Blowing a 31-10 lead in the fourth quarter to a Northwestern program that was on the ropes is arguably the worst loss of head coach P.J. Fleck’s time in Minnesota. Heck, it might rival the painful losses ex-coach Glen Mason’s Gophers had against the likes of Michigan and Texas Tech. Remember those?
Northwestern was down 31-10 in the fourth quarter only to shred the Minnesota defense with three scoring drives, including an 80-yard drive ending with the game-tying touchdown with two seconds left in the game. In overtime, the Gophers dinked and dunked their way to a field goal while Northwestern homered on the first play with a 25-yard game-winning touchdown pass.
“Completely unacceptable in the fourth quarter, period,” Fleck said. “We got to give Northwestern a lot of credit. They went out there and got it done. We didn’t.”
Minnesota’s offense punted on five of six possessions in the second half and tallied just 119 yards in the second half against a Northwestern defense that was scorched by Duke a week earlier.
As wretched as Minnesota’s offense was in the second half, the defense was worse, giving up 492 yards, including 400 yards in the air, to a Northwestern team that was averaging 286 yards before facing the Gophers.
“Speechless. No excuses for that performance. Easily one of the worst Gophers losses in my lifetime as a Gophers fan,” said GopherHole contribute Tony Liebert. “Year 7 of the P.J. Fleck era, no idea how that can happen. Inexcusable.”
Year 7 of the P.J. Fleck era
Arguably the worst #Gophers loss in my life as a fan.
INEXCUSABLE ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/NqOEdAGbZS
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) September 24, 2023
Needless to say, there’s a mob of pitchfork-wielding fans angry with Fleck. many of them defining Fleck as more of a recruiter than a coach.
P.J. Fleck needs to think long and hard about his future in Minnesota
— The Daily Gopher (@TheDailyGopher) September 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/biffthetick/status/1705785697083236576
Incessant cliché-laden drivel & over-caffeinated slogans will only get you so far. Fleck is a better salesman than he is a coach. He's only costing 7 easy payments of $6 million a year. #Gophers
— M. Amsterdam (@emmdee22) September 24, 2023
Blame Redding. Blame the defense. Blame the quarterback.
Nah.
That is on Fleck and his coaching staff. Absolutely gutless playcalling. If you won't ever go for it on 4th and 2 or 3, against putrid Northwestern, shut it the bleep down.
Keep sending three.
Keep running RPO
— Eric Kraushar (@EricKraushar) September 24, 2023
Hate to be too harsh on PJ Fleck for what he’s done for the Gophers football program since he’s come in. But man is it getting harder and harder to back him going forward. A couple lucky plays in the Nebraska game away from being 1-3? Really? Just ugly football.
— Ian Rivers 🦫 ⚡️ (@riversian347) September 24, 2023
Wow. Just wow!
That Gophers loss might be on the Mount Rushmore of all-time embarrassments for this program.
Incredible ineptitude all around 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼
— Phil Mackey 🎙 (@PhilMackey) September 24, 2023
That’s absolutely brutal. The Gophers gave that game to Northwestern. Fleck’s in-game coaching again will be (rightfully) scrutinized.
— Judd Zulgad (@jzulgad) September 24, 2023
“I still remember people, Heather and I, every time they see us: Beat Wisconsin and you can stay forever. We beat Wisconsin twice and y’all wanted me fired last week.” – PJ Fleck, November 26,2022
— Henry Lake (@lakeshow73) September 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/donnelly612/status/1705785243809001698
