6 October 2023
The Michigan Wolverines team coming into Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday night might be the best opponent the Gophers have faced since P.J. Fleck took over as head coach in 2017.
While that ultimately is a subjective argument, it’s also currently premature, with this season only at its halfway point. But Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said before this season began that his team is in the “best place we’ve been in so far.”
And Harbaugh’s two previous teams went 25-3 across the 2021-22 seasons, won consecutive Big Ten Conference championships and advanced to a pair of College Football Playoff semifinals.
“They are really good,” Fleck said Monday. “I don’t know — when you go back — what is the best and which isn’t the best? We’ve played some really good teams since we’ve been here. I would say this is probably one of the best.”
At Minnesota, Fleck is 3-12 against team ranked in the top 25 since 2017, but two of those wins came against programs in the top 10. The second-ranked Wolverines are a big, 18.5-point favorite against Minnesota this year, with the Little Brown Jug rivalry trophy on the line.
The Wolverines’ defense might be the team’s strength. It is ranked No. 1 in the nation, allowing a paltry six points per game. And Fleck was asked how the Gophers are going to be able to run the ball against Michigan.
“Find a way to put 13 guys on the field when nobody is looking, add another tight end in there, ” he joked.
As a turner of a good phrase himself, Fleck might be most fond of Harbaugh’s play on words with his use of “we-fense” — instead of defense.
“I love that,” Fleck said. “But it’s true, when you watch their team, they all talk about the team, they all play for the team. Sometimes you can’t tell who is in the game, who just made that play because there is no one guy as the star.”
Fleck recalled this week how his first team at Minnesota in 2017 went to play unranked Michigan and he said he got worried pregame when players were looking around the Big House in awe. Minnesota went on to lose 33-10.
Gophers defensive coordinator Rossi said that is far from the case now; he doesn’t feel like players will have that reaction when they see the Wolverines’ iconic maize-and-blue helmets on Saturday night.
“Because our guys have played in a lot of big games against a lot of good teams,” Rossi said. “So, I think from that standpoint, you’ve got an opponent that is a talented opponent, and we had a talented opponent last week. We’ve got to go out and play. I think it will be a good atmosphere.
“You can’t make it about someone else,” Rossi continued. “You’ve got to make it about yourself and going out and playing your best game.”
The Gophers’ two wins over top-10 teams both came during their dream 11-2 season of 2019, knocking off No. 5 Penn State at home in the regular season and topping No. 9 Auburn in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
“Not many people gave us a shot on that either,” Fleck said. “I know we were a different team and a different year, things like that, but I don’t think we were favored (against Penn State) or the Auburn game, and that was the same Auburn team that went out and beat Alabama. We have respect for everybody that we play, but we are going to prepare, they are going to prepare. That’s why you play the game.”
The Wolverines have won three straight over the Gophers in the series and 42 out of the past 46 since 1968.
Gophers defensive end Danny Striggow, who grew up in Long Lake, Minn., was in junior in high school the last time the U beat unranked Michigan in 2014. He doesn’t remember that upset in Ann Arbor.
“I can’t say I do,” Striggow said Wednesday. “I don’t remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday. I do not remember that, but that would be special to have the opportunity to bring it back here to Minneapolis.”
Gophers games against top-10 teams under P.J. Fleck
2017 — No. 5 Wisconsin 31, Minnesota 0
2018 — No. 3 Ohio State 30, Minnesota 14
2019 — No. 13 Minnesota 31, No. 5 Penn State 26
2019 — No. 16 Minnesota 31, No. 9 Auburn 24
2021 — No. 4 Ohio State 45, Minnesota 31
Related Articles
Vikings’ Christian Darrisaw, Gophers’ Chris Collins consider each other ‘brothers’
Future Gophers football Big Ten schedules filled with big challenges, new locales
Gophers football vs. Michigan: Keys to game, how to watch and who has the edge
Gophers receiver Le’Meke Brockington out for rest of the season
‘Freak’ player Koi Perich has pledged to Gophers, but USC, others not giving up recruiting battle