When the plan for Gophers stud safety Koi Perich to play more offensive snaps ramped up during preseason, P.J. Fleck placed a caveat on the possibilities. The head coach repeated it this week.
“I said this from the start: We will do as much as Koi shows he can do,” Fleck said Tuesday on his KFAN radio show. “That is the head coach’s job. Popular, not popular. You show me you can do more, we will do more. You show me it’s too much, we’ll pull off.”
Coming off a poor performance in the 27-14 loss to California two weeks ago, it will be interesting to see how much Perich plays on offense — and as a punt or kick returner — in the Big Ten opener against Rutgers at 11 a.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium.
In Berkeley, Calif., on Sept. 13, Perich tried to pick up a bouncing punt and muffed it. Cal recovered it at the 8-yard line and scored a touchdown three plays later for a 24-14 lead with less than seven minutes left. Earlier in the game, he also made a fair catch on a punt at the 3-yard line and took a sack while attempting to throw on a trick play, which set back an offensive drive.
Perich went against nonnegotiable rules on punt returns, including fair catching inside the 8-yard line and fielding a ball on the ground. “Hot and low, let it go,” Fleck said.
It was by far the most difficult game in the true sophomore’s young career. To show how quickly a fate can flip, just before the muffed punt, Perich was in position to intercept a pass and possibly return it for a touchdown, but linebacker Emmanuel Karmo batted it down.
“We had him doing a lot in that game. I mean a lot,” Fleck said on the radio. “Maybe we were a little more complex on defense than maybe we should have been. Maybe there were some things in the return game that maybe I shouldn’t have given him, but we also have to execute.”
A year ago, Perich likely picks that pass off against Cal. That’s how charmed he was with five total interceptions en route to being named first team All-Big Ten. It also set up All-American buzz to start 2025.
“He made plenty of mistakes last year, but they are covered up by a lot of plays,” Fleck said in his weekly news conference Monday. “I loved Koi’s response. It’s hard to be that level of a player and have that level of attention. You are not ever going to play perfect. There is a realistic piece of what you are going to play. You are going to make mistakes.”
For the first time in a non-blowout this year, Perich gave way to Logan Loya for a punt return midway though the Cal game, but Perich came back afterward. If Perich doesn’t end up handling punts returns against Rutgers, Loya is the likely the next man up.
Perich has averaged 8.5 yards across six punt returns this year compared to 9.4 on 20 returns in 2024. He is averaging 22.5 yards on two kick returns, up from 19.6 on 16 returns a year ago.
Perich has not had an expansive role on offense so far this season; the U didn’t need him to do much in the first two nonconference games. He had seven snaps in the season opener against Buffalo, four versus Northwestern State in Week 2 and then three against Cal, per Pro Football Focus.
On the season, he has one catch in each game for a total three for 55 yards.
On defense, Perich has played 130 total snaps this year, but he also struggled on that side of the ball against Cal, with three missed tackles and allowing six receptions on seven targets for 63 yards, per PFF.
“He is practicing his tail off,” defensive coordinator and safeties coach Danny Collins said Wednesday. “… He’s flying around. He’s picking off balls. He’s Koi. I think when you’re young guy like that and you make mistakes for the first time. Outside, the world is falling. It’s not. He’s made a couple of mistakes. He’s going to respond.”
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