EUGUNE, Ore. — The visitors’ postgame interview “room” for Autzen Stadium didn’t, in a small way, cushion the fall from the Gophers’ 42-13 loss to eighth-ranked Oregon on Friday. It didn’t even sterilize from it.
Thin white walls of a temporary event tent allowed for the sounds of reveling Ducks fans departing the venue to contrast from the downbeat scene inside. Lights flooded the podium, leaving a squinting P.J. Fleck to ask, “This necessary?”
After what happened under the stadium lights on national TV, there was no escaping how noncompetitive Minnesota was against another program in position to make the College Football Playoff in December.
Noah Whittington #6 of the Oregon Ducks is tackled by Darius Green #12, Mike Gerald #13 and John Nestor #17 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Autzen Stadium on Nov. 14, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)
When Fleck was at multiple more-comfortable podiums during Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas in July, the head coach talked about his program’s dream-big goal of punching up into the CFP conversation.
“If we are delusional enough to know we can do that, we can get there,” Fleck said inside an air-conditioned ballroom at Mandalay Bay Resort.
Fleck used last year’s Indiana team as a beacon for what could be done. The Hoosiers have proven that wasn’t an aberration. Going into this week, Indiana was No. 2 behind No. 1 Ohio State in the CFP rankings.
The Gophers were outclassed by Ohio State in a 42-3 loss at Ohio Stadium on Oct. 4 and again Friday against the Ducks. The talent, size, speed and execution gaps jump off the turf.
In that tent Friday, Fleck was asked how the Gophers can close the gap with the elite teams in the Big Ten and nation.
“Got to get better,” Fleck said.
But how?
“In every aspect of our game,” Fleck said. “They are a really good football team. I’m not insulting your intelligence. They are a really good football team. I would love to sit there and say we have the magic pixie dust that was going to make us be way better.
“They executed at an incredibly high level; that is what a playoff-contending team does. Like I told you before, they got every resource known to man, but they also coach really, really hard and they are really good coaches.
“When you combine that really good athlete with the really good coaching, in that environment … that is what you see. … I would love to close the gap.”
The gap between the haves and have-nots in college football has always been wide, but with the addition of name, image and likeness (NIL) in the last few years, Minnesota continues to lag. Oregon has the bottomless pockets of Nike founder Phil Knight; Minnesota has no one close to that level of investment.
While there was a temporary tent for the visitors to use on the east side of Autzen Stadium, Oregon is building a glass-encased practice facility on the west side of the stadium.
Most visitors must feel an inferiority complex when coming to Eugene, and that tent props it up.
“We got a really good football team, too, “ Fleck said. “We are playing a lot of guys at times that really need this experience. I have no problem with the investment piece of that.”
After hitting their head on the ceiling yet again, the Gophers (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) will finish the season against old West division foes — Northwestern at Wrigley Field next Saturday and the regular season finale against rival Wisconsin for Paul Bunyan’s Axe on Nov. 29.
When Fleck came to Minnesota, fans told him beating Wisconsin game was the benchmark for success at the U. While he changed the level of expectations with preseason with talk of the CFP, the Gophers find themselves back in that familiar spot.
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