Minnesota football (2-3) made a late surge on Saturday afternoon at the Big House against No. 12 Michigan, but it wasn't enough to come away with an upset victory as the Gophers were defeated by a score of 27-24 by the Wolverines.
After the game, Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck met with the media to discuss his team's effort against the Wolverines and gave his thoughts on the game.
Here is what Fleck had to say following his team's defeat.
Opening statement
"First and foremost, congratulation to Michigan. They played really hard, played a really good first half in all phases. The first half, for us, we didn't play our best football to say the least. We had a blocked punt, we had a fumble, gave them 14 points in the first half. But again, people are going to say 'that's why you lost.' But when you continue to go through the game, it tells its own story. I told this team after I would do anything for them and how proud of them I am of them. We're way beyond moral victories in this program. This has nothing to do with that. Every single person in that room thought we were going to win that football game, period. That's they way they think. We've played some really good opponents"
"I think we're starting to find out what we're going to have to be and what we're going to be, as an offense, defense and special teams as we continue to go and that's part of playing some good football teams. But, I think the fumble and the blocked punt in the first half told everything. We didn't execute well enough in catching the ball on two plays, one on the first series and the other on two crossing patterns. But, we come in the locker room and finally get three points at the end (of the first half), I thought we put a good two minute drive together. (Comments on the execution at end of the half). Then, from there, I thought we found a good rhythm."
"We weren't in two minute offense, but we were just going into a little bit of a tempo. It was to keep Wink (Martindale) out of what he was doing in the first half. It wasn't like they stopped playing hard—Wink does so much. He's one of the greatest defensive coordinators in the country—NFL, college—you ask anybody in the NFL (about him). There are so many looks and so many things you don't prepare for. But, we had to get them out of it. And I think you saw that at the end of the first half, we were just doing some things that kind of made them stay in what they were doing, a little bit more basic. We could see what they were doing a little bit more, put a little bit more confusion in what they were doing and we were able to get some points on the board."
"I thought our quarterback, Max Brosmer, played his tail end off. I thought Darius (Taylor) played his tail end off, our defense played their tail end off. Our wide receivers performance was gutsy, tight ends. You look at the defensive side of the ball, I thought they flew around, made plays. Special teams, there are some things that hurt (us) on special teams. I haven't seen the last play, nor does one play win or lose you the game. Everybody's going to focus on that. I'm not going to sit here and get fined and do all of those other things, I have more respect for my boss and the University of Minnesota and the Big Ten to (argue it). And I haven't even seen it. But, we got it and it was executed really well. You look at last night's game (Miami vs. Virginia Tech) on a Hail Mary, gets called a touchdown, then reversed. I mean, it's really hard. The parity when you get into some of these, it's a lot of fun, it's a rivalry game. What an environment that Michigan creates. But I thought our players answered the bell. And they just kept fighting. That's what row the boat is all about."
"We're 2-3, that's what everybody is going to to tell us and they're going to judge us on that. And those are the facts, record wise. But we are a really good football team. I take full accountability for the three losses, 100%. That's all on me. It's not on the players, that is on me. I've got to get a lot of things right to get us to play better, more consistent and 60 total minutes of not near perfect football, but that's what we're striving for. And that's what we're capable of doing, and it's my job to get us to do that, and I've failed three times to get us to do that. And I'll work better at that. I take it very personal and I told them in there I would do anything for them. I would take a bullet for any one of those kids. They are special, they really are."
"I kept telling them don't you dare think you're not a good football team, because you're a really good football team. Now, we just have to put it all together. The schedule is bringing the best out of us, and at times the worst out of us. We have to be able to find a way to win those three games and we haven't. Again, that's my responsibility and my fault, not theirs. But we have to get better."
