BTB Roundtable -- Reviewing The Season That Was

Our friends at Boiled Sports have done the legwork to put together one last Big Ten Bloggers roundtable for the 2007 college football season. The Gophers season, as we all know, was one to forget. But the questions posed below will give an opportunity for both positive and negative reaction.

Here we go ...

1. What was your biggest surprise of the season (positive)?

By the end of the season, the Gophers were playing competitive football. A close loss at Iowa and at home against Wisconsin ended a forgettable 2007 season. But there seemed to be some progress from a player and coaching standpoint. Also, freshman quarterback Adam Weber learned on the job and performed admirably.

2. What was your biggest disappointment of the season?

Not winning one Big Ten game was highly disappointing. I'm not sure many Gopher fans expected such a regression, from the mediocrity of the Glen Mason era to the putridness (is that a word) of the first installment of Brewster-ball. Time will tell if this past season was a sign of things to come, or simply a typical down year when a new coach arrives with new systems.

3. What are you excited about for the '08 season?

The progression of Adam Weber, the younger receivers, and a recruiting class that by all accouts has exceeded anything Glen Mason ever put together.

4. What are you least looking forward to in the '08 season?

Getting excited listening to Brewster talk about roses but then failing to win a conference game.

5. What effect, if any, will a bowl have on Minnesota's football program?

Well, we're at home now. A bowl this season would have been nice. Some Gopher fans will say they tired of the AAA-Popeye's Chicken bowl games. A return to a bowl next season will show immense progress.

6. How and when will Tim Brewster's career end at Minnesota?

Brewster still is enjoying a honeymoon of sorts. While a Fire Tim Brewster site has emerged, most Gopher fans are still pleased Mason is gone. He'll have three to four more years to prove he can coach. He's recruited well so far, despite a one-win season. If he can't win with these players down the line, he'll be kicked to the curb and talked about often in the same breath as Jim Wacker in Gopher football lore.

7. Who frustrated you the most this season?

Tim Brewster. His rhetoric needs to be adjusted to reality. On a national scale, Kirk Herbstreit falls into this category.

8. What team and/or player opponent of Purdue this season was least impressive to you?

They were all sweet. We won one game in overtime against a MAC school. We sucked, they didn't.

9. Despite all the grousing we do, is Minnesota football on the right track (If not, what would get the program back on track)?

Recruting wise, yes. Coaching wise, I think the jury is out. But if I was forced to answer, at this point I'd say no. Brewster needs to show some maturity (not going into Big Ten media day next year talking like he's the next coming of Lou Holtz. Quiet confidence anyone?

10. Looking at next year's schedule, what's your early thought on critical games?

The Florida Atlantic Owls come to the Metrodome in Week 4 next year. Avening that embarrassment in Miami from this season should be considered critical.

11. Does it ever get old making fun of Fat Charlie the Manatee?

If by this question you are referring to Charlie Weis, no. Tim Brewster is good at that, reportedly.

12. Will Minnesota win a football national championship in our lifetime?

Now you're just upsetting me with these questions.

13. What is more likely for the Gophers and why: a football championship or a basketball championship?

A basketball championship. Why? Tubby Smith. Also, it wasn't too long ago Bobby Jackson and company were in the Final Four. Granted, we cheated to make that happen. But still, Gopher basketball has a much better track record.

14. After Brewster retires (or is fired), would you rather get a coach that is a better recruiter or is a better game day coach?

I'm leaning towards game-day coach. Glen Mason was neither. So Brewster at least is an improvement in the recruiting department. Is the combination of good game-day coach and good recruiter too much to ask?

15. If you had to choose another coach from the Big Ten to coach Minnesota, who would you pick?

A sentimental choice, I'd choose Joe Paterno. Love him. Respect him. Always have. As the saying goes, he's forgotten more about football than our current coach may ever know. But since he's 104 years old, it's not anything more than sentimental. Aside from JoePa, I'd agree with the boys at Boiled Sports in suggesting that if Ron Zook can turn around Illinois, he could do the same at Minnesota.

Grading Minnesota's Offense

I'm going to take a page out of Black Shoe Diaries' book and give a numerical grading for Minnesota's efforts Saturday against The Bowling Green State University. I'm doing it this way to try and stay organized while I'm still trying to stomach the loss.

Like many members of "Gopher Nation" I sort of fell in love with Tim Brewster. His passion was amazing. He had his sights set high. But as Tom Powers at the Pioneer Press and Patrick Reusse at the Star Tribune suggest, talk is cheap if you don't win games. Reusse offers this to Brewster, a sentiment I echo: "Shut up and coach."

While I won't state after one loss that Tim Brewster is the next Jim Wacker, suffice to say he was outcoached Saturday and that his predecessor, Glen Mason, who we all ran out of town, would not have lost that game.

So, on to grading the Gophers' offense. I begin with the coaching staff, because I believe a proper gameplan would have won the game.

Coaches: 2 out of 10
Bowling Green won Saturday in overtime, but the game was lost in the first half. While the defense was letting Bowling Green run roughshod, Mike Dunbar's spread offense was sputtering. Instead of using the team's strength--it's offensive line and running attack--Dunbar relied too heavily on the pass. In the second half, the strategy changed. Instead of trying to use the pass to set up the run, Dunbar allowed Amir Pinnix and Adam Weber to use their legs to set up the pass. This should have been the strategy from the first snap of the game. It wasn't and that indicates that Brewster and Dunbar were more concerned with implementing the "dreaded" spread coast offense instead of relying on their players' strenghts. Any coach who does that deserves a failing grade. Dunbar and Brewster get a 2 here instead of a 1 because they realized their mistake in the second half and adjusted. But as fun as the spread coast can be with the right personnel, our coaches should have realized long ago Minnesota doesn't have the necessarry athletes to make it effective.

Running backs: 7 out of 10
If there was something to take away from Saturday's game and be positive about it was the combination of Amir Pinnix and Adam Weber on the ground. Pinnix looked every bit the part of a go-to back, and Weber proved he was capable at running the option and using his legs. I didn't see enough of the much-hyped Duane Bennet to make a judgement on him. If this were Glen Mason's team, Pinnix would have run the ball far more in the first half to begin the process of wearing down the Falcon defense. The second half from Pinnix and Weber on the ground came too late. But that's coaches error and should not be put back on the players.

Quarterback: 4 out of 10
Adam Weber looked lost for most of the first half. Down 14-0, Amir Pinnix broke a 50+ yard run to set the Gophers up in Falcon territory. Weber promptly pulled a Daunte Culpepper and dropped the snap. His passes weren't precise, and for most of the game weren't in the ballpark of precise. Weber's a redshirt freshmen so some inconsistency is to be expected. Weber was hurt by Dunbar's and Brewster's insistence to run the spread coast in a manner that played down his talents. In the second half, Weber demonstrated that he might be able to be an effective quarterback. He ran the ball well and once the Falcon defense committed to the run, Weber had time to throw and made a few good decisions. I expect we'll see vast improvement from Weber as the season progresses, but he's defintley a work in progress.

Wide Receivers: 5 out of 10
This is a tough position to grade because when receivers were open in the first half, Weber missed them. Eric Decker came open on a fly pattern that would have been good for 6, but the pass was overthrown. But enigmatic Ernie Wheelright didn't impress. Knowing a big hit was coming, Wheelright short-armed a pass from Weber that was eventually deflected and intercepted. A senior wideout with the talent Wheelright has should have no excuse for such a play. Wheelright should be able to dominate as a senior against a young defense like Bowling Green's, but he didn't. The young receivers didn't make much of a mark. Troy Herndon looked OK in limited action, but it was clear that after Wheelright and Decker the Gophers are going to have a hard time succeeding in the spread offense. The lack of depth at this position is another reason the Gophers coaches are fooling themselves if they think the spread offense will work this season. The group is given a grade of 5 because there wasn't enough good or bad to grade them up or down. Improvement is needed, but they also need to be put in a position to make plays.

My Minnesota math taught me to add up the scores and divide. When I do that the Gophers' offense, its approach and execution, receives a failng grade.

I'll be back soon with a look at the Minnesota defense. Here, too, we will find that in unconstrained glee to be all-things anti-Mason, the Gophers' coaches allowed a subpar MAC opponent to steal a victory on the road in a Big Ten stadium.

For some perspective, let's all try and remember we lost to a Division I team, not a Football Championship Subdivision opponent as did our friends in Michigan.

It's Weber's Team

Tim Brewster named redshirt freshman Adam Weber his starting quarterback today, which isn't a surprise if you've been following camp. But Weber came into camp as the #2 behind junior Tony Mortensen.

Weber gives the Gophers an added dimension with the athleticism to run the option. The Pioneer Press has a story up here. An AP version is here, and in that report Brewster says he won't have a "quick hook" on Weber. To me that means Weber is the guy until he proves incapable of running the team.

The Star Tribune's Chip Scoggins, on his blog, reports a few other camp battle results. Freshmen wideout Tray Herndon will start as the slot receiver alongside Ernie Wheelright and Eric Decker. Decker will join freshmen Harold Howell on punt returns. And Scoggins reports the second-team secondary looks a little weak. That group includes wideout-turned-corner Mike Chambers and three true freshman.

Camp Battles: Quarterback

There is a consensus opinion among political consultants that suggests that you win the day if you can turn your candidate's weakness into a strength. For Tim Brewster's Golden Gophers to succeed on the field this year, our new coach, a good PR man in how own right, will need to turn perceived Gophers weaknesses into strengths.

To do that, Brewster will need to make the right decision between junior Tony Mortensen, sophomore Adam Weber and true freshman--and his son--Clint Brewster.

In countless previews, writers have called for the Gophers to have a losing season often because of the quarterback situation. Three-year starter and the U's all-time leading passer Bryan Cupito is gone, leaving a considerable void. So in this first part of a three-part series on worrisome positions, I'll look at the quarterback battle, a position that has been the talk of camp. In the coming days I'll take a look at the secondary--remember Michael Floyd said he wanted to go to a school with excellent cornerbacks--and the wide receivers.

Recent reports would indicate, even though Brewster says not to read into it, that Weber might be winning the day. Coming into camp a betting man would have wagered on Mortensen, who has been in the program four years. A cynic might have suggested that Clint Brewster the coveted quarterback out of Colorodo was the odds on favorite.

Here's the Star Tribune's Chip Scoggins on the quarterback battle from Wednesday's paper.

Gophers redshirt freshman quarterback Adam Weber took the majority of snaps with the first-team offense on Wednesday morning, but coach Tim Brewster cautioned not to read too much into that.

"You guys all know that could change quickly," Brewster said

Weber is a local kid, having attended Mounds View before graduating in 2005. His father, Bobby Weber, played defensive back for the Gophers in another era.

Between Weber, Mortensen and Brewster, it's the Mounds View grad that offers the closest thing to a dual-threat at the quarterback position. Previous reports indicated Mike Dunbar was installing an option into the offense. It would seem Weber is the quarterback that could run such a play effectively. Scoggins, in a different article, sums up the competitors' strengths this way:

Each quarterback possesses different skills and qualities. Mortensen has good size (6-3, 230 pounds) and doesn't appear to get rattled easily. He is similar to Cupito in his roll-with-the-punches demeanor. This is Mortensen's fourth season in the program, so he should have an understanding of what it takes to compete at the Big Ten level.

Weber is the best athlete in the group and gives the offense a dimension in the option game. He also has a strong arm and a fiery competitive streak. But he needs to show the coaching staff that he also has command of the offense.

Clint Brewster reportedly has a strong arm and is the son of a coach, which typically means he has a good feel for the game. He also played in a spread offense in high school. It's unusual, however, for true freshmen to be physically and mentally prepared to step in and start right away.

While Weber reportedly has perhaps a more diverse game, Mortensen, a Hutchinson, Minn. native has the benefit of experience. He has played in a handful of games since he made his debut filling in for an injured Cupito in 2005. That 2005 game against Wisconsin, as a redshirt freshman, was his only start for the Gophers. He has since made eight other appearances, and has competed just 11 of 34 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.

While most of that time has been in mop-up duty, Mortensen hasn't exactly set the world on fire when he's gotten the opportunity.

The longshot in the race has to be the coach's son. Some, including me, worried that Clint Brewster would be favored in the race to succeed Cupito. And even if he wasn't "favored," there was the possibility that such a perception could emerge that would hurt Minnesota's chances of recruiting top-caliber quarterbacks in the seasons to come.

Reports indicate that Clint Brewster is taking some snaps in camp with the first team, but that Mortensen and Weber are taking more. That should indicate the real battle is between Mortensen and Weber.

Brewster is a true freshman, but he has the advantage of having played in the spread offense in high school. It should be no secret to Gophers fans that the days of Glen Mason's run always offense is behind us and the ever-popular spread offense is upon us. And it has reportedly been a challenge for Weber and Mortensen to pick up the new schemes.

The coaching staff treated spring practice like a classroom setting. They bombarded the quarterbacks — and the offense as a whole — with an avalanche of information in a short time span, knowing full well the result might be mass confusion. And it was at times.

"It was pretty unreal," Weber said. "That first day it was like, 'Boom, here it is.' You're kind of like, 'What?' There were a couple of days when you go out to practice and your head is still spinning from the meeting you just had."

Said Mortensen: "It was frustrating because some guys would be on one day and five other guys were confused. It wasn't clicking. It was tough for us. We kind of looked sloppy at times."

For a quarterback to have success in the spread, he must be able to make quick decisions, be able to read defenses and understand his blocking schemes. All of that is important because many defenses attack the spread by blitzing from different angles. So, Brewster's experience running the offense can only count in his favor. But staring down a 17-year-old blitzing linebacker on the high school playing field is more than slightly different than staying calm in the face of an Ohio State linebacker.

And while spring practice was surely trying for Weber and Mortensen, published reports indicate they have made strides and become more comfortable under center as preseason camp continues. Weber told the Star Tribune he's made the most progress.

Weber said he has made the most progress in his ability to identify protection.

"The protections are what killed me this spring," he said. "Not knowing who is blocking. Especially in this offense when you spread the field, [defenders] can come from all over the place. If you don't know where to throw it you're dead."

Brewster has said he is looking for his quarterback to be a leader in the huddle and to run the team with composure. But we won't know who has won that contest until the days before the Gophers face Bowling Green.

My bet? Adam Weber will be your opening day quarterback.