P.J. Fleck points to two reasons behind Minnesota's defensive woes

Northwestern racked up 525 yards of offense in Saturday's 38-35 win over Minnesota.

Nov 22, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck walks off the field after the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck continued to emphasize Minnesota's defense doesn't have a schematic issue, instead pointing towards youth and coaching as the main culprits behind yet another poor day defensively in Saturday's loss to Northwestern.

"It's a very similar defense that we've played for 13 years. So, there's not like this schematic piece. But the coaching piece and the personnel piece, yeah there's some things we have to do better," said Fleck Monday when addressing the ongoing defensive woes.

Northwestern's offense outpaced its Minnesota counterparts 525 yards to 323 yards. It was the second straight week an opposing offense had more than 500 yards of offense, and the fourth time this season a team has eclipsed 450 yards of offense against Minnesota. This season, the Gophers' pass defense ranks 76th nationally, allowing 224.3 yards per game. Overall, Minnesota's defense is 69th in points allowed, averaging 24.9 points per game.

In 2024, the Gophers were 9th in points allowed (16.9) and 10th in passing yards allowed (176.1), a steep drop off from year-to-year.

For Fleck, the defensive struggles come down to the talent they lost in the draft and the youth who have filled those roles.

"This is still a developmental program and it will be. So, in the world of 2025 and this sustainability around the country is going faster, and faster, and faster... meaning it's not sustainable over and over. We're going to have in Minnesota, we're going to have some really experienced teams, and then we're going to have some inexperienced teams, Year 9 has nothing to do with it," said Fleck.

"Every year is its own entity. We lost nine NFL players last year. ... That's a lot and we're not just going to be able to buy nine guys at the same level, that's not realistic. ... So when you have to replace that, it's one in recruiting, one through the portal, but then you're going to be forced to play some young players. Especially if some of those guys didn't pan out, or got hurt. So this is all paying off and we are a 6-5 football team, this isn't 2-10."

Fleck insisted that the mistakes and errors on display throughout the 2025 season will help the young talent in the future. However, he doesn't place all of the blame on the young guys getting big minutes.

"Now, we as coaches can put them in better positions. But when you go through the week, when sometimes you don't see those [issues], and then they rear their head in the game, then that's an experience issue. So we've all got to do better," Fleck said.

Ultimately, per usual, Fleck said the blame starts with him

"It's a personnel piece, and it's a coaching piece. Because we've got to connect both of those, and it starts with me," he said.

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