“When we fire off the ball and we know what to do and we know where we’re going, we’re pretty good,” Fleck said. “We’re playing against some really good defensive lines, though. I mean, nobody’s just going to allow you to run the football. For the most part, our pass [protection] is doing a really good job against who we’re facing and what we’re facing.”
The Gophers rank second in the Big Ten in total defense (262.3 yards allowed per game), second in passing defense (139.6) and fourth in scoring defense (15.9 points allowed per game). Where opponents have thrived is against Minnesota’s run defense, which ranks 11th at 122.7.
Minnesota’s defense has been opportunistic, leading the Big Ten with a plus-8 turnover margin. Fleck wants more.
“I know that we’re doing really well in that department right now, but when you look at the games we don’t win, we don’t get enough takeaways,” Fleck said. “We’ve got to play complementary football.”
Improvement on special teams down the stretch will be important for the Gophers, especially if they continue to play tight games. Dragan Kesich, last year’s Big Ten kicker of the year when he made 23 of 27 field-goal attempts, is mired in a slump this year, going 7-for-13.
