P.J. Fleck Show: Gophers look to bounce back from losing to Ohio State

MINNEAPOLIS - It’s Week 2 of the PJ Fleck Show on Fox 9, and this week, the University of Minnesota is preparing for its first non-conference game of the season without one of its offensive stars.

Running back Mo Ibrahim is out for the season after suffering a left leg injury in the Gophers’ 45-31 loss to Ohio State to open the season last Thursday. Ibrahim, who had 163 yards and two touchdowns before the injury, had season-ending surgery on Tuesday.

Fleck joined Fox 9’s Hobie Artigue, Gophers’ analyst Ron Johnson and KFAN Gophers’ sideline reporter Justin Gaard to talk about the loss to Ohio State, losing Ibrahim and getting ready to open the non-conference season against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

"We need to be better than we were last week, and that’s been our focus all week," Fleck said. "Our guys have to keep getting better. The guys behind Mo are very capable running backs. We have very good backs, now it’s their time to be able to shine and prove what they can do."

Without Ibrahim, Fleck and the Gophers will turn to a combination of Trey Potts, Cam Wiley and Bryce Williams in the run game the rest of the season. We could also see freshmen K Thomas, and Mar’Keise "Bucky" Irving.

The offense will also look for more from Dylan Wright, Daniel Jackson and hopefully the return of Chris Autman-Bell to the receiving corps. In his Gophers’ debut, Wright had five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown.

The Gophers host Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, a team that won the MAC two years ago and will look to clean up the explosive plays they allowed against the Buckeyes. Ohio State’s five offensive touchdowns went for at least 38 yards, and two of them went for 70+ yards.

Watch the full video to see how the Gophers are getting ready to face the Redhawks to open the non-conference season.