1 October 2024
Koi Perich played high school football games in front of hundreds in Esko, Minn., last season. On Saturday, the Gophers true freshman played his first college road game before an announced crowd of 110,340 at Michigan Stadium.
No big deal.
In the fourth quarter, Perich jarred the Big House with a 60-yard punt return to the Michigan 17; it helped Minnesota score 14 straight points in a 27-24 loss to the Wolverines.
Perich has had more responsibilities put on his plate as the season has progressed, and his redshirt was removed with a fifth game played last weekend. So far this year, the former four-star recruit was on the opening kickoff coverage team in season opener against North Carolina, became the primary punt returner when starter Quentin Redding was lost for the season in Week 2 and has received a few defensive snaps in each of the last four games.
“You can put him out there as a true freshman — nothing intimidates him,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said in his news conference Monday. “And he is dangerous with the ball in his hand.”
So can Perich play some on offense, too?
Fleck doesn’t want to establish an expectation that it will happen, but told the Pioneer Press:
“It’s definitely a possibility,” he said. “I wouldn’t think twice.
“But, again, right now, it’s all about what he can handle. You put too much on a true freshman’s plate and then it’s the law of diminishing returns. He has got more on his plate than he did in Game 1. And he has been able to handle that. I think that is part of being able to spoon feed a true freshman.
“I think when you overload somebody that is really new, you can stunt their growth faster. I think he is doing a really good job of biting off a huge chunk and performing at a high level as of now. But there is always a possibility of more.”
Perich has shown that appetite. When he caught his first career interception against Rhode Island in Week 2 and returned it 16 yards, he didn’t sit back on it as a nice play but lamented postgame how he didn’t turn it into a touchdown.
After joining the Gophers in June, he is clearly not just happy to be on this stage in his first season.
Perich has played 35 total defensive snaps this season, including five against Michigan. He might have had a huge sack of quarterback Alex Orji on third down in the third quarter, but he appeared to hesitate on his blitz and Orji completed a pass for a first down. The Wolverines tacked on a field goal on that drive in their three-point win.
Refining plays like that goes to Fleck’s point about not putting too much on Perich too soon. But it’s hard not to think about what Perich might be able to provide an offense struggling to run the ball this season.
Perhaps Perich can get a small package of plays in one of offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh’s gameplans in the second half of the season. … Maybe he can have spot duty in the Gophers’ two-running back formation? Or possibly a jet sweep can be drawn up to get him the ball in space on the edge?
In Class AAA in northeastern Minnesota last season, Perich had 27 total touchdowns in 10 high school games: 16 rushing, five defensive returns, three on punt returns and one apiece from receiving, passing and a kickoff return.
On his big punt return at Michigan, Perich showed vision, decisiveness and strength as he made cuts and broke tackles. He also had a nice 22-yard return against the Wolverines and looked close to breaking big ones in previous returns this season.
Perich’s explosive return of 60 yards fell just outside the Gophers’ all-time list for longest punt returns: Demetrius Douglas’s 69-yard touchdown return against Wisconsin in 2018 sits at No. 10 in the record book.
It underscored what can be possible with Perich, who is listed at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds.
“When you go up to him and hit him on the shoulder, he’s very, very dense,” Fleck added. “I mean, he is incredibly strong. And he hasn’t been through our (strength and conditioning) program for a whole year yet. I think he can break tackles. He can see the field really well. Everybody is blocking their tail end off for him. If you give him a little bit of space, I think he can be really dangerous.”
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