Optimism abounds amidst the apathy

Despite the outdoor conditions which made the Friday night's Gopher Spring Game seem a bit mislabeled, the University of Minnesota mens' football squad took the field at the Metrodome. After reaching the nadir of football ineptitude with a 1-11 mark last year, Brew's Crew went out and landed a top-20 recruiting class. Some of that talent was on display last night as I ventured through the slush -- cripes, it's almost May! -- along with my No. 1 talent assessor, Little Man (aka McLovin). Here are my observations, for what it's worth.

Marcus Sherels, a junior from Rochester, recovered a fumble and returned two kickoffs for 93 yards and had a punt return for 21 yards. Offensively, Adam Webber was relegated to some quick checkdowns and outs. He was listed as 10-of-14 for 65 and a TD. His biggest weapon (Adam Decker) wasn't available because he is currently playing for the middling Gopher baseball team (see notes at the bottom). Also absent from Friday's scrimmage was David Pittman, a Juco transfer that aims to be a major component of the offense, according to Brewster. Pittman tweaked his leg in practice earlier in the week and was unavailable to suit up. The running load this year will fall upon Duane (that's DU-won to you, mister) Bennett and R.J. Buckner. Bennett had 43 yards on 11 carries. He is shifty and made several tacklers miss in the open field. He isn't, however, capable of being a 25 carries/game back due to his slight build (5-9, 195 pounds generously). Buckner had 15 carries and looked to move the pile a little more. Still, he isn't large either (5-11, 205) and fumbled once while being tackled. The Gophers can't afford Bennett to go down with an injury or have Webber carry the ball more than 8-10 times a game. He complained last year of being sore until late the following week after having being asked to shoulder the running load too much.

The defensive backfield that was one of the worst in Division 1A (and AA) will be completely reworked this year. Ryan Collado, aka Orange Cone, saw some action at corner, but I suspect that once summer ball starts he'll find his way to the bench area. Otherwise, it was difficult to gauge too much from the defensive side of the ball Friday. The first- and second-string defensive lines overwhelmed the Gophers starting unit, which is in complete rebuild mode from last year. Brewster is going to have to find some capable bodies up front, especially at tackle, otherwise he's going to go through a handful of quarterbacks due to injury.

Sherels was the bright spot on special teams. He looked good for a walk-on and will probably contribute as a returner. The ugliness was displayed in aces by field goal kicker Joel Monroe, a senior from Robbinsdale Cooper. He was 0-3 on field goal attempts, including ones from 36, 38 and 52 yards. I had to look twice at one of his extra point attempts to see if it actually went through -- apparently it did. This guy WILL cost the Gophers a conference game this year, assuming the team can get that close to another Big 10 team.

Bottom line: Too early to tell, but Brewster is going to put together a semblance of an offensive line, a big back to take the load off Bennett, and some speed outside to accompany Decker. Defensively, they may have up to nine new starters (Willie VanDerSteeg and Deon Hightower the holdovers) if linebacker Steve Davis doesn't stick as a starter.

Notes: Noticeably absent from the show Friday was Decker, a 6-2, 215-pound junior from Cold Spring. He is playing his first love, baseball, for John Anderson and the Gophers. According to the story I heard, Brewster was publicly all for the experiment, but when push came to shove he didn't think Decker was serious and wasn't keen on the idea. He told Decker that he didn't want him missing any football practices. So much for that threat... Decker, in addition to getting his scrotum punched by Jack Ikegwuonu in last season's season-ending loss, had his wallet stolen three times from the Metrodome locker room last year. He may want to leave that at home this year or invest in a better lock.