The No. 18 Michigan Wolverines and the No. 21 Minnesota Golden Gophers will square off on primetime Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC in a battle for the Little Brown Jug. The Gophers are coming off of an 11-2 season in 2019 and looking to keep the momentum going into 2020. Beating Michigan in week one would go a long way towards making that happen.

“Obviously Michigan week is a really important week,” Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said at his Monday press conference. “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.”

With the Big Ten’s stringent protocols regarding positive COVID-19 tests, players who are found to have the virus will have to be out for 21 days before returning. The Gophers have had several positive tests, but Fleck chose not to specify who exactly won’t take the field Saturday night.

“With opt-outs, then COVID and injuries, I’m probably not going to comment specifically on individual players, especially with HIPAA laws and things like that,” Fleck said.

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Pressed on a specific number of players that will be forced to miss the game, Fleck again didn’t provide specifics.

“I mean I don't have an estimate, as I know that number, but I’m just not going to tell you the number,” Fleck said. “There’s a lot of reasons why, but this is how the whole year is going to be, and there are no excuses. We’ve got to be able to find a way.

“Our team has known that from day one back in March. We said the same thing before anybody was out. Whether by the opt out, injury or COVID, we said the same thing. … We’re going to need the entire football team.”

“Now again, I don’t want you all to think you know we have 65 players out right now. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying as a whole, what could happen now, what could happen then, what could happen in six weeks from now.”

Fleck showed great admiration for Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown’s unit on Monday, pointing out the challenge his club will face come game time. In Fleck’s only matchup with Michigan in 2017, the Gophers put up just 10 points to Michigan's 33 in a loss at The Big House.

“They’re a 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 — what you are, what you do well — and he will highlight that during a game. 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 percent that we know, based on what they’ve done in the past. But they’ve had all offseason 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. So it’s an enormous challenge for our football team and game one played against the defense like Don Brown’s and obviously a blue blood like the University of Michigan, but that’s what makes it really fun and exciting as well.”

Fleck praised Michigan redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton and the physical tools he has to work with.

“Anybody who looks at Joe Milton knows what type of special talent he is,” Fleck said. “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 pull film from everywhere we possibly can. He’s very talented.

“When you’re talking about preparing for ‘ghosts,’ I want to make sure people know that it’s not frustrating, but it’s challenging and that’s what makes it really fun. When things get to a frustrating stage, that’s when you start taking away from moving forward, and being able to be better tomorrow than you were today. So we’re going to take every challenge in stride.

“We know that Milton presents a huge challenge for us because there’s not a lot of film on him. We know what type of player he is and it’s a very, very skillful player.”

Michigan lost Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black and Nico Collins from last year’s receiving corps, but there’s still talent remaining at the position, and Fleck isn’t overlooking that group.

“And the weapons around [Milton] can really run,” Fleck continued. “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.”

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