Minnesota Football: Everything that P.J. Fleck said following Minnesota's 27-20 win over Purdue
Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck met with the Minnesota media on Saturday following the Golden Gophers’ 27-20 win over over the Purdue Boilermakers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Here’s everything that the Gophers’ leader said.
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P.J. Fleck’s Opening Statement
Fleck: Yeah, first and foremost, I got to give Purdue a lot of credit. Really good football team. They’ve scored a lot of points on everybody they’ve played. A lot of stats, a lot of yards. And tonight was no different in terms of the stat sheet. Our kids found a way to win. It’s gutsy. It’s resilient. It’s what Row the Boat’s all about. And I’m really, really proud of our team. So, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. That was truly gutsy.
Didn’t always go our way. For a lot of different reasons. You got to give Purdue a lot of credit for that with Coach Odom. He’s a phenomenal football coach. But, at the end of the day, came down to the ball. And they had four turnovers. We had one. The last fumble counts at the very end. Just so everybody knows, you sit there and say, I had three to one. It’s four to one. Which we were plus three. And you know how much plus three means to us.
Really, really proud of our players. Our coaches for making adjustments. Our players for hanging in there. I never once did I think we were out of that football game. As bad as it seemed at times, or as good as it seemed at times, it felt like it was a tale of two cities. It was the best of times and the worst of times.
But, I’m really, really proud of our football team. The goal was to be 1-0. And especially coming off that hard loss against Ohio State. Those are really tough, tough losses. And the way a team responds to that says a lot about the character of a football team. And I was so proud of our preparation.
Again, tonight was not perfect. I do not live in a perfect or idealistic world. I live in a realistic world. And I know we’re dealing with young people. And dealing with a lot of people that are young and a lot of major positions. And we grew tonight. And we will be better.
Just want to thank Heather for all that she does for our program. And she represents all of our coaches’ wives and our coaches’ families. And it’s pretty cool that, you know, our four kids are here tonight. Gavin, Carter, Paisley, and Harper. And they mean the world to me.
And I say this to them all the time. As coaches, we have a chance to raise other people’s kids for a living. And sometimes our kids are the ones that have to sacrifice the most. But I told them afterwards. I said, I hope you learn the biggest life lesson in the world. That you just never give up and you never quit.
And Heather teaches that. Our family teaches that in all aspects. And they’re incredible kids. And the greatest lessons are the ones maybe you just don’t learn in school. But you learn in real life. And that was one of the best lessons they could ever learn.
So, Heather, thanks for being the elite wife and mom that you are. And thanks for being amazing young people and kids. I know you hate when I call you kids. But sorry to throw that in there. But it’s pretty cool that they’re in the presser. So, thanks for being here. Because I don’t get to see them a ton. So, love being your dad.
Q: Koi had a tremendous moment in this game. What can you say? I’m kind of hearkening to the resolve that you saw in other players. But it’s magical.
Yeah, I mean, Andy, that’s a great question. Because, again, I think, you know, that’s all we talked about. After the Cal game. I mean, again, he’s going to have hard games. Every player is going to have hard games. I mean, Kerry Brown’s interception was absolutely unbelievable. What a catch he made. Who knows what the game looks like if he doesn’t pick that down on the one-yard line.
But I think everybody just expects, when you have a perception of a player in your head, you expect that person to be that way all the time. We live in that world, right? Spider-Man’s going to come save the day. Batman’s going to come save the day. That’s America, right? We live in a comic book world at times where good always wins out.
And we’re looking for that play to be made. And that superhero to come in there. I think everybody expects that from young people all the time. And when we don’t have that, it’s disappointing. And I think Koi, more than anybody, was disappointed after Cal. But he made the biggest step of his career after that football game, when he could have taken the biggest step backwards.
And I’m really, really proud of him. And you just knew, Andy, that somebody at some moment, some way, somehow, was going to make a play. The game was too close. There were so many things going on. We weren’t playing well, but we weren’t out of it. We were always within one possession.
And then, bang, that play happens. Especially right when we go down to score a touchdown. A resilient drive on offense. Resilient drive by our quarterback. And all the wide-outs and the protection. Because it was tough sledding, running the ball.
And Koi was Koi. The best way I can describe it is Koi. And when you have a great player, there’s going to be some really good times. And there’s going to be some tough times. But it’s about the response. And Koi did that as good as anybody, like our whole football team did.
