Gray is still Gophers' best option at QB

The Gophers football team showed promise and heart in its 19-17 loss at No. 25 ranked USC Saturday. It’s easy to be excited about Minnesota’s new football hire, Jerry Kill. The Gophers — after getting vastly outplayed in the first half — vastly outplayed home team USC after that. They actually had a chance to win the game in the final minute, which tells you lots about this hiring of Kill. His players don’t give up, and they play with purpose and a plan. It’s also easy to get excited about Gophers backup freshman quarterback Max Shortell. After MarQueis Gray went down with cramps in the fourth quarter, Shortell took over and was terrific until finally throwing a game-ending interception. But don’t get too excited about Shortell. This is still — and needs to be — Gray’s team. Yes, Gray had a lousy start to the game, with misplaced passes and a fumble (that Minnesota recovered). But the star athlete got better and better as the game wore on. Gray got comfortable and showed that he can complete passes. And one thing that Gray can do infinitely better than Shortell is also run with the football. We got a few glimpses of that Saturday, and will get a whole bunch more of them as the season rolls on if Minnesota keeps its wits about it and sticks with the 6-foot-4, 245-pound speedster. It’s nice to have a quality backup at quarterback. That’s what Shortell provides Minnesota. But unless Gray doesn’t continue to improve as a thrower, as he did through Saturday’s game, Shortell needs to remain the backup. Gray is a rare athletic talent. He needs to run this show. — Pat Ruff