A 42-3 loss at Ohio Stadium meant that head coach P.J. Fleck’s post-game press conference would be brief. The consistent message was that the Gophers could not keep up.
“They had 474 yards of offense, we had 162,” Fleck said. “I think that tells the story, so, not sure if you have any questions after that. I just told you everything.”
Junior Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate had 20 more yards than the entire Gophers team, with 183.
No one wanted to dwell on the loss. However, Fleck said he remains confident that he has a good team.
One thing is for certain: the Gophers have work to do. The lack of turnovers was a bright spot, but adjusting problems reappeared.
The No. 1 Buckeyes were always going to be the most difficult matchup of the season, with the No. 1 defense in the country and a $20+ million roster. But this is a problem the Gophers already faced against Rutgers.
Despite utilizing their third-string running back against Rutgers, it took until halftime for the Gophers to put all of their trust in redshirt freshman QB Drake Lindsay and move away from the run game.
The shift won them the game.
Against the Buckeyes, the Gophers started with a strong first drive. Lindsay went 7/7 and threw for 66 yards.
The Buckeyes adjusted their defense, and the Gophers were out of sync for the rest of the game.
Fleck said the work of former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is impressive and always hard to combat, especially with the execution talent he has at Ohio State.
“They put you in a corner, and they mix up so many different coverages and fronts,” Fleck said. “That’s one of the best defenses I’ve ever seen in 13 years.”
The Gophers saw their standout RB Darius Taylor return to the field after missing two games due to injury, but his impact was minimal because of medical precautions limiting the amount of snaps he saw.
There was pressure on all sides for the Gophers. 100,000 fans in the Ohio Stadium for their homecoming game made communication noticeably difficult on the field, especially because Lindsay’s most challenging environment before this was Cal.
On the other side of the ball, the Gophers could not contain the Buckeyes’ offense. Every play felt explosive for the Buckeyes, in eight seconds, a failed fourth-and-1 conversion by the Gophers turned into a Buckeyes touchdown.
Gophers’ senior linebacker Jalen Logan-Redding said the Buckeyes were able to take advantage of any small mistake made on defense.
“We just did not execute on defense,” Logan-Redding said. “They understand our schemes and they exploited us in ways we may have not seen.”
The Gophers return to Minneapolis focused on their one-game-at-a-time mindset to prepare for their homecoming game against Purdue University.
“We got to move on and flush it,” Lindsay said. “We’ve got a long season ahead of us and we’ve got to go win.”
