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After being thrashed for more than 650 total yards in Illinois, the Gophers’ defense rebounded during Saturday’s 41-10 win over a surging Purdue team. Minnesota managed to hold the Boilermakers to an 0-for-12 third down success rate and 233 total yards. At one point, Purdue had -2 rushing yards in the fourth quarter. It was a huge turnaround for a team that was allowing a frequent amount of explosive plays in past games.
Interim defensive coordinator Joe Rossi made several adjustments to help the team play “simple, sound and fast.” The team had this goal entering last week’s game and head coach P.J. Fleck said they executed the task at hand.
“I thought Joe Rossi and the defensive staff did a great job of handling a lot of adversity, coming up with a great game plan – simple, sound, fast and they played that way,” Fleck said. “That’s what we said we wanted to do and they executed it. We played to our strengths.”
A combination of subtle scheme changes and the performance of several players helped the Gophers silence a Purdue offense that entered the game averaging 36 points. Linebacker Blake Cashman led the team with nine total tackles, a half sack and a fumble return touchdown. The senior defender set the tone for the entire Minnesota defensive unit. Fleck said Cashman graded very highly in the team’s prdocution point system.
“I thought Blake Cashman was outstanding. [He] played one of his best games of his career that I’ve been here,” Fleck said. “He had 58 production points, he had 28 production points in one play. His stat line was incredible. I thought we all rallied around him and I thought he set the tone for how we played.”
Minnesota also received key contributions from other players who saw extended action in Saturday’s game. Defensive back Chris Williamson did an effective job of shutting down Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore, who finished with just 76 yards and a touchdown. Williamson entered the game and added a physical element to the Gophers’ secondary. With the team adjusting and disguising their coverage schemes in the second level, Williamson played a major role in executing the game plan. The transfer from Florida has battled injuries in the past and is adjusting after not playing football for almost two years.
“I think Chris Williamson played the best football I’ve seen him play and he hadn’t played football for close to two years before this year and even sat out some of this year,” Fleck said. “Practicing the game, winter conditioning, spring ball, it’s all different than playing the season. Summer conditioning is way different than playing in season. He’s getting back into a groove.”
Williamson’s tackling skills and coverage ability are something the Gophers’ defense hasn’t featured since Antoine Winfield Jr. went down with a season-ending injury. If he can continue to perform at a high level, it could be a major lift for Minnesota over the final two games.
“He’s got a long way to go -- gotta get better in a lot of areas -- but I thought he played one of his better games. We need him to continue to do that because I thought he played at a really high level,” Fleck said. “He was very physical, very physical. He covered really well, tackled well and really was in a lot of key positions for us. He made a lot of key calls and adjustments and did a really nice job for us.”
The Gophers continue to grasp for numbers in the secondary and converted redshirt sophomore wide receiver Phillip Howard to cornerback this week. He will play in the position group for the next 11 days and the team will evaluate whether this is a permanent change. Fleck met with Howard this week and explored the possibility of moving him to the defensive unit.
“We had a really, really good heart-to-to-heart and he was tremendous,” Fleck said. “His words were, ‘anything I can do to help this football team, coach, I want to do. I love it here, I love what we’re doing and I just want to help our football team.’”
There is even a remote possibility Howard could see extended action in Saturday’s game. Fleck said it underscores the importance of bringing in 2019 recruits to fill key roles in the secondary.
“We obviously have an issue at defensive back and if we have one or two guys that don’t make it to Saturday, Phillip Howard could start at corner,” Fleck said. “But that’s the position we’re in. We’ve got to hit in 2019 hard and we will. Bringing in a lot of defensive backs, some that can play now, some that need to help now and some that maybe we can take care of and redshirt.”
Lost in the shadows of past defensive struggles and last week’s turnaround, the Gophers’ offense continues to make strides. They are averaging 36 points per game over the past three weeks. Minnesota currently leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 12 nationally in yards per completion (14.59 yards per completion). They also have completed 25 receptions of at least 25 yards this season. Last year, the Gophers had just 14 plays fit this category. With seven underclassmen currently in starting roles on offense, head coach P.J. Fleck is pleased with the growth.
“I think when you’re looking at points, yards, the consistency of your football team, I don’t think it’s very hard to look at our football team and say, ‘yeah, we’re definitely better on offense,’” Fleck said. “Not only are we better on offense, there’s seven freshmen starting on offense. These people are going to be around for a very long time here in the Twin Cities area. People want to evaluate now and I get now, but I didn’t come here just to be able to do it now. You have to do it over a long period of time and you have to sacrifice now.”
Minnesota has also shown success on the ground with help from the offensive line. Mohamed Ibrahim rushed for 155 yards on 18 carries last week. Of those 155 yards, 72 came after contact. When digging deeper, 40 yards were fueled by the offensive line pushing the pile. The power and growing confidence of the entire unit is something P.J. Fleck has noticed throughout the year.
