Find Out What P.J. Fleck Is Saying About Michigan
When Saturday night rolls around, the battle for the Little Brown Jug wages on once again, and Michigan will aim to retain possession of the rivalry trophy, once again defeating Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck for a second time in the process.
In the lead up to the contest, Fleck met with the media on Monday to discuss what this game means to both himself and his players given how tumultuous the 2020 offseason has been.
"Obviously Michigan week is a really important week," Fleck said. "A rivalry week. A lot of time and energy has been spent into these next eight weeks and we look forward to kicking off the season here against Michigan at home with College GameDay being here. It's a really exciting time for Gopher Football."
Back in 2017, Fleck brought Minnesota to Ann Arbor in his first year as Gophers head coach, and the Wolverines played host by delivering a 33-10 victory and have retained the Little Brown Jug ever since.
Though the 2020 Michigan football squad shares very few similarities to its counterpart from '17, Fleck has a similar level of respect for U-M's defensive structure, and he spoke about it at length Monday.
"They're really good football team," Fleck said. "They're a blue blood. Whether you're talking about Don Brown on the defensive side, he's always been really good. He's got a great plan for everybody he plays. There's always unique wrinkles, new nuances of how he prepares for an offense. They're very talented. Their defensive line has two defensive ends that are going to be high draft picks, and they have incredibly high motors. He puts people in positions to be successful.
"He takes your strengths as an offense and what you are what you do well, and he will highlight that during a game," Fleck said. "His defense is very aggressive and their third down package is very creative. They're blitzing from everywhere and they're aligned in different positions. They constantly put stress on a quarterback whether it's first, second or third down or when you're in the green zone. There's always a very unique plan for that particular situation. They're a very sound defense. They play incredibly hard and they have skill everywhere. So he's very difficult to prepare for, and he's one of the best in the country for a reason. And there's probably 60% that we probably know based on what they've done in the past, but they've had all off-season to be able to make it better, change it, develop it and create things that were going to be specifically for our game, just like we have for them.
"That's always the challenge of game one," Fleck said. "So, it's an enormous challenge for our football team and game one played against the defense like Don Brown's and obviously a blueblood like the University of Michigan, but that's what makes it really fun and exciting as well."
That is as in depth of an analysis as you are going to find from a Big Ten coach in the week leading up to a game, so it shows that Fleck has done his research and watched every bit of film that he claims before Week 1 arrives.
Fleck alluded to Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye, and he also paid respects to Coach Brown's defensive play calling history, but that is easier to do since all three individuals are known commodities at this point. Doing the same about Michigan's offense is not so simple since there will be so many new faces on that side of the football, even if Fleck says otherwise.
"They have the same coordinator, right? I'm sure things haven't changed for them, but the personnel has changed," Fleck said. "Anybody who looks at quarterback Joe Milton knows what type of special talent he is. He's a once in a decade type talent that comes through the program when you're talking about his skill set. He can throw the ball far, he can run, he's big and he's strong. Again, there's not a ton of data on him based on what we've been able to watch, but he's played in some games and we've watched his high school recruiting film. We've done a lot of those things and pulled film from everywhere we possibly can. He's very talented.
"We know that Milton presents a huge challenge for use because: there's not a lot of film on him," Fleck said. "We know what type of player he is and it's a very, very skillful player. And the weapons around him can really run. They've lost some wideouts but it's Michigan, they've got 44 four-stars and two five-star players on their team. They've got plenty of talent and skill that they could fill a lot of positions that they've lost, but again that's part of game one."
As a whole, Fleck is trying to lead Minnesota to a special season after going 11-2 a year ago. By hosting College GameDay for a second consecutive year, there will be a lot of energy in Minneapolis even without a rowdy crowd and tailgaiting regime, and it's a prime opportunity for either Fleck or Coach Harbaugh to begin crafting a storybook 2020 season, one where their program pushes against all odds and obstacles to start the year off on a winning foot.
Which coach actually has the opportunity to write a similar story is still up in the air, but it sounds like Coach Fleck has a lot of respect for the characters in Harbaugh's story and in his locker room.
How do you think Week 1 is going to turn out for Michigan? Will the Wolverines start the season with a victory on the road? Let us know!
