O-line could be MTSU?s best unit

[IE]

Which is MTSU?s strongest positional group? That?s the current trivia question on BlueRaiders.com.

The top choices include quarterback, running back, offensive line and defensive secondary.

QB Dwight Dasher is the Sun Belt preseason player of the year, but this is a group questions and Dasher?s backups lack Division I experience.

Running back seems to be a good option. Former starter Phillip Tanner is back from a knee injury, and returning starter D.D. Kyles is just a junior. Former Mr. Football Ben Cunningham, from Goodpasture, drew rave reviews late last season and certainly in the offseason.

Three of perhaps the top 10 players on the team are in the defensive secondary in safeties Jeremy Kellem and Kevin Brown and cornerback Rod Issac. So again, that?s not a bad option.

But what about MTSU?s offensive line?

Four starters are back, including tackles Mark Fisher and Mike Williams. Brandon McLeroy is among the best guards in the Sun Belt Conference. Returning starter Alex Stuart may be at guard or possibly move to center. Chris Hawkins is a possible starter or backup, and he can play all five positions. And Tennessee transfer Preston Bailey, a former Mr. Football at Montgomery Bell Academy, may be the best addition to this year?s lineup.

Last season?s line helped MTSU lead the Sun Belt in rushing yards and rank in the top 40 nationally in fewest sacks allowed.

Plus, MTSU?s line will likely be the x-factor if the Blue Raiders finally defeat Troy. To this point, the Trojans? front-seven have overwhelmed MTSU?s line, but experience and talent could be in the Blue Raiders? favor this season.

 

[IE]

Gophers quarterback Adam Weber says his conditioning, team's system are improved this season



Gophers' Weber says conditioning, system improved

Adam Weber wasn't ready to excel going into last season.

The University of Minnesota quarterback blamed offseason shoulder surgery in part, and he thought the new offense he had to learn was a bit complex.

But Weber said Tuesday that he is physically and mentally prepared to rebound from a disappointing junior year now that he's healthy and in a much simpler offense.

"Last year after having surgery, I never really felt like I got myself back to where I needed to be," Weber said during a phone interview from Big Ten Media Day in Chicago. "The big motivator for me this summer was to get my body back to being where it was when I was a freshman. I feel like I'm in my best-conditioned state.

"Overall, I feel very confident in my body. I don't think I had that last season, and that's why I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do this year."

The spring surgery was not on his throwing shoulder, but it might as well have been. His eight interceptions as a sophomore nearly doubled to 15 last year. He went from completing 62 percent of his passes with a pass efficiency rating of 126.93 to completing 52 percent of his throws with a 114.65 passer rating in 2009. He ranked last in the Big Ten in both categories last year.

"He wasn't able to lift and get himself in the type of condition you need your quarterback to be in," Gophers coach Tim Brewster said. "This summer he has been phenomenal with his work ethic."

Weber had to fight to keep his starting
job in this year's spring practice against sophomore MarQueis Gray and redshirt freshman Moses Alipate, and it forced him to be sharper.

It also helped that he was able to lift weights regularly and participate in other offseason workouts with his teammates. Weber's father, Bob, a former Gophers player, said he has noticed a significant improvement in his son's overall fitness.

"He can now weight lift like he needs to, and that's a big plus all the way around," Bob Weber said. "Then, of course, being able to exercise and get into the agility drills and training that they do to stay in shape all goes with it. When you're healthy you can do those better. The physical aspect is so important. That's the part that he has been able to work on harder over this offseason."

On the mental side, first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Horton's playbook was much less demanding to digest in a short period of time.

Weber, a former Mounds View High School standout, said the new offense reminded him of the I-formation looks that he was recruited to learn as a true freshman under former Minnesota coach Glen Mason in 2006.

The Gophers will run even more of a pro-style offense than they did last season under offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, according to Weber. Fisch, who left for the Seattle Seahawks after one year at Minnesota, had an offensive style that was extremely diverse, thus harder to pick up quickly.

"We've had only 15 practices with coach Horton so far, but I already know that we're not going to try to trick ourselves," Weber said. "This style of play is more of a traditional style of football. For a while the spread became very popular, and it still is, but this style of play is more suited for the talent we have on our team. For me, I feel most comfortable in the I-formation with play-action fakes and being under center. That's what I was recruited to play. I wish I had more seasons with it."

The quarterbacks who had success under Mason, such as Bryan Cupito and Asad Abdul-Khaliq, were more game managers while leaving the primary playmaking to the running backs.

Brewster described Weber's new role as being similar to that. Those responsibilities should be easier for Weber to meet now that his body and mind are in a better place.

"We're not going to ask Adam to do too much," Brewster said. "We're going to ask him to be a great leader, a great game manager and to make good decisions to take care of the ball. I think that Adam is in a great place. I think he's more comfortable than he has been at any point in time in college."

 

[Skipper]

Good stuff IE - I think this is a team who can really do well this year. I am waiting to see the opening line to the opener on Thurs nite at home vs Minnesota.

Their conference road schedule is very easy this year as Troy, FL ATL, and No Texas are all at home

 

[IE]

bookmaker:

143 MINNESOTA U +4?-110 o53-110 -
144 MIDDLE TENN ST -4?-110 u53-110

 

[IE]

MTSU Practice Report: Three linemen injured


MTSU?s starting five offensive linemen have been trimmed to two with recent injuries.



Center Alex Stuart and guard Preston Bailey missed Wednesday morning?s practice with knee injuries. Tackle Mark Fisher?s workout was cut short by a re-aggravated back injury.

Stuart is out about two weeks. Bailey, who also has missed time for an illness, could be back in a few days. Fisher is day-to-day.

That leaves only guard Brandon McLeroy and tackle Mike Williams among the starters that are healthy.