With his Gophers football team on its bye last weekend, coach P.J. Fleck had a chance to watch some games not involving his team. He was most impressed with No. 7 Washington's 36-33 comeback win over No. 8 Oregon.
How did Gophers coach P.J. Fleck spend the weekend without a game for his team?
What does a college football coach do over a bye week? Take a trip up I-35 and watch two elite future Big Ten rivals battle, among other things.
October 17, 2023 at 11:37AM
The Huskies scored the winning touchdown with 1 minute, 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Ducks had a chance to send the game to overtime but missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt on the game's final play.
"That's what college football is all about,'' he said. "That might have been one of the more exciting games I've seen in a long time. That's what's coming into the league.''
Washington and Oregon, along with UCLA and USC, will leave the Pac-12 at the end of the 2023-24 school year and begin play in the Big Ten next fall.
There was recruiting work, too, for Fleck during the bye week. He made the trip north on I-35 with safeties coach Danny Collins to watch Esko four-star safety and Gophers commit Koi Perich play at Hermantown. Perich put on a show, rushing seven times for 94 yards and two touchdowns, returning two interceptions for TDs and collecting five tackles and one sack in a 41-7 Esko victory.
Michigan State game time set
The Gophers' Oct. 28 home game against Michigan State will be a 2:30 p.m. start and will air on the Big Ten Network, the Big Ten announced. The game will be Minnesota's third 2:30 start this season, joining games at North Carolina and Iowa. The Gophers have had three games start at 6:30 p.m. (Eastern Michigan, Northwestern and Michigan), one at 7 p.m. (Nebraska) and one at 11 a.m. (Louisiana).
The Gophers were left to ponder what might have been and what kind of team they are after staging a stirring fourth-quarter comeback in a 27-24 loss to the Wolverines.