“Close to 40 of those yards came on piles being pushed. Think about that, 40 yards just from a pile being pushed,” Fleck said. “There’s one play…it’s a two-yard gain and we end up getting 12 and it happened multiple times. That’s what you love to see from your offensive line.”
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Interim defensive coordinator Joe Rossi made several adjustments to help the team play “simple, sound and fast.” The team had this goal entering last week’s game and head coach P.J. Fleck said they executed the task at hand.
“I thought Joe Rossi and the defensive staff did a great job of handling a lot of adversity, coming up with a great game plan – simple, sound, fast and they played that way,” Fleck said. “That’s what we said we wanted to do and they executed it. We played to our strengths.”
A combination of subtle scheme changes and the performance of several players helped the Gophers silence a Purdue offense that entered the game averaging 36 points. Linebacker Blake Cashman led the team with nine total tackles, a half sack and a fumble return touchdown. The senior defender set the tone for the entire Minnesota defensive unit. Fleck said Cashman graded very highly in the team’s prdocution point system.
“I thought Blake Cashman was outstanding. [He] played one of his best games of his career that I’ve been here,” Fleck said. “He had 58 production points, he had 28 production points in one play. His stat line was incredible. I thought we all rallied around him and I thought he set the tone for how we played.”
Minnesota also received key contributions from other players who saw extended action in Saturday’s game. Defensive back Chris Williamson did an effective job of shutting down Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore, who finished with just 76 yards and a touchdown. Williamson entered the game and added a physical element to the Gophers’ secondary. With the team adjusting and disguising their coverage schemes in the second level, Williamson played a major role in executing the game plan. The transfer from Florida has battled injuries in the past and is adjusting after not playing football for almost two years.
“I think Chris Williamson played the best football I’ve seen him play and he hadn’t played football for close to two years before this year and even sat out some of this year,” Fleck said. “Practicing the game, winter conditioning, spring ball, it’s all different than playing the season. Summer conditioning is way different than playing in season. He’s getting back into a groove.”
Williamson’s tackling skills and coverage ability are something the Gophers’ defense hasn’t featured since Antoine Winfield Jr. went down with a season-ending injury. If he can continue to perform at a high level, it could be a major lift for Minnesota over the final two games.
“He’s got a long way to go -- gotta get better in a lot of areas -- but I thought he played one of his better games. We need him to continue to do that because I thought he played at a really high level,” Fleck said. “He was very physical, very physical. He covered really well, tackled well and really was in a lot of key positions for us. He made a lot of key calls and adjustments and did a really nice job for us.”
The Gophers continue to grasp for numbers in the secondary and converted redshirt sophomore wide receiver Phillip Howard to cornerback this week. He will play in the position group for the next 11 days and the team will evaluate whether this is a permanent change. Fleck met with Howard this week and explored the possibility of moving him to the defensive unit.
“We had a really, really good heart-to-to-heart and he was tremendous,” Fleck said. “His words were, ‘anything I can do to help this football team, coach, I want to do. I love it here, I love what we’re doing and I just want to help our football team.’”
There is even a remote possibility Howard could see extended action in Saturday’s game. Fleck said it underscores the importance of bringing in 2019 recruits to fill key roles in the secondary.
“We obviously have an issue at defensive back and if we have one or two guys that don’t make it to Saturday, Phillip Howard could start at corner,” Fleck said. “But that’s the position we’re in. We’ve got to hit in 2019 hard and we will. Bringing in a lot of defensive backs, some that can play now, some that need to help now and some that maybe we can take care of and redshirt.”
Lost in the shadows of past defensive struggles and last week’s turnaround, the Gophers’ offense continues to make strides. They are averaging 36 points per game over the past three weeks. Minnesota currently leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 12 nationally in yards per completion (14.59 yards per completion). They also have completed 25 receptions of at least 25 yards this season. Last year, the Gophers had just 14 plays fit this category. With seven underclassmen currently in starting roles on offense, head coach P.J. Fleck is pleased with the growth.
“I think when you’re looking at points, yards, the consistency of your football team, I don’t think it’s very hard to look at our football team and say, ‘yeah, we’re definitely better on offense,’” Fleck said. “Not only are we better on offense, there’s seven freshmen starting on offense. These people are going to be around for a very long time here in the Twin Cities area. People want to evaluate now and I get now, but I didn’t come here just to be able to do it now. You have to do it over a long period of time and you have to sacrifice now.”
Minnesota has also shown success on the ground with help from the offensive line. Mohamed Ibrahim rushed for 155 yards on 18 carries last week. Of those 155 yards, 72 came after contact. When digging deeper, 40 yards were fueled by the offensive line pushing the pile. The power and growing confidence of the entire unit is something P.J. Fleck has noticed throughout the year.
“Close to 40 of those yards came on piles being pushed. Think about that, 40 yards just from a pile being pushed,” Fleck said. “There’s one play…it’s a two-yard gain and we end up getting 12 and it happened multiple times. That’s what you love to see from your offensive line.”
VIDEO:
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