The Gopher football team is set to begin play in 10 days and its hard to tell whether it should be an exciting time for fans or an apprehensive time.

There are so many questions with this year’s team following last year’s incredible flop. So many problems clouded the team before the season even started that it made it difficult to think the team could have a good season. Expectations were low but few envisioned the season the Gophers had last year.

The team was so young, so inexperienced at so many critical positions which led to a tremendously disappointing season.

Some how through it all, head coach Tim Brewster has maintained his optimism. If his optimism translated to wins on the field that would be great, but it has definitely kept the spirits high of the players. They seemed to understand what last year was about and never really got down on themselves as some would expect. Through it all the team has a chance to show fans what it learned from that incredibly trying season.

The talent on the offensive side of the ball is good and Adam Weber looked like he was getting better throughout the season last year. It looks like he is capable of running the spread offense. The key for him will be to limit the turnovers that plagued him last year. He threw 19 picks last year and often times those came at critical junctures in the game, but he improved down the stretch of the season.

At Northwestern Weber had arguably his best game, throwing 5 touchdown passes and running for one as well.

The key will be getting the ball into his hands.

The defense was the worst in the nation. It had a terrible time tackling and the secondary was in shambles as three freshmen started. This was an undersized crew to begin with and now the Gophers are hoping some junior college transfers can help out.

Trumaine Brock is supposed to be a solid free safety and hopefully he can replace the loss of Dom Barber who was easily the best player on defense. Traye Simmons is another transfer that comes in highly rated, four stars by Rivals.

Credit Brewster for going out and getting what he needed most desperately but there’s a lot that hinges on transfers this year.

Deon Hightower and Steve Davis headline the linebackers. Hightower came on strong last year and made an impact in some games. He is a physical player with a lot of strength and could have a good year. Davis came on a little at the end of the year, but the team will need more consistent play from him.

Teams were able to do whatever they wanted offensively against the Gophers last year, it was tough to pick whether a team would have more rushing yards in a game or more passing yards against them.

The great thing about going 1-11 is that the expectations are low, but Brewster needs to show some kind of improvement on defense quickly.

Sure it takes a few years for a coach to bring in his own guys to turn a program around and Brewster has done a good job of recruiting, according to the rivals.com of the world, but he has got to show people something with the defense this year.

Willie VanDeSteeg was playing through injury all year and if he returns like his sophomore year that will be a start.

The secondary was definitely overmatched and maybe the best Brewster can do is bring in a couple of juco guys for now.

With the offense able to produce like it did at times last season and if the defense can tackle and hold a team the Gophers have an opportunity to improve on that win column. By how much? One more win would sure be nice, but it’s not that likely.

Brewster liked to say last season that the team was in every game and it was — until the other team took possession.

The most exciting part of the Gophers is the offense, no question. Weber connecting with Decker and the other receivers was beautiful after watching grind-it-out football with Glen Mason. Mason’s offense worked, Brewster’s works too, but watching the defense last year was difficult to say the least.