P.J. Fleck corrects Iowa fans over fair catch kerfuffle

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Greder:

The Gophers’ head coach has come across Iowa Hawkeyes fans donning “It wasn’t a fair catch” shirts and can’t help but approach them. One such scene came on a recent trip he and wife Heather made to Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store in Jordan.

“Hey, I like your shirt,” Fleck will say to the fan. “That was actually a correct call.”

www.twincities.com

Gophers football: P.J. Fleck corrects Iowa fans over fair catch kerfuffle

UMN coach likes to correct Iowa fans wearing T-shirts that read, ‘It wasn’t a fair catch,’ a reference to the U’s 2023 victory in Iowa City.
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Per Greder:

The Gophers’ head coach has come across Iowa Hawkeyes fans donning “It wasn’t a fair catch” shirts and can’t help but approach them. One such scene came on a recent trip he and wife Heather made to Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store in Jordan.

“Hey, I like your shirt,” Fleck will say to the fan. “That was actually a correct call.”

www.twincities.com

Gophers football: P.J. Fleck corrects Iowa fans over fair catch kerfuffle

UMN coach likes to correct Iowa fans wearing T-shirts that read, ‘It wasn’t a fair catch,’ a reference to the U’s 2023 victory in Iowa City.
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
Does this sound staged to anyone else?

I think he knows a can of whoop azz is going to be opened on Saturday💪
 
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since we are coming up on that time where we all remember the invalid fair catch signal, I have posted about it on three or so different gopherhole discussions. I might as well comment on it here too, in duplicate.

By my estimation, about 70% or more of Iowa fans (and 25% of MN fans) to this day literally do not know WHAT WAS CALLED, let alone the FACT the play was called correctly. You can see their wheels turning when you explain the difference between a fair catch call and an invalid fair catch call.

At that point, they go through the same list of pivots:

1. If it was an invalid fair catch, why were the Gophers still trying to tackle the returner? (lots of reversals happen after a play wasn't properly blown dead. Nobody stops until a whistle is blown)
2. It's not reviewable! (it is, even if the original review was for something else)
3. The refs weren't even looking for that!
4. he was just directing his guys! (which literally is an admission it was an invalid fair catch signal)

And when all the pivots are shot down, they are left with their final re-direct.

4. Well, that was BS because that call is NEVER made!

At that point you bring up the same call had been made AGAINST the Gophers a few weeks earlier and it also was made again in last year's college football playoff.

At that point they mutter something about "BS" and discontinue the conversation.

Sadly, if the refs had seen the invalid fair catch signal real time and had properly blown the play dead on the spot, we never would have had to go through all the Iowa fan confusion and butt hurt-ness. But the right call was made after seeing the very clear invalid signal upon review, even if the review was for something else.
 

Schnauzer said:
since we are coming up on that time where we all remember the invalid fair catch signal, I have posted about it on three or so different gopherhole discussions. I might as well comment on it here too, in duplicate.

By my estimation, about 70% or more of Iowa fans (and 25% of MN fans) to this day literally do not know WHAT WAS CALLED, let alone the FACT the play was called correctly. You can see their wheels turning when you explain the difference between a fair catch call and an invalid fair catch call.

At that point, they go through the same list of pivots:

1. If it was an invalid fair catch, why were the Gophers still trying to tackle the returner? (lots of reversals happen after a play wasn't properly blown dead. Nobody stops until a whistle is blown)
2. It's not reviewable! (it is, even if the original review was for something else)
3. The refs weren't even looking for that!
4. he was just directing his guys! (which literally is an admission it was an invalid fair catch signal)

And when all the pivots are shot down, they are left with their final re-direct.

4. Well, that was BS because that call is NEVER made!

At that point you bring up the same call had been made AGAINST the Gophers a few weeks earlier and it also was made again in last year's college football playoff.

At that point they mutter something about "BS" and discontinue the conversation.

Sadly, if the refs had seen the invalid fair catch signal real time and had properly blown the play dead on the spot, we never would have had to go through all the Iowa fan confusion and butt hurt-ness. But the right call was made after seeing the very clear invalid signal upon review, even if the review was for something else.
Click to expand...
And to me, the worst part of the whole thing is Ferret-Face Kirk.

Just look at this smug prick (not the screen shot, when it is played, it should start on FFK), he knows he coached his players to do this, and he thinks he got away with it:

 



Unregistered User said:
And to me, the worst part of the whole thing is Ferret-Face Kirk.

Just look at this smug prick (not the screen shot, when it is played, it should start on FFK), he knows he coached his players to do this, and he thinks he got away with it:

Click to expand...
Ferentz definitely has a smug look on his face but I don't think it is for the reason you think it is. The smug look is because he believed Iowa was going to escape with another win they probably didn't deserve.

I don't believe they were trying to pull a fast one on the punt return I just think DeJean messed up with his arm movements. He wouldn't have reacted the way he did and for as long as he did if they were trying to do something sneaky and got busted. He seemed genuinely shocked and confused by what happened.
 

I saw an invalid fair catch called in the Washington State/Virginia and Louisville/Miami games this past weekend. It does happen from time to time. The Washington State one was really odd since another player (not the returner) called for the fair catch.
 
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MNVCGUY said:
Ferentz definitely has a smug look on his face but I don't think it is for the reason you think it is. The smug look is because he believed Iowa was going to escape with another win they probably didn't deserve.

I don't believe they were trying to pull a fast one on the punt return I just think DeJean messed up with his arm movements. He wouldn't have reacted the way he did and for as long as he did if they were trying to do something sneaky and got busted. He seemed genuinely shocked and confused by what happened.
Click to expand...
Just let me have this.

