Gophers' Weber states his case

MINNEAPOLIS - Asked this week to assess Minnesota's offense minus star receiver Eric Decker - who is lost for the season with a foot injury - MSU defensive end Trevor Anderson said: "Still good. Still good, they've still got MarQueis Gray."

It was an interesting choice of words, because Gray is Minnesota's backup quarterback.

But he was very much on the minds of the Spartans entering Saturday night's game here between the Spartans and Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. And he was very much on the minds of Minnesota's fans, who have been clamoring with increasing volume for Gray to supplant senior Adam Weber as the team's starter.

Weber turned down the volume Saturday.

He responded with early fireworks - throwing touchdown passes of 62 and 37 yards in the first 1:37 of the game to give his team a quick 14-0 lead.

Gray, meanwhile, got into the game regularly, usually on second-down plays, but did not have much of an early impact.

Weber was 11 of 17 for 187 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

He did throw an interception to MSU linebacker Brandon Denson, setting up MSU's lone touchdown of the half. But he was mostly accurate and on-time against an MSU secondary that played its worst football in weeks.

Weber has struggled this season with Minnesota's move from a spread to more of a pro-style offense. He came into the game with six touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, completing 54.5 percent of his throws.

Gray, one of the top recruits in the nation in 2008, is a 6-foot-4, 222-pound speedster who had been a situational player for the Gophers, used mostly on option plays here and there.

He was 0-for-2 through the air and had four yards on three carries in the first half Saturday.

Gray had thrown just seven passes entering Saturday's game, but his late drive and scoring pass in last week's 38-7 loss at Ohio State increased speculation that he might be threatening Weber.

Brewster made it clear before the game, though, that Weber is the starter. Weber made it clear why.

"MarQueis Gray will get opportunities similar to what he did against Ohio State to come in and help us. Obviously was very pleased with his contribution against Ohio State," Brewster said. "Adam Weber threw the ball as well early in the game against Ohio State as he had all season. We just didn't do a good enough job supporting him. "We dropped a number of balls that could've (given) us a real lift and a sense of confidence."

THE OTHER COMBO: On the other side of the ball, MSU sophomore quarterback Keith Nichol was available to play after two weeks off with an injured left elbow, suffered late in an Oct. 10 win at Illinois.

Nichol saw his first action with 7:10 left in the second quarter, starting a drive at his own 9-yard line. The Spartans went three-and-out, with Nichol throwing well short on a third-and-5 incompletion.

Kirk Cousins had thrown a 26-yard touchdown pass on MSU's previous possession to cut Minnesota's lead to 14-10.

A bad MSU punt followed by a Minnesota touchdown drive made it 21-10, with Cousins returning to quarterback on the next series. He threw an interception six plays into the drive, miscommunicating on a pass route with Brian Linthicum.

INJURY UPDATE: MSU safety Trenton Robinson missed his second straight game with an ankle injury, while linebacker Drew Stevens was out with a knee injury suffered early in last week's loss to Iowa.

Safety Danny Fortener was hurt early in the second quarter, taking a hit to the head and lying on the field for several minutes before being helped off. Kendell Davis-Clark replaced Fortener.

Freshman running back Larry Caper suffered a head injury in the first half and didn't return.

BANQUET NOTICE: Tickets are still available for MSU's annual football awards banquet, Nov. 22 at the Kellogg Center on campus. A reception begins at 4 p.m. with dinner. Player introductions and awards are set for 5 p.m.

Tickets are $45 apiece, with a cost of $360 for a table of eight. Reservations can be made by check, payable to MSU and sent to: Spartan Football Awards Banquet, Duffy Daugherty Football Building/Skandalaris Center, East Lansing, MI 48824.