Midweek Burning Questions

1. Will junior quarterback Dan LeFevour play on Saturday?

Honestly, even though LeFevour and the coaching staff says he's fine, I would be surprised to see him play on Saturday. I think with how good senior Brian Brunner's handling the offense right now, and with this being his final season on the team, it's a safe bet to make sure LeFevour is 100 percent before getting him back on the field. He's too physical of a quarterback, when you consider his running ability, to be rushed back out there. There's no doubt that Saturday's game at Toledo, despite the Rockets' record, is big, but 1) I would argue that CMU's next real big game is at Northern Illinois in three weeks, and 2) Brunner just nabbed MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors and had a career day against rival Western Michigan. I think he's fine to run this offense, especially against one of the worst defenses in the conference.

2. Is freshman running back Bryan Schroeder the new starter?

It's difficult to say at this point. Obviously he's going to get chances to run the ball on Saturday, and he should after his spectacular performance against WMU. But the running back position is in such a carousel right now, you don't know who's going to step up on a weekly basis. It could be senior Justin Hoskins, or Ontario Sneed, or even freshman Paris Cotton, who's had some decent runs this year. There are some days where Sneed will cut through the defense and other days where he consistently gets stuffed at the line. Hoskins has not had much of a chance to run the ball this year, but when he does, he looks pretty good. Whoever it is, they could have a big day against a Toledo defense that gives up more than 170 rushing yards per game.

3. How many times are announcers and analysts going to mispronounce Brian Brunner's name?

Good question. I stopped counting after a few dozen. The first moment of this happening was when I starting hearing the pronunciation of "Broo-ner" countless times from fellow reporters in the press box last Saturday. I corrected a couple people on it, to be polite, but later on in the press conference, they were still pronouncing it that way! And if that wasn't enough, I heard it from the ESPN Plus guys in their postgame analysis, and then again on an ESPNU College Football show where three analysts talked about the MAC West race. I don't know who on Earth started mispronouncing the name and began spreading it to other people. It's pronounced Bruh-ner. I don't consider myself a speech expert by any means, but break up the syllables. "Brun" and "ner". The double N's give it away. (And, of course, it's right in the media guide if you don't believe me.)