, he had 10 points in eight games.

Baseball hall of famer Dave Winfield was a pioneer when he established a charitable foundation in his home town of St. Paul, according to Kwame McDonald.  He said Winfield was the first pro athlete to start such an organization, and the Winfield Foundation continues to provide college financial assistance to students of Asian, Latin American, Native American and African American backgrounds.  McDonald, a sportswriter for many years, is a member of the Winfield Foundation Board of Directors.

The Minnesota Twins announced yesterday that third baseman Brian Buscher has been named the 2007 Sherry Robertson Award winner as the Twins’ Minor League Player of the Year. Right-handed pitcher Kevin Slowey has been named the 2007 Jim Rantz Award winner as the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year.  Buscher, 26, batted .309 (117-for-379) with 58 runs, 28 doubles, 14 home runs and 59 RBI in 103 games (63 with New Britain in the Eastern League and 40 with Rochester of the International League). Slowey, 23, was 10-5, with a 1.89 ERA, allowing 110 hits with just 18 walks and 107 strikeouts in 20 starts for Rochester

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Minnesota’s 1-8 overall record is surprising and disappointing to fans, although Sports Illustrated predicted the Gophers would finish 0-8 in the Big Ten Conference.  The Gophers are 0-5 in conference with home games remaining against Illinois and Wisconsin, and a game at Iowa.  Minnesota has lost four of its games by six points or less. The Gophers’ one victory was in overtime against Miami of Ohio.

The Gophers finished 6-6 last season, 3-5 in the  conference, and then lost their bowl game in a second half flop to Texas Tech.  Minnesota was a mediocre team and although new coach Tim Brewster inherited eight starters from defense and six from offense, the talent level has been declining for a few years.

In an interview last week with Sports Headliners, Minnesota’s first year coach answered questions about his program and himself.  Unlike many coaches, Brewster hasn’t tried to evade the public or media when problems and disappointments develop.  In the interview he responded to several questions that are topical among the public.

Q-The Gophers have lost games to Bowling Green, Florida Atlantic and North Dakota State.  Those are more losses in one season to non-marquee teams than any year within memory.  Can you understand the disappointment of the fans?

A-“I certainly understand the fans’ disappointment, but I also know this: we’ve played five or six absolutely gut wrenching, close football games that we’ve come out on the short end.  But our kids have played with tremendous passion, heart and toughness, and so I am really proud of our kids.  We’re in our first year of this program.  Change is hard.  Everything is new.  We’re installing a brand new offense, a brand new defense.  Kicking game principles that are different than what has been done here.  That’s all part of why we’re sitting here at 1-7 (now -1-8 after the Michigan loss last Saturday), and not maybe 5-3. …”

Q-You have said the coaching staff has to coach better.  How major have the coaching mistakes been?  Also, do you plan any staff changes after this season?

A-“You know what? I am so proud of our staff.  I think we’ve got a great staff.  I think it’s truly the best coaching and recruiting staff in the country.  I think that will bear itself out as we move forward.  I believe this: players win, coaches lose.  So any time that we lose a football game, I think it’s on the coaches more than it is on the players.  We as coaches gotta find a way to help our kids play better defense.  Execute better on offense and in the kicking game. … As far as individual mistakes, I am sure I haven’t been perfect.  But I don’t know that I would do anything over again either.  I am very, very comfortable with the decisions that I have made here as the head football coach as far as my game management, as far as decisions regarding the team. …”

Q-Before the season you indicated the talent was better than what the results are specific to wins and losses.  What’s gone wrong?

A-“I don’t know that anything has gone wrong.  There hasn’t been a championship won here in over 40 years.  I am trying to change a culture, and to me I am trying to change a culture into something that is very, very positive.  I want to inspire our fans.  I want to inspire our football team.  Irregardless of how good we are, I want to inspire our team to be better and unfortunately that hasn’t played out the way I would have liked. But, again, I am an inspirational guy.  I believe that you can inspire people to play beyond what they thought they could.  And I am going to continue in that same vein as I long as I am here.  That’s who I am.”

Q-Has the team played under its talent level?

A-“I wouldn’t say so.  I think the team has played the best it can. I think it’s played the absolute best it can.  I don’t question our kids’ heart, character (and) our effort.  All that has been outstanding.  I am extremely proud of them. …”

Q-Your enthusiasm and high expectations have been well received by many fans but because of the team’s performance do you plan to talk more cautiously in the future?

A-“I think what I am going to do is continue with my stated goal. … Win a Big Ten championship and take the Gopher nation to Pasadena, to the Rose Bowl.  Each and every day that’s how we’re going to wake up and that’s how we’re going to go about our business.  Are we going to go achieve that each and every year? … We don’t know, but that is going to be the goal.  That’s going to be the dream.  That is going to be the inspiration each and every day.”

Q-But do you plan to be less outgoing with the public?

A-“No. …  I am who I am.  I am a guy whose glass is half full.  I wake up in the morning and I am excited about being the head football coach at the University of Minnesota.  I am unbelievably excited about representing the state of Minnesota as the head football coach here.  Shoot, I would be trying to be somebody who I am not.  I know that bothers some people.  Some people would rather you be maybe a little less demonstrative, or a little less excited about your position, but I am one of those people who truly believes that I am blessed to be where I am at.  And I am very thankful.  And I show that thanks in how I live my life.”

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