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University of Minnesota Athletics
Blog: Gray Enjoying Double Duty
9/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Make no mistake about it, Gopher sophomore MarQueis Gray is still a quarterback. And there are no plans to change that this season, now or in the future, according to Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster.
The question as to what Gray's position is comes because the multi-talented Gray is lining up at wide receiver a great deal this season. It is an even bigger question this week, after Gray recorded career-best marks for receptions (nine) and receiving yards (91) with a touchdown in last week's game against South Dakota.
Brewster's answer to the question about a full-time move to wide receiver for Gray?
"Certainly not," Brewster said Tuesday in his weekly press conference. "He is our second‑best quarterback. If Adam (Weber) were to get injured or we felt like Adam wasn't helping us as much as we need at the quarterback position, MarQueis would step in and play immediately at the quarterback position. And MarQueis' future at the University of the Minnesota. He's going to be at the quarterback position."
But as for now, Gray is more than comfortable with how the coaching staff is using him.
"I'm comfortable with my role," Gray said. "I'm playing a lot more and I'm happy with that. Anywhere they want me to play, I'm fine with it right now. But of course, I still want to play quarterback."Gray was pleased with his performance last week. But he obviously would have rather come out of the game with a victory.
"It was a nice day," Gray said. "Unfortunately, I wish we would have gotten the win. But I think I had a good game."
Coach Brewster agreed that Gray had a solid performance last week. But he still sees room for improvement. The head coach also expects that Gray will continue to become a better wide receiver, while continuing to split time between the two positions in practice throughout the week.
"MarQueis was having a lot of the fun on the field on Saturday," Brewster said. "I told him he should have had 11 catches. He had nine; should have had 11. I want him to catch every ball. MarQueis will become a more precise route runner. He does a lot things right now just based on his athletic ability, his size."
While he's learning two positions, going back and forth between the two during practice and putting extra work in with receivers coach Steve Watson during the week, both Gray and Brewster agree that it isn't putting too much on the second-year player's plate.
"Steve is certainly doing a great job in helping MarQueis in a limited amount of time," Brewster said. "He's still getting a great deal of work as a quarterback. We're asking a lot out of MarQueis, but he certainly seems to be able to handle it."
"Playing quarterback and receiver are totally different," Gray said. "It's a lot more than what you might expect. You might think it was easier, being a quarterback to play receiver. It's complicated for both. But I think I'm doing a good job at it."
Gray and his teammates will try to make it complicated for USC to cover him and slow down the Gopher offense this Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gopher-Trojan clash is set to kick off at 2:35 p.m. The game will air nationally on ESPN.
-By Associate Director of Athletic Communications Andy Seeley
