Gophers coach Jerry Kill on Sunday said he's not sure exactly how he's going to dole out playing time at quarterback at Purdue next week. But he gave hints that Leidner will remain the starter, with freshman Demry Croft getting sprinkled in gradually.
Kill says there's 'no controversy' at quarterback, hints Leidner will continue starting; James has broken leg
Gophers coach Jerry Kill said freshman Demry Croft played Saturday because the team needs a backup ready.
October 4, 2015 at 7:54PM
"Mitch is not the reason we're struggling so much," Kill said, one day after his team's 27-0 loss at Northwestern. "... There's no controversy or any of that stuff, it's just, we didn't play very good.
"Everybody's going to make a big deal out of [Croft replacing Leidner in the fourth quarter Saturday], but it's not as big a deal as everybody will make out of it."
Kill said the reason Croft played is "we've got to have a backup quarterback ready to play. And we moved [Chris] Streveler to receiver, and that's where he's going to play."
The Gophers (3-2, 0-1 Big Ten) play at Purdue (1-4, 0-1) next Saturday.
"There's several things we can do," Kill said. "I don't want to get into right now, but we did some things with Jordan Lynch and things of that nature to get him a little experience in certain situations. But I haven't even gotten that far yet. I can't tell you what I'm going to do."
James has broken leg
Gophers cornerback and punt returner Craig James broke a bone in his leg, Kill said. He did not know the extent of the injury, but said James was on crutches.
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