Because it wasn’t just Koiafter the Cal game. It was the team. And after the Ohio State game, it was the whole team. And the response is critical. We talked about three things this week. Response, change, and growth. And I thought they did all three today.
So, stat sheet, whatever. Great. We’ll get all that cleaned up as coaches. The resiliency to find a way to be 1-0 is the goal of the week. And we found a way to do that.
Q: How were you on the sidelines during the fourth quarter’s big moments?
Fleck: I think I was pretty calm. Pretty much the whole game. You know, I’d have to look at the film in terms of, you know, some of the things that weren’t or were called, right? Were or weren’t called. But that’s part of the game. You got to go back, look at the tape on all that.
But when the ball’s in your best players’ hands, like, you trust them. You’re making calls because you trust your players. Whether that’s our specialists, which I thought our specialists were tremendous tonight. Whether it was Tom or Soukup or it was, you know, Brady. I mean, tremendous special teams tonight. Tremendous.
So you got to trust your players. And that was a huge moment. I mean, you kind of have to do it at that point. And then you trust your players, you go make a play. And they definitely made a play.
And again, I look at Drake’s stats, and it’s not one of his better games statistically. But you talk about one of the gutsiest performances. That’s what I saw at the state championship game. I know they won the state championship, but it was gutsy.
And he kept coming to me, “We got this, we got this, we got this.” Right after the game, “Hey coach, we didn’t play well. I didn’t play well. We’re going to grow from this. Can’t wait for tomorrow.” Like just, that’s hard to get a young person to be that mature about it.
So we’ve got a lot of, and again, I can help them. It starts with me. I can help them. I can make certain things maybe a little bit easier for them at times too. I’ve got to give Purdue a lot of credit. Did a lot of different things that they move a ton. And gave us some issues in the run game. And again, we’re down. So it’s hard to stick with a two-yard run. And they’re second and eight.
But again, we did everything we could to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers besides the run game. You know, throw to run the football. And I thought we did that. I think Darius’s screen really kind of uplifted us.
But our defense just kept rolling the boat, man. Just kept running, but kept responding. It kept us in that football game. You know, when you started that football game and you saw what the score was, not many people thought it’d end with 20 points for Purdue. And that’s gutsy.
So there’s an incredible fight in that locker room. Coaches and players. And just proud to be a part of it.
Q: On the imbalance of the game, the Gophers outgained by 20 yards, eight less first downs, 20 less plays, 11 minutes of less possession
Fleck: College football. You check the scores today? Gophers won, right? That’s all I care about. Because it’s a pretty crazy day in college football. And we were 1-0.
We found a way to win. That’s why I told you a long time ago, the stat sheet. I mean, there’s certain things I look at. The number one thing, as you know, we talk about this all the time, is the ball. We won that 4-1. That gives you the best chance to win.
All the other stuff, you could have a short field the whole time and maybe not blow up the stat sheet. We have to get better at a lot of different things, yes. But this offense, Purdue, has had success against everybody they played. They scored a lot of points, put up a lot of yards, whether it was Notre Dame or USC. Illinois, they put up a ton of yards. And they moved the ball right down the field.
We’re playing good football teams. I mean, playing really good. Everybody is a really good football team in the Big Ten. Hence, today. So, it’s a fight. Every single week. And we found a way to win.
And we’ll get better all the other stuff. I mean, I mean, I got to go back and look at all the film. But, I’m just proud of it. Proud of the resiliency and the resolve of our football team, period.
I do want to say this, though. Proud of our fans. What an atmosphere they could continue to create for us. A home field advantage. And they’ve been, especially our students, they’ve been partying all day. For them to make it to the game, I’m so, so thankful for. And I’m sure they’re back out again. But just incredible.
And then, I mean, what we have over 220 alum. I think it was the final number. I mean, that’s incredible. First got here, we had 40 for this event. Now, we’re over 220.
Running out of that tunnel with all of our alum there. I mean, Ariante Urssery, a starting tackle for the Texans, comes back for this homecoming. I mean, Max Brosman, now, he only drives about seven miles. So, it’s not that hard for him. But, they want to be here. That’s what you want to create as a head coach.
Win, lose, or draw. You want people to come back here. And Mark Coyle and I, we talked about that the first day that we came here. Culture, sustainability will change Minnesota. And, people want to come back. They can attach themselves to that.
