Quotables: What Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck said about Michigan
On whether this Michigan team is the best he's faced
They're really good, we played some really good teams since we've been here. I would say this is probably they are one of the best. I think that's a subjective answer based on we're kind of in the middle of the film, so I'm not through it all, but we've watched a lot of it. I think they're one of the deepest, for sure. It doesn't matter who is in that football game. It just seems like they're always fresh because they have so many great players. And they do such a great job in rotating them. And they all make plays. Coach Harbaugh does a great job of promoting team, team, team, team. It's a WE-fense. I love that. When you watch their team and then they all talk about the team and that they all play for the team. Sometimes you can't tell who's in the game who just made that play because it's not like just one guy is the star. They're all the stars that make up their team and that's hard to do. It's hard to create. And I think he's done a great job of creating, I think one of the best teams in the country and they're ranked exactly where they probably should be. Either one or two because they are as good as advertised. And we talked about one of the hardest schedules in the country. This is why, as you're playing teams that are incredibly experienced and incredibly deep. Their defense has seven of the 11 returning starters from last year. And not only that, it's not a freshman sitting behind them. It's another transfer or it's another senior or another graduate. These guys are good. And he's done a heck of a job building that thing, especially with the way college football's changed and done a very good job and he's one of the best in the business at building teams. I got a ton of respect for him. One of the best coaches in football period.
On running the ball well against Michigan's run defense
You find a way to put 13 guys on the field when nobody's looking. See if you can add another tight end in there. But they're really good. What we're doing right now is putting together the best game plan to put our players in the best position to be successful. You go back to 2019, we're playing a top four team in the country. Not many people gave us a shot on that either. I know we're different maybe a different team as it's a different year and things like that. But I don't think we were favored in that one or the Auburn game, and that's the same Auburn team that went out and beat Alabama. We have respect for everybody that we play, but we're going to prepare too. That's why you play the game. We're talking about running the football, I mean, whoever the running back rooms available for us. We did a little bit by committee last week, and I really liked the way that we ran the football, and that's a lot of credit to our offensive line. But this is where we're at. We have a young man who plays and runs the football and he only plays in three games, technically, right? I mean, actually has significant playtime. He's a freshman player that week in the Big Ten in all three games that he played, then he's out. Well, then we go running back by committee, and now Zach Evans, who did Sunday Night Football a few weeks ago to correct some of the issues he was having, had a phenomenal night. You asked about him a little bit ago, and I said he's working on a lot of things to be more consistent. And bang, he became really consistent and got his opportunity. And now he's freshman player of the week in the Big Ten. Again, all I'm doing is probably advertising our players, right, but that's where we're at. And this is the developmental program. And those guys are gonna be really good players. And that's a credit to our offensive linemen, our tight ends and our wide receivers. They take a lot of pride and blocking, but they're very good. Michigan has a very good interior. They've got great ends and they rotate 10 to 12 guys, and they're all really good players. But that's why you game plan, put some stuff together. So we got a ton of respect for the run defense and we got to find some ways to be able to do it, because if you don't do it, you're not gonna be on the field very long.
On protecting the Little Brown Jug rivalry moving forward
That's a question way above my pay grade. I think the Big 10 went through and had teams fill out, who are your greatest rivalries and have you pick one, two or three of those, or whatever it was. Then Big Ten basically puts it in a funnel and works with TV and the conference and said, here's the protected rivalries and those are the games we're going to play...it might not happen every single year, but when they do happen, that brings up the tradition of the Little Brown Jug, and that's what makes it so exciting. They're not going away forever. There just might not happen as often. And they're still there. And I think when people get really angry about how those rivalries should be protected every single year and just think a little bit outside the box. They'll still be there. It just makes that game even more important. If it comes around maybe once every four or five years but we're a small little speck within the University of Minnesota's football program history. We're just doing our part for now, to do everything we can to make it better than we found it, period. That is all we're doing.
---
Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards
Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer
Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @lucasreimink
Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify
Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube
Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram