Gopher football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners earlier this week he wants Adam Weber to carry the ball in future games fewer times than he did in last week’s season opening loss to Bowling Green. Weber, a redshirt freshman playing in his first game, had 18 rushing attempts and gained 72 yards. Only running back Amir Pinnix, who rushed 28 times for 168 yards, ran more than Weber for the Gophers.
The Gophers new spread offense produced 434 total yards, 246 rushing and 188 passing. “We felt very good about what the spread gave us the other night,” Brewster said. “Obviously we don’t want our quarterback to run it 18 times each game. We would like for him to run it anywhere from six to 10 times a game. …
“We had tremendous rushing numbers. We averaged over five yards a carry. I was really pleased…with the offensive production. We were at 11 out of 18 on third downs (conversions).”
The spread is a quarterback focused offense with a team dependent on its QB for running, passing and decision making. The opportunity to be a runner carries with it the risk of injury. Brewster said he’s prepared to play two quarterbacks this season, perhaps three. “Injuries happen, particularly if your quarterback is running the option and doing some things that way,” Brewster said. “That doesn’t scare us. …”
Redshirt junior Tony Mortensen, who has one game start in two seasons as a Gopher, is Weber’s replacement. Third on the list is Brewster’s son, Clint, who may or may not be redshirted depending on circumstances. Clint has been told to prepare every day as if he will play. “He can never have the mindset that’s he’s going to be redshirted.” Brewster said.
Weber completed 15 of 31 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday. After a shaky first half, Weber settled down and showed Brewster that despite the inexperience he was up to the assignment of quarterbacking the complex spread system. Any doubts Brewster had were eliminated. “I was really pleased with his composure,” Brewster said. “His ability to communicate what he saw on the field, what was happening. He had a really nice calmness about him. …”