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What P.J. Fleck said after Minnesota’s loss to Wisconsin
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The latest installment of college football’s longest continuous rivalry, which has been played annually since 1907, the Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 20-17, in overtime at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison on Saturday.
These two Big Ten Conference West Division programs were originally scheduled to meet on November 28, but the game was canceled due to positive coronavirus (COVID-19) tests among Minnesota’s student-athletes and staff members.
Fortunately, the league’s “Champions Week” allowed the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe to still happen.
Redshirt junior quarterback Tanner Morgan completed 13-of-25 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns, the first to redshirt freshman tailback Cam Wiley and the other to Mike Brown-Stephens, another redshirt freshman.
After Wisconsin’s quarterback, redshirt freshman Graham Mertz, was injured on a late third-quarter scramble, redshirt sophomore Chase Wolf stepped in and found senior Jack Dunn for a four-yard score.
Redshirt senior Garrett Groshek, who entered the afternoon with 105 yards on 30 carries this season, ran for 154 yards and a touchdown, averaging 6.4 yards per attempt.
The Golden Gophers had a chance to move ahead by three points on the first possession of overtime, but redshirt senior Anders Gelecinskyj failed to convert a 36-yard field goal.
Needing only three to win their second-straight in the series, Badgers redshirt junior Collin Larsh buried his 30-yard attempt to bring the game to its final.
While the loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Minnesota, head coach P.J. Fleck was proud of the effort his young men showed and credited Paul Chryst’s team.
Fleck:
"There's no moral victories in this but I am watching my players as people and not just football players."
"They never quit. Never gave up. They got better every single day. A very courageous football team." #Gophers
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) December 20, 2020
Fleck:
"There is no pout. They beat us. They are a really good football team and they beat us." #Gophers
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) December 20, 2020
Redshirt junior running back Mohamed Ibrahim continued to be a bright spot for the Golden Gophers, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark on the season and establishing a new program-record with his eighth consecutive triple-digit-yard rushing game.
Fleck- "I thought the gameplan was great, we just didn't execute 4 or 5 plays… and each play sets up another."
"Mo did what Mo does, the OL does what they do. Was it enough tonight? No."
"Wasn't like there was a lack of effort. They played their hearts out."
— Chris Long (@ChrisLongKSTP) December 20, 2020
Now standing at 3-4, Fleck is leaving the door open for Minnesota possibly accepting a bowl invitation.
FLECK on if the team would accept the bowl bid if they got one.
"I think that's the million dollar question."
"Everyone wants to do that."
"I think you have to look at a lot of different factors." #Gophers
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) December 20, 2020
FLECK:
"This is about the kids. This is all about the players."
"We are talking about young players mental health, emotional health and physical health." #Gophers
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) December 20, 2020
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.