Spring game offers glance at 2010

The Minnesota football team’s spring game was hailed by many as a final exam for quarterbacks Adam Weber and MarQueis Gray , and the test was fairly conclusive.
Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster said that within the next two weeks the team would name its starting quarterback, but all signs Saturday pointed to Weber.
Though Gray had the only touchdown throw of the afternoon — a 38-yard pass to senior Hayo Carpenter — he also threw the only interception. Weber was on the field more than any of the other quarterbacks, tallying 20 pass attempts versus a combined 14 by the other three.
“I thought Adam Weber looked extremely comfortable out on the field today,” Brewster said. “His fifth-year experience showed up today, and some of [Gray’s] inexperience showed up today.”
The defense won the spring game 49-26 under an adjusted scoring system. The offense scored two touchdowns for 14 points and four field goals for another 12 points. The defense was awarded 12 points for their two takeaways, along with points for sacks, forced punts or field goals, three-and-outs and tackle for losses.
Gray didn’t necessarily play badly, but Weber seemed to have a better command of the offense and made fewer mental errors.
“MarQueis is a young quarterback and quarterback is a tough position to play,” co-offensive coordinator Jeff Horton said. “My challenge to him was he wasn’t going to be just a package guy. He was going to learn the whole book, not just chapters four, five and six.”
Weber’s first drive of the game included a 56-yard heave to junior Troy Stoudermire that set up junior DeLeon Eskridge’s 1-yard touchdown run.
But Weber’s most complete drive was a 5-for-9 effort on a 47-yard march down the field as time was winding down in the first half. Senior Eric Ellestad capped the drive with a 35-yard field goal.
Although Weber put his best foot forward Saturday, he reiterated he does not feel his job is secure.
“It’s one of those things where you have to go out there every single day and you have to perform,” Weber said. “Regardless of who gets the starting nod, they’re going to have to earn that job every single game.”
Freshman Moses Alipate and sophomore Adam Lueck saw limited action. They went 2-for-7 and 14 yards combined.
Whoever is under center in the fall will have to continue to adjust to life without Eric Decker, who missed the latter half of the 2009 season with a Lisfranc fracture and was drafted Friday by the Denver Broncos . The Gophers’ receivers struggled with a number of drops Saturday.
“It was a little frustrating and that’s why I don’t judge one practice; I look at the overall improvement,” Weber said. “And overall, they’ve been making big strides.”
Brewster added that while the secondary was able to strip a couple of catches away from the receivers, he was disappointed they didn’t catch more passes.
“We had our hands on a couple of balls that I thought we should have caught,” Brewster said. “I think we have to be mentally tougher to make those tough, hard catches.”
Junior Da’Jon McKnight led the team with three catches for 53 yards, and Weber said he will be a major part of the offense.
“Da’Jon is probably the most talented guy we have,” Weber said. “But he still has some stuff to improve on.”
McKnight added that he has been able to be more consistent in his route-running and learning to read the defense.
The only solidified linebacker spot is reserved for sophomore Mike Rallis , who had two sacks Saturday. Rallis said this group of linebackers is young, but they learned a lot from the group that left last season.
“We have come in all together, trained together and learned the defense together,” Rallis said. “We’re all young and inexperienced, but that’s not an excuse for us; we need to step up and make more good plays than bad plays.”
With the spring practices coming to a close and some of the starters becoming clearer, Brewster still saw the spring game as a chance for the team to compete for positions.
“Nobody feels comfortable, and I think that is a very positive thing,” Brewster said. “There was a lot of anxious guys … I like the feel we had in the locker room before the spring game.”