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P.J. Fleck talks offensive line development, play vs. Illinois
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Pulling away in the second half, P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers improved to 5-0 by defeating the 2-3 Illinois Fighting Illini, 40-17, on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Trailing 7-3 at the end of the first and only leading 16-10 at the half, Minnesota outscored the Illini 24-7 in the final two quarters to secure the victory.
Winning the time of possession battle, 35:44-24:16, and outgaining Illinois, 487-248, the Gophers held the edge in just about every statistical category.
Likely to move into the top-25 with the win, Fleck was pleased with the play of his team’s offensive line in this B1G West test.
Via Gopher football analyst Daniel House:
P.J. Fleck reflects upon the #Gophers starting 5-0 for the first time since 2004. He also liked what he saw from the OL: "I thought the offensive line played way better." He credited the players and coaching staff. pic.twitter.com/pFOKecsYXn
— Daniel House (@DanielHouseMN) October 6, 2019
Returning three starters from a year ago, Minnesota’s offensive line is a unit that benefited from playing time early in their careers. Beginning the 2018 season at right tackle, redshirt junior Sam Schlueter has put his stamp on the left tackle spot in 2019. Another redshirt junior, Conner Olson has made the switch to center after starting all 13 games at left guard last season.
Looking to move to 6-0, the Gophers host the Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-2) on Saturday at 7:30PM ET.
Illinois, meanwhile, has a date with No. 19 Michigan (4-1).
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.