I wrote in Wednesday's paper that MarQueis Gray has already established himself as the Gophers' most likely quarterback. I didn't have space to mention, however, something interesting that Matt Limegrover, Minnesota's offensive coordinator, said about the QB competition.

Limegrover and quarterback coach Jim Zebrowski are evaluating Gray's arm, and are impressed, as expected, by how quick he is on his feet. But those aren't the body parts, Limegrover said, that will determine who gets the job.

It's the brain.

Roughly 80 percent of Minnesota's offensive plays, Limegrover said, will involve decision-making by the QB after reading the defense's alignment . I found that number shockingly high, but Limegrover said it's the same setup that Chandler Harnish ran so successfully at Northern Illinois last season, when the Huskies posted the 19th-ranked offense in the FBS.

Right or left, inside or out, run or pass, and to who -- "our gameplan is heavy on 'check-with-quarterback' plays," Limegrover said. "Our system depends on the quarterback putting the offense in the best position to succeed. He's got a lot of responsibility in reading the defense and reacting to it before the ball is snapped."

Frequently, the Gophers will call two plays in the huddle, and depend upon the quarterback to choose the best one as the defense lines up. "There's a difference between an audible and a two-play check," Limegrover said. "We know [the defense] will do either A or B. If they do A, we'll switch to B. That's why it's more important to be smart about throwing the ball than having a great arm."

That's why Coach Jerry Kill and his staff have been so hesitant to declare Gray the front-runner for the job. "It's not like we were saying, 'let's make him a receiver instead.' We just had no way of knowing how he would handle the responsibility at the line," Limegrover said. The Gopher coaches watched a reel made up of every snap Gray has taken for the Gophers, but it didn't help much, Limegrover said, because nearly every play was in the "wildcat" formation, with a predetermined play.

"So this has been a nice surprise for us, how well he's handled all the reads," the coordinator said. "He's still got a long way to go, but he's really picking up what we need him to do."