The Minnesota Golden Gophers will start quarterback Max Shortell this week in place of the injured MarQueis Gray, and though the quarterbacks have different playing styles, the Golden Gophers won't change their offensive philosophy much.
Gray leans much more toward the "dual threat" archetype while Shortell is a pocket passer, but Minnesota offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said the underlying offensive philosophy won't change even if plays are called a bit differently with one guy in or another.
From Marcus R. Fuller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Limegrover likened it to how the Baylor Bears catered to Robert Griffin III's strengths as a quarterback. From Fuller's story:
"We're going to block the same way," he said. "We're going to run the same routes. There are certain parts of it now we can move into that game plan because Max is there that we maybe stayed away from because it wasn't MarQueis' strength. One part goes in, one part goes out. But for the overall continuity, with the whole group, it's not a seismic shift in what our philosophy is."
Gray could miss up to a month with a high ankle sprain. Shortell entered the second quarter of last week's win over the Western Michigan Broncos and threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns.
The Golden Gophers kick off against the Syracuse Orange at 7 p.m. CT Saturday.
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