P.J. Fleck Gives Blunt Answer On Officiating After Minnesota’s Loss To Oregon

The No. 8 Oregon Ducks defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday night in a dominant fashion. After the game, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck praised Oregon's offense, arguing the Ducks had an "almost flawless" performance.

Sep 6, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck looks on before the game against the Northwestern State Demons at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The No. 8 Oregon Ducks defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers with a dominant win, 42-13. Despite the short week, Oregon coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks improved to 9-1, continuing to build a path to the College Football Playoff.

The Oregon Ducks controlled the game, and the offense came out firing. After the game, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck addressed the media and discussed the loss. While speaking, Fleck praised Oregon's talented offense and was clear in his stance not reacting when asked about the officiating.

“I’m not gonna talk about that. They have a job to do, I have a job to do. I have a ton of respect for them,” Fleck said. “I coach my team. I fight for our players. What do you want me to do? Stand there? I don’t get paid to watch. I get paid to coach.”

P.J. Fleck Praises Oregon Ducks’ Offense

Nov 1, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck reacts during overtime against the Michigan State Spartans at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

“I thought our guys fought incredibly hard, played incredibly tough. You know, this is a really good football team that played pretty close to flawless tonight on the other side. We were gonna have to have, unfortunately they didn’t,” Fleck said. “I mean, there’s a lot of great things that came out of it, but it gets overshadowed by the score.”

“On the other side, I’m not taking away from anything they did. They played almost flawlessly. I mean, that quarterback is unbelievable. The throws he made tonight, tremendous throws. Those are Heisman-like throws,” Fleck said. “He can run, he can throw.”

“They made some unbelievable catches. Gotta give them credit. They made played when they needed to, especially on third down,” Fleck said. “We’d be there to contest it, they’d catch it. They just played really, really well.”

Nov 8, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning enters Kinnick Stadium before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

“And I’m sure coach Lanning’s probably gonna say, ‘Well, we played this, we didn’t do that,’ rightfully so. Every coach looks at what they don’t do well, but that was one of the most complete games I’ve watched them play. And we had to make them earn it. And they definitely did. And that’s what a top-six team in the country does. And at this point of the year, you want them to play at that type of level, and they did.”

“We knew we were gonna have to tackle these guys pretty low. I don’t think we did a very good job of that tonight on defense. But just didn’t play well enough to win,” Fleck continued. “When you go on the road to play a top 10 or top six team, playoff-type team, that’s really well coached, that has athletes everywhere. I mean, every single one of those guys can run. They can fly. Every position they’re big, they’re strong. They’re a very, very complete team in every sense of the word.”

“Coach Lanning should be really proud of his football team because they played well tonight.”

Nov 8, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore (5) looks to throw a pass against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first quarter at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

“They design a bunch of things that put you in space. They do that to everybody,” Fleck said. “You make one guy miss in that game, and you don’t take a good angle. At times, your X isn’t as good as that O, and he makes you miss, there's a lot of space … They do so many misdirection things and so many different, they make you look at different people. And pulling different people. And our eyes  have to be really, really disciplined to give us an opportunity.”

MORE: Oregon Quarterback Dante Moore Breaks Down Adjusting Game Plan Amid Injuries

MORE: What Oregon's New Helmet And Uniforms Say About the Program’s Identity

MORE: How to Watch Oregon Ducks vs. Minnesota In Prime Time On Friday Night

"You have to give them credit. They hit the hole really hard. They’re explosive. They have great athletes. If you look up and you don’t get them on the ground, they’re gonna gain a lot of yards,” Fleck said. “There are times you get beat. We got beat. We didn’t beat ourselves with all these things. We got beat.”

“We just couldn’t get them off the field. I don’t think they punted until the fourth quarter. Until the very end. So, I think that tells you everything you need to know,” Fleck said. “At times, they got us out of position by taking us out of position.”

Sep 14, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck looks on during the first half against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

P.J. Fleck On Closing The Gap Between Big Ten Teams

“They’ve got every resource known to man, but they also coach really, really hard. And they’re really good coaches. And when you combine that really good athlete with that really good coaching in that environment, and that type of talent, that’s what you see.” 

“Played Ohio State on the road, got beat. Got beat pretty good. Played these guys on the road, got beat pretty good. Iowa lost to these guys and dropped one spot. I think that shows how good they are.”

Aug 28, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck looks on before the game against the Buffalo Bulls at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

P.J. Fleck On The Gameplan vs. Oregon

“I love the game plan. Offense, defense. I loved it. We had two weeks to prepare for it. I loved it. Got a lot of space. Showed them a lot of different stuff. Now, executing, that’s another thing against a really good defense. And I thought we were able to do that at times, and sometimes we weren’t able to do it.”

P.J. Fleck On Minnesota’s Performance vs. Oregon

“We got one takeaway which was great. We did not turn the ball over. We just didn’t execute at a high enough level.”

“I’m really proud of our guys, how hard fought, scratched, clawed. There’s no moral victories, I don’t believe in any of that, but I do look at the positives. And look for the positives in everything that we do,” Fleck said. “It’s my job first and foremost cause I got a football team to coach. They’re hurt, they’re disappointed because every single person went into this game thinking we could win the game. That’s why I love coaching that team.”

 “I think one of the best examples of that is the final two minutes. I go in the huddle, I said, ‘I wanna see your high, I wanna see your culture on display.' Cause they’ve done it all game, and they get a minus three-yard play,” Pleck said. “We just didn’t play well enough to have a chance to win this game.”