By: Marcus R. Fuller (TwinCities.com) —

To Gophers fans hoping for an upset victory over 13th-ranked Ohio State now that the University of Minnesota football team is 4-0, Tim Brewster says hold on a minute.

The Gophers, who dominated Florida Atlantic 37-3 on Saturday at the Metrodome, have shown they are much improved from a year ago when they went 1-11, but they still have a ways to go to reach Ohio State’s level.

“We wanted to be a 4-0 football team at this point, and we are,” said Brewster, the Gophers’ second-year coach. “There are some people saying how great we are, but we also know that if we don’t play well against (the Buckeyes), they can embarrass us in their back yard.”

That doesn’t mean Minnesota can’t give defending Big Ten Conference champion Ohio State (3-1) a competitive game Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. With a much less talented team last season, the Gophers battled the Buckeyes, trailing by 14 points at halftime in a 30-7 loss at the Metrodome.

But Ohio State could have a much different look this weekend with the nation’s top high school recruit, Terrelle Pryor, probably getting his first Big Ten start at quarterback.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Pryor became first true freshman to start at quarterback for the Buckeyes since 1978 when he replaced senior Todd Boeckman in a 28-10 victory over Troy on Saturday. Pryor completed 10 of 16 passes for 139 yards with four touchdowns and an interception, and he rushed 14 times for 66 yards.

Brewster recruited high-profile quarterbacks
Chris Simms and Vince Young when he was an assistant coach at Texas from 1998-2001, but neither started as a true freshman.

In 1986, Brewster was a graduate assistant at Purdue when the Boilermakers started former NFL quarterback Jeff George in his first year with the team.

“He’s a very talented young player,” Brewster said of Pryor. “They obviously feel like it’s time for him to get the controls and get in the driver’s seat. I was thinking about other very good programs that started a true freshman (at quarterback), but I can’t.”

Brewster said he probably wouldn’t change his defensive game plan based on Pryor’s “unique athletic ability” because the Buckeyes didn’t seem to play differently with their young quarterback running the offense against Troy.

The Gophers have a lot more to worry about than Pryor because the Buckeyes have an NFL-sized offensive line and are loaded with future pro players such as linebacker James Laurinaitis, a former Wayzata High School star, and running back Chris “Beanie” Wells, who missed the past three games because a foot injury.

The Buckeyes represent the Minnesota defense’s toughest challenge so far this season. The defense, which had four interceptions against Florida Atlantic and has forced 13 turnovers this year, is the main reason the Gophers are 4-0.

“But we’ll certainly learn a great deal about our improvement Saturday,” Brewster said. “They can throw it; they can run it. The level of athleticism that we’re going to see Saturday is unlike what we’ve seen.”

Injury report: Brewster said redshirt freshman online pharmacy without prescription center Trey Davis might have a broken bone in his left hand, which he uses to snap the ball. Junior Jeff Tow-Arnett replaced Davis, who was carted off the field late in the second quarter Saturday.

Davis, who had started the past two games in place of Tow-Arnett, was seen with a cast on his left hand Sunday.

“If he has a broken bone in his hand, he’s going to have to snap with a soft cast,” Brewster said. “He’ll play through it.”

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