Sitting down with Minnesota's quaterback

Things couldn't have been much worse on the field for Adam Weber last year. Despite throwing for nearly 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns in his first year as starter, Minnesota's season was nothing short of a disaster. The Golden Gophers finished 1-11 in 2007, including losses to Florida Atlantic, Bowling Green and North Dakota State, a Football Championship Subdivision school.

Enter the 2008 season. The redshirt sophomore has led the Gophers to five wins, and a victory over Indiana last week sent a message that Minnesota was emerging from the conference cellar. During Big Ten Media Days in July, the Daily Illini spoke with Weber about turning the Gophers' program around and playing in Champaign.

Daily Illini: Are you guys using Illinois' success last year as sort of a reference point, especially given the similarities between both offenses?

Adam Weber: Yeah, you know, Coach Zook came in, they had their struggles just like we had our struggles, and they were able to turn it around real fast. Going to the Rose Bowl last season was amazing for the Illini; it was amazing to watch. We look at their success and know that that's the path that we need to take. Our goal is to get to the Rose Bowl and get to those bigger games. The Illini have had that success, and now it's our job to sort of follow up and get to their level.

DI: What's the one thing you guys need to do to get into the thick of things in the Big Ten?

AW: We have the experience now. We have the talent, and we have everything we need in place. It comes down to capitalizing on those four or five plays that separate teams in a game. Last year, a lot of those times, those plays went the other way, and that's why we were 1-11.

DI: When the Gophers come into Champaign, what are you guys expecting?

AW: Well, I know last year we got our butts kicked by the Fighting Illini, and they're a great football team. I'm looking forward to us bringing a lot of success from our season into that game, and you're going to look for two football teams that are rising in the Big Ten, and it's going to be an exciting football game, especially with the similarities between our teams. Hopefully it'll be a good measuring point for ourselves to see exactly where we're at. We're looking to compete and hopefully come away with the win, but obviously it's going to be a tough game, and we look forward to playing them tough.