I mean, we got a chance to speak to the 1960 National Championship team. And Bobby Bell. Bobby Bell can still take one play, for sure. But, talking to those guys, and them wanting to talk about our players last night. Was that Friday? Yesterday morning. I don’t even know what day it is.
But, think about that, right? They’re back, celebrating Gophers. And I know homecoming is special for everybody, but, what a turnout. What an atmosphere.
Thank you to all of our alum. Our job is to win the game. Everybody else’s job is to enjoy the day. But, enjoy each other. Enjoy that camaraderie. These guys in the locker will be alum one day. And, I hope they always come back to the University of Minnesota.
Q: How pivotal was the screen pass when the Gophers were down 14-0 to get things going offensively?
Fleck: I’m sure you’re going to have a bunch of analytic data, and things that, you know, way too smart for me. But at that point, whatever it says, we have to make a play. We need something. Put the ball in the hands of our playmakers. And, Coach Harbaugh called a great play. And it was a great call based on what they were doing.
I mean, it was, we needed to get the ball out. We needed to be able to slow down some of that stunting, that movement, that blitzing. And, I thought it was a really good call. And, at the perfect time and, put the ball in Darius Taylor’s hand, something good’s going to happen with it. And, give him some space. And, I thought he played an exceptional game.
Again, he’s not, this isn’t going to be statistically his best game ever. But, having him back changes our offense. When we have one of our best players, if not the best player, it changes our offense and it helps. Now, we haven’t had him back very often, this year. But, now we have him back and practicing with them. And, it’s only going to help us make it better.
But, when you look back to the Rutgers game, we’re down 14-0 and we get the post to, to Smith. So, I hate to keep doing that, you know. But, football games are football games. And, you’ve got to be able to respond in game and make adjustments. And, I thought our coaches and players did a tremendous job of that. It’s a great question, Daniel.
Q: What was your message to the team, with the offense especially, when it’s, you’re down seven, on that tying drive?
Fleck: We got to do the little things well. That’s all I did was go in the huddle and just, we got to do the little things well. Fundamentals, technique. And, then we got to play with incredible how. And, then our playmakers are going to have to make plays.
Like, our leaders and our playmakers are going to have to step up and make a play. And, they definitely did. And, I give them a lot of credit. There’s a lot of things we got to get better at, Randy. Don’t get me wrong. There is a, there is a, it’s fun when you win.
And, there’s a huge gap of improvement that you see you can continue to make. And, you know, we’ll be, everybody will judge what they want to judge. And, we’ll do our own evaluations. And, we’ll go back and squeeze all the juice from the orange.
But, we’ll be back in tomorrow morning and getting ready for Friday night’s kickoff. It’ll be here before we know it. Because, technically, I’m sure it’s probably Sunday already. So, we’re getting pretty close.
Q: Off the field and the preparation this week, are there a couple individuals that stood out? And, what did they do to help lead this team to this victory?
Fleck: Yeah, that’s a great question. You know, I just love the whole teams piece. I’d hate to single out a bunch of guys. Because, I think Drake really had a great mindset with the offense. You know, he was very vocal this week in practice.
I think defensively, Maverick Baranowski always has such a great pulse of our defense. And, does a lot of player things with the players. In terms of player meetings and runs a lot of stuff when they’re watching film on their own. I think Maverick did a tremendous job of that. Which, I think he’s got a really good pulse of the defense.
But, those two guys, I think, really just uplifted our team. You can say all you want as a coach. It’s a player’s game. They’re the ones that you have to go out there and perform. And, you just do everything you can to put them in a position to be successful. Continue to teach them leadership.
You know, our players had their own. I did something with President Cunningham this week. And, usually Thursday mornings, I meet with our captains. Our leaders, 20-some guys. And, we have a leadership meeting for about 45 minutes. And, I missed it this week.
I was with our president. We were doing something together, which was really cool. And, Mark Coyle. And, I said, listen, we can either cancel it or we can do it. You guys can just do it. And, they did it. And, they came out, just like I was in there, with a bunch of notes.
They handled it very maturely. 45 minutes on their own. Phenomenal, right? And, wanted them to do that. But, didn’t want to tell them to do that. They did that. And, I think that’s really powerful when you have a team like that. That really wants to step in.
And, even if the head coach isn’t there, they’re going to go in there and be the leaders that they know they have to be. Happy homecoming, everybody.
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