Finishing 7-6 and winning the Quick Lane Bowl over Georgia Tech, 34-10, last season represented a marked improvement over year one for P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Gophers started the year strong winning their first three games. However, the team then lost five of their next six to put their postseason hopes in jeopardy.

Thanks to wins over Purdue and Wisconsin in the final three weeks of the regular season, the program was able to secure the bowl berth they had been seeking.

Many people believe this strong finish gives Minnesota some momentum headed into 2019 – just don’t count their head coach as one of them.

“That has nothing to do with this year,” Fleck said.

“People get on me all the time about this word ‘momentum,’ I don’t believe in that. I don’t. That’s something I’ve said since I’ve been a head coach. I just never believed in that.”

While he does not believe in momentum from last year, Fleck will have the luxury of returning several starters. The Gophers return nine starters on offense, the most in the Big Ten West.

Sophomores Zack Annexstad and Tanner Morgan engaged in a quarterback competition this fall with Morgan winning the nod.

Starting the final six games of 2018, Morgan posted a 4-2 record and completed 58.5% (89-152) of his passes for 1,401 yards and nine touchdowns.

Minnesota opens their season by hosting South Dakota State at 8:00PM ET on Thursday.