On the offsides call at the end of the game
"I was 10 yards away. I was down where the ball was going to be received, because that's where I really wanted to see. Because if something happens, 'can you challenge it, can you not challenge it, was it a recovery, was it not?' I've got to get into the meat of where the ball is going to be. I didn't see it. Like I said, we practice that every day and time it up right there on the edge. Because you have to be if you are ever going to recover one of those, you can't be behind. You have to be right at it and make sure you're just behind (the line of scrimmage on the kick). I haven't seen it, I really haven't. I didn't grab an iPad just to see. The call was made. I asked and he (the ref) said he broke the plane. "Breaking the plane' were the words that were quoted, he broke the plane."
On what needs to happen for his team to play a full 60 minutes
"Just consistency. It's complimentary football. It's finding out the identity of this football team as it keeps going forward. Everyone thinks they know the identity of their football team. But then injuries happen, you start to see what guys can do and can't do. You're playing Iowa, and you're playing a really good North Carolina team at the beginning of the year, and you're playing a top 12 team in the country at their place. Your margin for error is really small. I think it's just the consistency, it's the execution, it's being 1-0 on every single play."
On how his team responded in the second half after being down three scores
"I told them at halftime, I said listen, it's 0-0. But I told them the only thing I want to be able to see from you guys is that I want you to be able to respond from last week's second half performance. And we didn't play our best football in the second half defensively, we didn't play our best football in the second half offensively. But that's a lot of credit to Iowa. That's a really good football team and that's what they do to people. But I didn't see that response. So I said, 'all I want to see is that response. Focus on that, one play at a time and let's just keep getting after it. Quit looking at the scoreboard, and let's just play our style of football. We've just got to move a little bit more urgently and it'll all take care of itself' But that's what I wanted to see, I wanted to see a complete response. They never thought they were out of it. And they never have. They never thought they were out of Iowa, and that game last week is way closer than the score says it was. Four runs absolutely hurt us. Again, they're (Michigan) a really good football team, well coached. But I'm really proud of our football team."
Elaborating on using tempo to try to get Michigan's defense off balance
"We're down 21-3 and I think everybody understands that Michigan is going to lean on you and run the football. They threw it 18 total times, so they are going to lean on you and run the football. So, the game is going to be pretty short. They got the ball in the second half. So, we weren't in two minute and we weren't in hurry, hurry up offense, but we have tempos that we can go to and we wanted to be in that. In laymen's terms, with seven being like warp speed and one being play clock at 39, we were in that 3-4 range. We just wanted to get some type of rhythm and something going. We had two fourth downs, our guys did a really good job of executing those. But when you get behind 21-3, you have to make big time adjustments. Those aren't little tweaks even going 3-4 because if you're not executing, all you're doing is giving the ball back for them to lean on you. But I thought our defense did a really good job of stopping them, giving us a chance. Koi did a great job in the return game. But, when you give Wink time to see the formation, see the motion, make checks, make another call, confuse you and you're working at that 1-2 pace, he can do it a lot more efficiently. When you're working at that 3-4 pace, a lot of times they'll keep the same call. They'll do a single blitz, they'll do something that's a little bit more generic. Because if you're doing it at a little bit higher tempo, it's hard for all 11 (on defense) to be on that same page."
On what he attributes the penalties to from the offensive line
"It's a heck of an environment. But we're not going to let the circumstance dictate our behavior. I appreciate the question, but I thought they fought their tail end off. They're playing really really hard. I'm not in there sitting in the tranches and seeing what's said and happening here or there. That's a tough environment. What was the crowd, 110,000? We did everything we could with silent cadences, clap cadence, multiple freezes. But those guys are playing their tail end off. It comes down to the discipline, the execution, being more sound. But that's football."
On the gameplan against Alex Orji
"Well, he's really good. He's big, he's thick, he can run, he can throw. What people don't really see with him is he rides things really well in the run game and really gives time for the backs to be able to see. They have really good backs, and they can see it and run it forward and get their momentum going forward and come downhill really quick, But he rides it pretty good, into the line of scrimmage. He's a competitor, he's hard to bring down. He's a load now. I remember looking at him in warm-up, and his ankles are bigger than my thighs. A really thick frame and he's got a really balanced center of gravity and he's hard to bring down. He's a pretty good player. We had every opportunity, especially in the first half. We just didn't take advantage of it."
