With a dream end in sight, P.J. Fleck and the Gophers stumble into a nightmare

P.J. Fleck
By Chad Graff Dec 1, 2019 36
The Gophers trailed only by 10 midway through the third quarter when P.J. Fleck was faced with his biggest decision to this point of the most important game for this program in decades. He knew all that was on the line, a win over Wisconsin in a snow globe of a home stadium suddenly making a Rose Bowl berth the worst-case scenario for his team.

The Gophers were driving, hoping to cut their deficit to a field goal, when they were faced with a third-and-10 from Wisconsin’s 22. Two consecutive passes had fallen incomplete as the blustery afternoon turned dark. There was still plenty of time left on the play clock, but Fleck wanted to talk things over, so he called timeout. He stood next to Morgan in a huddle near the sideline, presumably getting input through his headset as to what play to call.

What the Gophers came up with was emblematic of all that went wrong for them when it mattered most, stuck trying to spin a 38-17 loss as not that bad since they were still technically co-Big Ten West champs, on win-loss record if not in the record books.

With the benefit of extra time to think about the play call in this significant situation, Fleck put the Gophers in shotgun formation with three receivers to Morgan’s right. Each of those receivers, arguably the best bunch in the conference, had single coverage. Wisconsin didn’t yield any safety help to that side of the field. And they didn’t need to. The Gophers ran the ball to the short side of the field. The run yielded two yards. Fleck stared at the ground as he paced on the sideline afterward.

When he was brought here, the sixth Gophers head coach in 11 years, the fear was that he was more style than substance. That, it turns out, isn’t the case. You don’t win 10 games in a season just because you can motivate. One bad game doesn’t change the fact Fleck can coach.