Fleck sends thoughts and prayers to Michigan RB coach Mike Hart
While this past weekend was full of great games, there was also a very serious and scary moment in the first half of the Michigan Wolverines' 31-10 win over Indiana as Michigan RB coach Mike Hart collapsed on the sideline. Hart had to be stretchered off the field and taken to a local hospital. The good news is Hart appears to be doing well and plans to rejoin the Wolverines sometime down the road.
That being said, Fleck took a moment in his press conference on Monday to send his thoughts and prayers to the Wolverines, Hart, and his family. Fleck said that he called Jim Harbaugh on Monday morning to do so. Fleck and Hart worked together at Western Michigan when Fleck was the head coach of the Broncos and Hart was his running back coach.
Bret Bielema coached teams...
In perhaps the most coach speak terms, Fleck told the media that Illinois, "Do what they do extremely well.' He would then elaborate, "Incredibly physical, they're all on the same page. You know they want to put the ball down and run the football, play action pass, and have nakeds. You know just they want to just beat you up and they've done that to a lot of people this year. They're a really good football team."
The Illini are 5-1 on the season and are averaging over 30 points per game this season while also posting the country's No.1 scoring defense allowing just eight points per game this season.
The Fighting Illini's defense...
What stood out to Fleck about the Illini's defense the most? "They're incredibly aggressive and they've got probably the best front seven," he said. "I keep saying that but that's good we're playing better front sevens every week they've got three guys inside, the way they play their odds fronts. They've got three guys that are all 300 pounds, they're all strong, they do a great job of violently disengaging at the point of contact."
On stopping Illinois RB Chase Brown...
"Swarming the ball," is how Fleck said is the Gophers' best chance of slowing down Illinois star running back Chase Brown. " I think he's one of the best backs in the country period. I think that's well documented he has been for a long time." Brown already has amassed 879 rushing yards on the season as well as 54 receiving yards.
Mo Ibrahim's health...
Fleck was straightforward when asked about the health of running back Mo Ibrahim, saying he expects the star tailback to play this weekend for the Gophers. When asked about how much the bye week helped Ibrahim, Fleck told the media, "It helped a lot. You know it's one of those things it's hard, I mean I think if we had another, 24 hours, 48 hours, he might've made it."
The run game issues against Purdue without Mo...
"I think it was a collective when you look at it. You know Mo was a game-time decision, you saw him warming up and you know our doctors, you know him and our trainers got together and just said we just don't feel good about it his week..." He would go on to add, "With the other guys, what I was was one or the other. Either we missed a hole or the running back made a cut too early, maybe didn't trust it enough or we got beat up front. I was one or the other and anything that could have went wrong in the game went wrong."
On Daniel Jackson's recent plays...
"I wish all of you got to see what I see on a daily basis because I think he's made probably leaps and bounds," Fleck said about the emerging wide receiver. "You've seen a ton of progress even at training camp, he was blowing away training camp and then he was hurt but I think you're starting to see what type of player he can become. He's got a lot of years left but he is a really dynamic player," he would add.
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