There were people on this board clamoring for Gubrud to lose his starting job over numbers quite a bit better than what Barriere posted this week. The problem is that we don't have dominating receivers and need some semblance of a running game to keep defenses honest. There have been times where we've had that, and other times where we haven't. When McPherson was in the line-up, we had it on Saturday, when he got hurt, we lost it. Interestingly, Barriere looked pretty solid when McPherson was in the game, very mediocre when he wasn't.
I think the coaches may start Barriere this weekend as a statement, and if he plays well, we can continue to roll the dice with him. Clearly, the kid has talent. But we'll certainly need Gage ready to step in. Even if Barriere starts and plays well, I'd expect Gubrud to play. We don't want him out of action for two consecutive weeks before the playoffs start.