I'm trying to keep the hate fresh.
 

The thing that amazes me is the Iowa fans all look at it as the reason they lost. The fact is, they still had the ball. They had a minute and a half on the clock.

Not even to march down the whole field and get a touchdown. Just to get in field goal range from about mid-field, run the clock a bit and get a game winning kick.
 



IceBoxGopher said:
The thing that amazes me is the Iowa fans all look at it as the reason they lost. The fact is, they still had the ball. They had a minute and a half on the clock.

Not even to march down the whole field and get a touchdown. Just to get in field goal range from about mid-field, run the clock a bit and get a game winning kick.
Click to expand...
Yeah but you forget that Iowa....especially that Iowa only really had two of the three phases available. So when their Special teams or D failed to score for them the game was essentially over. :)
 

BleedGopher said:
Per Greder:

The Gophers’ head coach has come across Iowa Hawkeyes fans donning “It wasn’t a fair catch” shirts and can’t help but approach them. One such scene came on a recent trip he and wife Heather made to Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store in Jordan.

“Hey, I like your shirt,” Fleck will say to the fan. “That was actually a correct call.”

www.twincities.com

Gophers football: P.J. Fleck corrects Iowa fans over fair catch kerfuffle

UMN coach likes to correct Iowa fans wearing T-shirts that read, ‘It wasn’t a fair catch,’ a reference to the U’s 2023 victory in Iowa City.
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
Personally, I like the "Punting is Winning" t-shirts better.
 

100% was the correct call.

However, if the teams were reversed and it was called on the Gophers costing us the game, we would still be bitching about it too lol.
 




MNVCGUY said:
Ferentz definitely has a smug look on his face but I don't think it is for the reason you think it is. The smug look is because he believed Iowa was going to escape with another win they probably didn't deserve.

I don't believe they were trying to pull a fast one on the punt return I just think DeJean messed up with his arm movements. He wouldn't have reacted the way he did and for as long as he did if they were trying to do something sneaky and got busted. He seemed genuinely shocked and confused by what happened.
Click to expand...

I don't buy that it was unintentional one iota. Nobody runs like Dejean was running....much less an elite athlete. They knew that they couldn't move the ball on offense and tried to sneak that illegal fair catch through.
 

Kirk mentioned after that game that they always discuss fair catch procedure before kickoff. He 100% knew what he was doing.
 


Unregistered User said:
And to me, the worst part of the whole thing is Ferret-Face Kirk.

Just look at this smug prick (not the screen shot, when it is played, it should start on FFK), he knows he coached his players to do this, and he thinks he got away with it:

Click to expand...
Damn I miss these Gopher unis from this and most of their big away games of the era.

Chrome Goldy + White + Maroon was such a great look
 

MNVCGUY said:
I don't believe they were trying to pull a fast one on the punt return I just think DeJean messed up with his arm movements. He wouldn't have reacted the way he did and for as long as he did if they were trying to do something sneaky and got busted. He seemed genuinely shocked and confused by what happened.
Click to expand...
I disagree. It was 100% on purpose. He's a good actor.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
100% was the correct call.

However, if the teams were reversed and it was called on the Gophers costing us the game, we would still be bitching about it too lol.
Click to expand...
It surely was the correct call as you point out. I'm not so sure we'd be complaining about the refs though. There is ample material for calling out the refs for the many jobbings we have received over the years. But in this instance... I'd likely be really annoyed with our return guy and dismayed with our special teams coaches for allowing that to happen.
 

Crosby said:
It surely was the correct call as you point out. I'm not so sure we'd be complaining about the refs though. There is ample material for calling out the refs for the many jobbings we have received over the years. But in this instance... I'd likely be really annoyed with our return guy and dismayed with our special teams coaches for allowing that to happen.
Click to expand...
If this happened to us we'd be rightfully dismayed at our offensive ineptitude that we couldn't pick up just one first down and kick the game winning FG.
 


Schnauzer said:
since we are coming up on that time where we all remember the invalid fair catch signal, I have posted about it on three or so different gopherhole discussions. I might as well comment on it here too, in duplicate.

By my estimation, about 70% or more of Iowa fans (and 25% of MN fans) to this day literally do not know WHAT WAS CALLED, let alone the FACT the play was called correctly. You can see their wheels turning when you explain the difference between a fair catch call and an invalid fair catch call.

At that point, they go through the same list of pivots:

1. If it was an invalid fair catch, why were the Gophers still trying to tackle the returner? (lots of reversals happen after a play wasn't properly blown dead. Nobody stops until a whistle is blown)
2. It's not reviewable! (it is, even if the original review was for something else)
3. The refs weren't even looking for that!
4. he was just directing his guys! (which literally is an admission it was an invalid fair catch signal)

And when all the pivots are shot down, they are left with their final re-direct.

4. Well, that was BS because that call is NEVER made!

At that point you bring up the same call had been made AGAINST the Gophers a few weeks earlier and it also was made again in last year's college football playoff.

At that point they mutter something about "BS" and discontinue the conversation.

Sadly, if the refs had seen the invalid fair catch signal real time and had properly blown the play dead on the spot, we never would have had to go through all the Iowa fan confusion and butt hurt-ness. But the right call was made after seeing the very clear invalid signal upon review, even if the review was for something else.
Click to expand...
True fans vs "Observers"
 

The invalid fair catch signal with the left arm was more blatant that I remembered. No argument against that call.

How did 8 Gophers miss that tackle in close quarters near the sideline? That would have been a horrible way to lose to our pig farming hick friends to the south. Again.
 

If DeJean hadn’t made any hand motions he would have been lit up like Christmas tree :01 second later.
 

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