Not good news yesterday for the future of Tim Brewster's football program. MarQueis Gray is out, at least for now, as we noted in the post below.
Speculation, heartache and anger run rampant on the boards among those who bleed maroon. Patrick Reusse, on the other hand, is likely quite pleased.
A thread on Rivals' pay-to-play board suggests Gray is back home in Indiana. That would qualify as unverified veracity by MGO standards. Myron Medcalf of the Star Tribune updated his story early this morning indicating that the NCAA Clearinghouse issue centers around Gray's ACT test score.
While I agree with one of the commenters below that we shouldn't get overly anxious about this, this is one of those annoying distractions the week before the season starts. Gray was to be the dual-threat quarterback of the future, and after Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor, there wasn't a better get at the quarterback position in the Big Ten. Brewster's class takes a serious hit if Gray doesn't find himself back in Minnesota pads soon.
But .... there's other stuff to take your mind off the future of the program, well, not being the future of the program at the moment.
- Wait, did I say take your mind off? Well, Marcus Fuller reports that redshirt freshman Damien White has left Brewster and the Gophers. White was one of eight players Brewster added in 2007. Of that group, five have now left.
- Lou Holtz thinks the Gophers can win and Brewster can succeed.
- Nice story by Marcus Fuller about how the Gophers will not be missing the Metrodome this time next season.
- The Sporting News gives you a 101 on Conference Bashing. I didn't see anything about Big Ten speed.
- Northern Illinois head man Jerry Kill talks to Scout about the Gophers tilt this weekend other stuff.
- The Big Ten's other big dual-threat quarterback newcomer, Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor is listed third on the depth chart. At least he's eligible.
- Finally, if you weren't around yesterday, it was a hectic day here. Gopher Nation interviewed Adam Rittenberg of the 4-letter, we reported the news that former Dan Monson recruit Trevor Mbakwe is leaving Marquette and we continued our preview of the upcoming football season with a look at Minnesota's running backs. If you missed something, you know where to find it!