P.J. Fleck on Gophers’ 2-2 start: ‘We’ve played 2 bad halves in 4 games’
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota football team is 2-2 after four games, and the Gophers are 0-1 in Big Ten play after a 31-14 loss to Iowa in the battle for Floyd of Rosedale.
The Gophers were out-scored 24-0 in the second half, in large part due to Kaleb Johnson’s 206 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Johnson scored on runs of 15 and 40 yards to give Iowa a 21-14 lead after Minnesota led 14-7 at half. In the Gophers’ season-opening loss to North Carolina, Minnesota was out-scored 12-3 in the second half. That's 36-3 in the second half of losses to the Tar Heels and Hawkeyes.
"Ultimately I’m responsible for how our team plays. I think we’ve had two bad halves of football in four games when you look at in terms of performance," Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said Monday. "My job is to get our team to be able to play their absolute best for 60 minutes. Haven’t been able to do that in two of the games, that 100 percent falls on me. I wasn’t a very good coach in the second half."
Third quarter woes
Minnesota’s third quarter against Iowa was especially troubling. The Gophers were out-scored 17-0, out-gained 159-14 and gave up 116 yards on the ground. Minnesota had the ball twice in the frame, both drives ended in punts. They had eight rushing yards, and just six through the air.
Fleck said it came down to a lack of tackling on Johnson on his two touchdown runs. It led to the Gophers having a 20-minute tackling circuit at their Sunday night practice.
"We didn’t run the ball with very much effectiveness. We didn’t throw the ball with very much effectiveness. Probably could’ve called better plays and I probably could’ve been a better head coach. Besides that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?" Fleck said.
Flush it and move on
Floyd of Rosedale spent 335 days in Minnesota after the Gophers got him in Iowa City last year. The stay was short-lived. Fleck said he gets a feel for his team coming off every game at their Sunday night practice, and he liked what he saw this time around.
They’re disappointed, but not discouraged. And there’s no time for it to linger, they head to Michigan for the Little Brown Jug this week. Fleck never faced Michigan when he was the head coach at Western Michigan, and Fleck is 0-3 against the Wolverines. Most recently, 52-10 last season.
"You have to be able to be trained to just let that go. Like a goldfish, flush it, move on. Our team is really good at doing that. I don’t worry about that with this football team, but you’re constantly training it and constantly looking for it," Fleck said. "That game means a lot to a lot of people, it’s hard to go through that loss but they’ve been really good at flushing it and moving onto the next one."
USC kickoff set for 6:30 p.m.
The Gophers will host USC for another night game on Oct. 5, the Big Ten announced Monday. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Huntington Bank Stadium, and it will be a Stripe Out. The Gophers last played the Trojans under Jerry Kill in 2011, a 19-17 loss.