Jim Souhan: Freshman Green steps up when Decker is taken away

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. - It was quite the defensive effort, and that was just Coach Brew's press conference, in which he warned us not to downplay beating Purdue or make "a big deal" out of Ralph Spry's suspension.

Raising the question, "Who is Ralph Spry?"

Coach Brew -- otherwise known as Tim Brewster, Gopher Nation Emperor For Life, Or Until He Gets Another Job -- improved to 7-1, won a second consecutive road game in the Big Ten, raised the possibility of playing on or near New Year's in a warm climate, yet sounded angrier than Joe Paterno when he doesn't get his mid-morning nap.

Yo, Tim: This victory -- 17-6 at Purdue, against a team that had won nine of the previous 10 games in the series -- should have made you as happy as any. This was the BrewBall victory that prompted representatives of the Capital One Bowl to visit the locker room, this was the victory that ensured a bowl bid of some sort, and this was the victory directly attributable to one of your recruits, not one of Glen Mason's.

Because the Gophers don't win this game without freshman receiver and star recruit Brandon Green.

What's remarkable about the Gophers' 7-1 record is that their offense has been less productive than last year's, and more one-dimensional, that one dimension being passes from Adam Weber to Eric Decker.

Saturday, Purdue tried to beat up Weber and Decker and succeeded. By the end of the game, Weber wore a welt on his forehead and what looked like a busted nose, and Decker was undergoing treatment.

On the first drive, with Minnesota facing third-and-6 from the 24, Weber avoided the rush, rolled right and saw Green slipping behind his defender. Weber tossed a wobbly pass down the sideline. Green and the defender leaped. Green leaned back, snagged it, then sped down the sideline, all the way to the Purdue 5.

It was the Gophers' longest play of the season. It set up Weber's touchdown run and gave the Gophers a lead they would keep even as the offense sputtered most of the day.

"That's what we recruited him for," Weber said of Green. "That's what we're looking for."

Green finished with five catches for 100 yards. His second most important catch set up the Gophers' second touchdown, in the fourth quarter. On third-and-9 from the Gophers 37, with Minnesota leading 10-6, Weber hit Green for 11 yards. Three plays later, the Gophers scored.

"He's progressively gotten a lot better and much more comfortable in the offense," Gophers tight end Jack Simmons said. "He's beginning to understand how we adjust routes to the defense. This is a very complex offense for a true freshman to get used to. I think you're going to continue to see big things from him, especially because people are going to take away No. 7. With the kind of year Eric is having, somebody else is going to have to step up and make plays."

"That's what the coaches stress to me all the time," Green said. "When teams double up on him, somebody else needs to make a play."

Green starred at Chicago's Robeson High. He sensed he would be able to play right away for the Gophers, but he made only one catch for 7 yards in the first seven games. "I never thought it would take this long, but it did," he said. "The tempo is faster up here."

Give this to Coach Brew: If he keeps bringing in players like Green, he might get a lot of chances to act defensive after victories.