COLUMBUS, Ohio — When the Gophers’ first Big Ten road game disintegrated into a 42-3 beatdown at the hands of No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday, head coach P.J. Fleck went into his own version of blowout mode at Ohio Stadium.
As the game’s final minutes took excruciatingly long to play out, Fleck covered his mouth to disguise what he said to star safety Koi Perich on the sideline. It was a big-picture chat that he preferred to not have lip-read.
“It was just conversations about leadership and how to respond to this and moving forward,” Fleck said postgame. “It wasn’t about the game. It was about moving forward from here. The demands of the leadership moving forward. It’s critical for any team. You need to be able to respond to the things that. When you do get beat up in a fight, you’ve got to respond to it. I know our guys will.”
Fleck said he had similar talks with a half dozen players as the Gophers (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) will need to pick themselves up before their homecoming game against Purdue (2-3, 0-2) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium.
“We get paid to win, but I do the job to teach,” Fleck said. “Those are great teaching moments. They are not fun. … I will keep my conversation between me and the player. … You want them to know where the head coach’s head is. Where is my mind?”
Fundamentally, Fleck was humbled. “We got our butt kicked,” he said.
The Buckeyes’ defense under new coordinator Matt Patricia has overwhelmed every opponent this year. They have given up 25 total points through five games, the lowest total for a Big Ten team in 40 years.
“We’ve got to move on and flush it,” said quarterback Drake Lindsey, who threw for only 95 yards. “Because at the end of the day, we’ve got a long season ahead of us and we’ve got to go win.
“Our leadership just has to continue to be better. During the bad times and the good times, we’ve got to continue to pick everybody up and hold the team together and be the glue. Other guys (have) got to keep coming along. At the end of the day, it takes everybody, and it’s going to take a lot of empathy and gratitude.”
The Gophers/ defense gave up its most points allowed across 20 games since Purdue put up 49 in West Lafayette, Ind., on Nov. 11, 2022. The defense that day hit rock bottom with its linebacking corps in tatters.
Saturday’s defense didn’t have any position groups decimated, but Ohio State’s prized young quarterback, Julian Sayin, was able to throw it around with ease.
Sayin completed 85% of his passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions nor sacks. Top-notch wideouts Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith ran past the U defensive backs. Tate had a career high 183 receiving yards and one score; Smith had 67 yards and two TDs.
“They exploited us in ways we may not have seen, so credit to them,” said senior defensive lineman Jalen Logan-Redding. “We, at the end of (Saturday), got to get better. One step at a time.”
Logan-Redding said self belief will be a vital resource, when self-doubt could be readily available.
“We are a great (expletive) defense,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to continue to believe that. If we don’t believe it, it’s not going to work.”
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