Two things can be true at the same time.

Once the Golden Gophers’ golden boy, quarterback Tanner Morgan is now the scorn of all Minnesota. Those 2 interceptions late against Bowling Green were ugly. So is his 135 passing yards per game average, which ranks 12th in the 14-team Big Ten.

This is arguably the worst stretch of Morgan’s career, yes. To the senior’s credit, he’s worn it.

But he isn’t getting much help.

“This is about all of us,” coach PJ Fleck said this week in reflecting on a 14-10 loss to Bowling Green in which his team was a 30.5-point favorite.

The Gophers don’t have much time to lick their wounds. Instead, they’ve got some serious work to do on offense to help an imperfect but much-improved defense.

It starts with rhythm, offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. said. Not just for Morgan, but for the entire unit.

“It’s through sustained drives and just being able to utilize the different or various weapons that we have,” Sanford said. “And utilizing them more and utilize more of the guys that we have in the pass game.

“I think just getting our quarterback in more of a rhythm. I think that was the thing that was obviously lacking last Saturday.”

Some reporters and fans have suggested a quicker pace might behoove an offense that ranks 100th nationally in yards per play. Minnesota isn’t morally against going no-huddle, but its identity is balance.

That’s hard when you lose the reigning B1G running back of the year for the season and have injuries to top wideouts Chris Autman-Bell and Dylan Wright.

But this is the B1G. And it’s football. People get hurt.

“We’ve got to continue to do everything in our power to learn from the data that we have,” Sanford said. “Utilize the personnel that we have and then … put them in the best positions to go be successful.”

That includes an offensive line that’s as experienced and intimidating as any in the country but is apparently easily confused by “junk ball defense,” as Sanford called the stunts and twists that had the Gophers’ big guys on their heels all day Saturday.

Or are they? Morgan, ever the class act, has taken most of the blame — including, he said, not properly identifying the defense’s alignments and giving his line the right “ID.”

“I know what I did Saturday is completely unacceptable,” Morgan said. “Those guys (the O-line) are awesome. There was a couple moments where they were put in a really hard position with the ID calls. A lot of it comes back to me to put those guys in the best position possible every call that we have, so that they can have success. That’s really what it comes down to, too.”

And yes, Morgan needs to play better. He can; this is the same guy who dueled with Justin Fields 2 years ago for the title of B1G’s most efficient passer.

The takeaway is there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Some potential solutions: Keep leaning on running back Treyson Potts, who’s been beyond admirable in Mohamed Ibrahim’s stead. And simplify pass protection so Morgan can focus on hanging in the pocket, making the right reads and finding the mojo this offense so direly covets.

There’s plenty of season left, starting with Saturday’s 11 a.m., Big Ten Network contest at Purdue. The Boilermakers will test the Gophers’ defense, which means a huge jump from Morgan and Co. is in order as full-swing conference play commences.

Purdue surprisingly ranks 5th in the conference in total defense — right behind Minnesota.

So a get-right game would give the Gophers even more confidence. They need it.

Badly.

“So much room for opportunities, so much room for growth,” Morgan said with a smile. “That’s the exciting part.”