U football: Weber learns to read it right

Gophers offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar has a favorite saying. If you play quarterback in his spread offense you'll hear it from the day you walk into your first practice until the day you've thrown your last pass: Do you see what I say? ¶ This is important. Dunbar is one of the nation's spread-offense gurus, his playbook a reference book. It's all designed to give the quarterback an option for every situation, an out for nearly every predicament, an opportunity to shine like the North Star. ¶ See? ¶ "I always give them that line," Dunbar said. " 'Do you see what I say?' Usually the first time you say that they look at you like, 'What?' But you have to see what I say in your mind. If I have to draw it for you, in the heat of the battle? You're lost."

Talk to sophomore quarterback Adam Weber and he'll say he's found some answers. Not all of them, not yet; the spread offense is layered, like an onion, with more options and avenues becoming available as you delve in. But, heading into his second year as the Gophers starting quarterback, knowing the fate of his team rests in large part on his broad shoulders, Weber is starting to see.

It's taken one season, two springs and two training camps to get an idea of how much he didn't know a year ago, when he brashly went out and set nearly every single-season passing record in school history. Good numbers, but too many turnovers and not enough victories.

Weber shrugged those shoulders.

"Last year, at this time, I felt confident," he said. "But now, looking back, there are so many more things I'm aware of now that I had no understanding of last year."

Retracing his missteps

That's not entirely true. Weber, heading an offense in which everyone was learning the spread on the fly, led the team in rushing. He started all 12 games and was under center for all but nine of the Gophers' 887 offensive plays.

He threw for 2,895 yards and 24 touchdowns, getting at least one in all but one game. He ranked 20th in the nation with 292.7 yards of total offense per game.

He was also all-Big Ten in academics, which might be one of the biggest reasons for optimism this season.

Because there was still a lot to learn, such as the reasons behind the 19 interceptions Weber threw.

After the 1-11 season ended, Weber let everything cool down, let himself decompress. But then, as winter set in, he and the coaches sat down and watched film. Every game ... every interception.

Weber would mostly sit with Dunbar, looking at his errant throws on video cuts. That's what coaches call a series of plays clipped together on a laptop.

"It was thinking it through," head coach Tim Brewster said.

Why did the interception happen? What did Weber see in the defense and how did he react? Were some plays being called that he wasn't comfortable with?

It wasn't just one session. Through the offseason, between classes, Weber would call Dunbar and say, "Can I come over?" They'd sit down and watch.

"It was a humbling experience," Weber said. "It puts things in perspective. I think a lot has been said about the numbers that were put up last year. But I've always been one to focus on the ones that matter -- the turnovers and the wins and the losses. And those stats were very poor. And most of that, in this offense, is correlated with the quarterback position."

Slowly, Weber started to see what Dunbar was saying.

One valuable year

Dunbar is used to this process, because he's seen it before. It happened at Northwestern, when he threw a redshirt freshman named Brent Basanez into the starting lineup. The Wildcats went 3-9 that first year. In year two the Wildcats were in a bowl game.

The spread is a quarterback-friendly offense, but the quarterback has to get comfortable with it first.

"There is nothing like 12 games of experience," Dunbar said. "No matter what I could have told him or said, or what we attempted to put him through in practice, nothing prepares you for your first year. Doesn't matter if you're a freshman or not."

So, 12 games under his belt, Weber spent the winter taking extra-credit classes at Dunbar's quarterback school.

"We've gone back through everything," Dunbar said. "He's better at recognizing defenses, at understanding protections, at knowing where hot outlets are when they do blitz and what to do. He is leap years ahead of where he was last season. Different people see the light at different times."

And Weber feels illuminated.

Here's an example. Dunbar's goal is to keep Weber's aggressive play, but to harness it. There is another saying Dunbar likes: Throw it to Mom.

Translation: There are times when throwing the ball away is the best thing to do.

"I say, 'She's up in the stands, she loves you, throw her the ball once in a while. That's OK.' "

Said Weber: "My first spring ball, going into that fall camp and into the season, I struggled with throwing the ball away. That's a hard thing, as a quarterback. You want to make a play. But sometimes the best play is dropping it down to a running back. Or throwing it to Mom."

Coach, quarterback in sync

Now Dunbar talks to Weber like he's another coach. There isn't the need to draw it all out.

And Weber can hardly wait. He knows the offense better now. Enough to know just how many things it will let him do. By his estimation, on a 10-point scale, he was at a 5 with the spread last year. He figures he'll be at about 8 when this season starts.

"There are so many more things that I'm aware of now that I had no understanding of last year," he said. "It's understanding the opportunity you have. I have every opportunity to take this thing wherever I want it to go."

That's why Weber was ready for the season to start halfway through camp. He sees the future, and it's so bright grease paint under his eyes might not be enough.

Yes, there are challenges. Eric Decker, his top receiver, returns. But much of the rest of the depth at the position is inexperienced. The Gophers spent summer camp rebuilding the offensive line. Weber led the team with 617 rushing yards last year, and there's a dearth of experienced running backs. The coaches would prefer, in an ideal world, that Weber run less.

So what? When Weber looks you in the eye you feel his confidence. So do his teammates, who voted him the first sophomore captain in school history. Now when he sees a defense do something, he knows how to respond. These days, when he's looking left, he knows, in his mind, what's going on to his right.

"I have a grasp of the offense," he said. "I know right from wrong. Now it's a matter of becoming consistent with it. It's all on me, recognizing it, and doing it. ... I want to play right now."

He's about to have that wish granted.