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University of Minnesota Athletics
Blog: Gophers Meet the Media
9/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
One ofTim Brewster’s initiatives when he took over the University of Minnesota football program in 2007 was to improve the Gophers’ schedule and put his team into marquee, national matchups. Brewster and the Gophers will play one of those types of games Saturday, when the No. 7/8 California Golden Bears visit TCF Bank Stadium.
Coach Brewster and a handful of Gopher student-athletes met with the media Tuesday afternoon at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex. Brewster and the Gophers spoke very highly of California.
“Obviously, this is the stage that we want to be on at the University of Minnesota,” Brewster said. “We want to play in meaningful, significant games. This is a nationally televised game against a team that is a legitimate National Championship caliber football team. I think that it's reasonable to say that Cal goals and aspirations would be to be this year's national champion. I think they deserve to be in that conversation for certain. It's a tremendous challenge for our football team.”
Meanwhile, quarterback Adam Weber said that the challenge of this contest will be beneficial for the Gophers as they move into Big Ten play.
“This Cal game is a great challenge for us, but we haven’t shown our full potential the last two games,” Weber said. “We can have a great showing on Saturday and carry that momentum to the Big Ten.”
Senior linebacker Lee Campbell said it will be the most difficult game the Gophers have played this season.
“Cal is a great football team,” Campbell said. “They have a lot of fast skill players and tremendous athletes on their team. They have a great running back and a good quarterback. We are definitely ready to take on the challenge. It’s going to be our biggest test so far this season.”
According to junior safety Kim Royston, playing for a coach like Brewster will help the squad in this week’s contest.
“He loves his players and he loves the game (of football),” Royston said. “He is a very intense person and has a lot of confidence, which definitely rubs off on his players. When you are playing teams like Cal this week, you need as much confidence as you can get and you can’t doubt yourself one bit.”
One of the big keys for this week will be stopping Cal’s Heisman Trophy candidate Jahvid Best. Coach Brewster knows Best is a great running back. But he also said the Gophers can’t forget about the rest of the Bears.
“They've got one of the best tailbacks in the country in Jahvid Best,” Brewster said. “He's got great speed, and I'll tell you, he's 195 pounds. He's not a small back. So he breaks tackles, and they do a nice job with him in the passing game, throwing him the football, splitting him out wide, and he's just like a wide receiver when he's split out, and so he's a very multi dimensional type of player. He's a tremendous threat. You've got to understand where he's at at all times.
“They've got an outstanding quarterback,” Brewster added. “They haven't turned the ball over in two games.They've got outstanding football players on their team. They're a big, strong, fast team. They've got outstanding wide receivers. Cal has got an outstanding offensive line. Their left tackle is as good an offensive lineman as there is in the country. They are big, they're strong, and they're a well oiled offense, and I say that with admiration. I mean, you watch them and their technique and their execution of their offense is excellent.”
But the Gopher head coach didn’t spend his entire time talking about the Cal offense. He’s impressed with the Golden Bears’ defense and their 3-4 scheme.
Brewster said Cal is “very big, strong and athletic on the defensive side. For the second straight week, we'll see a 3-4 defense.”
Kickoff for Saturday's clash between the Golden Bears and Golden Gophers is slated for 11:02 a.m. at TCF Bank Stadium.
-Andy Seeley
