Minnesota Coach P.J. at his Weekly Press Conference - Greg Simbeck/The Forkball
Minnesota Gophers Football Coach P.J. Fleck spoke about the Gophers’ dramatic 13-10 win over Nebraska at his weekly pre-game press conference. He also talked about the team’s upcoming game against Eastern Michigan and the status of his team. Here are some excerpts from that press conference.
P.J. Fleck (Fleck): Coach Creighton of Eastern Michigan is one of the most outstanding coaches in the nation. They won their bowl game. He has accomplished things at the school that no one else has in a long time. We are going to play a very good football team on Saturday night. There’s a lot of work to do. We have to get better and be better.
Fleck Answers Questions About His Offense
Press (PR): What about the offensive line and the struggles with the running game?
Fleck: We only had three possessions in the first half. They changed their fronts; they changed several things on defense. We only had 27 plays. The first quarter was only 20 minutes long real-time. Throwing 44 times in the game probably shocked a lot of people. We have to get better in a lot of areas. There will be changes in our offense. But we have to complete more passes. There were three dropped passes and three passes Athan missed on.
Nebraska is very good up front. They’re very big. They’re very tough. It’s hard to pound the ball on them. But we want to be more balanced. Playmakers touch the ball.
PR: After reviewing the game tape, what is your assessment of the offensive line, the running backs, and Athan Kaliakmanis?
Fleck: They did good, but this is all about competition. I don’t make the depth chart; the players make the depth chart. I just pick who played best. You keep adding talent. They have to go out there and perform. You have to trust your players. We felt good about what Sean Tyler can do. Same with Darius Taylor. We had confidence in their ability to perform. Sean has a lot of experience. Bryce Williams has played against Nebraska.
I thought the offensive line did well for what we thought we would see. We have to keep our quarterback upright. There weren’t that many sacks. Part of it’s on the line. Part of it’s on the quarterback. Staying in the pocket. Don’t flush yourself out if you don’t need to. And you have to trust everybody up front. We needed more consistency at a very high level.
Team Culture
PR: What did you learn about your team that you didn’t know before Nebraska?
Fleck: I don’t know if I learned anything new. This team is resilient. They showed poise. We knew that during this first month, there would be some good times and some deep valleys. Experience, no experience, it’s how we handle the moment. So, this word poise fits this team perfectly. They never thought they were out of it. It’s about the whole team. We need to play complimentary football. All of us need each other.
We call games. We do things together collectively given what the strengths of our team are. They have a lot of confidence and they’re pretty level-headed. Tyler Nubin talked about how he was going to get it. He said that a lot. That’s the type of player he is. He learned that Antoine Winfield Jr. And he will pass it on to the Kerry Browns, Coleman Brysons, and Aidan Gousbys of the world. That’s the cultural sustainability.
PR: What has Tre’Von Jones brought to the team?
Fleck: Have you spent time with Tre’Von? You need to. His personality is infectious. He glows, he’s constantly smiling. When you bring players over from the transfer portal, you worry about how they will fit into your locker room. You don’t get to know them like you high school recruits. The minute Tre got here; you would think he has been here for five years. He started hanging around the veteran players right away. He’s confident and he’s a good athlete.
He’s improved our low tackling just like Justin Walley. He’s a great player, with an infectious personality, who loves football. That’s pretty high praise for a young man who just got here.
Gophers Throw it 44 Times
PR: If someone told you in July that you would throw it 44 times, would you have been surprised?
Fleck: With this team no. Now I’m not saying that’s where you want to live. We challenged our football team to get better across the board. Last year it would have surprised me. This year, no. We have way more playmakers this year. Especially against Nebraska. Seems like we’ve had to throw the ball against them more especially late in the game.
The Forkball: How would evaluate the play of the linebackers especially with Cody Lindenberg being out?
Fleck: That’s that cultural sustainability. When you look back at our linebackers, the Blake Cashmans, Kamal Martins, and Thomas Barbers, they passed it down to the Mariano Sori-Marin and Jack Gibbens. And Jack Gibbens passed this down to Cody. Now Cody with three years left is passing it down to the Maverick Baranowskis, Devin Williams, and Joey Gerlachs, and helping them prepare for their opportunities. They improved as the game went on. But we need to get better in this area also.
