P.J. Fleck: Gophers must play better or ‘lot of teams are going to beat us’

[BleedGopher]

per Greder:

With the film reviewed and his game ball stowed away, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck issued a warning after the 17-7 win over Buffalo.

“It wasn’t that we were really disappointed, but it was we all know we did not even come close to playing our best football,” Fleck said Monday. “When you can not play your best football and win a game like that, OK. Not that you get away with it, but you are almost say, ‘OK, if we continue to do that, a lot of teams are going to beat us.’ ”

The Gophers (1-0) implemented a vanilla offensive scheme to lighten the load for its inexperienced quarterbacks and a reconfigured offensive line playing together for the first time.

Their thin defensive secondary weathered a predominately aerial attack, and the special teams overcame two startling missed field goals to seal an opener that was in doubt throughout Thursday night.

http://www.twincities.com/2017/09/0...-better-or-lot-of-teams-are-going-to-beat-us/

Go Gophers!!

 

[60's Guy]

Are they working hard? That's a speech for week 5 if they didn't show up on a game day. Not after game one. We need confidence, no doubt. The players are feeling their way, trying to impress the coach, worried about keeping their spot, playing time etc Talk about the good things we did do. There were plenty. Come on PJ...where is the excited to coach these guys notebook? It was game one for the players more than it was game one for PJ....PJ has security...players worry about a lot of stuff if you point em in the wrong direction.

 

[Iceland12]

STILL INCONCLUSIVE

So, is there more upside with Croft because he was the most-effective runner?

“They’re both going to play,” Fleck reiterated. “You could talk about Conor’s (passing) yards, but the interception in the end zone is catastrophic. You can talk about the plays Demry made, but there’s things he didn’t make.

“We’re still at a point where no one’s set themselves apart,” he continued. “When people don’t set themselves apart, it’s hard for me to make that decision. Now eventually, I want to make that decision. And eventually, somebody’s going to force my hand that way. If it’s not clear and it’s close, I’m going to make the decision that’s best for the program.”...

SECONDARY IS PRIMARY

About 65 percent of Buffalo’s offensive plays were passes, with quarterback Tyree Jackson completing 22 of 42 for 211 yards, with a touchdown and interception.

“People are going to attack our secondary,” Fleck predicted.

Buffalo had 66 passing yards on two big plays during their touchdown drive in the first quarter, and the Bulls totaled only 66 passing yards in the second half.

“I thought we did a really good job of holding them to a low yardage in the second half in making adjustments,” Fleck said.

SANTOSO STRONG

While placekicker Emmit Carpenter missed two field goals before making the game-sealing 43-yarder with 2:05 remaining, punter Ryan Santoso had a strong evening. He averaged 44.7 yards, which was above last year’s mark of 40.9, and he had three of six punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

“I thought we did a really nice job of executing punting, punt coverage,” Fleck noted.

 

[diehard]

Do not understand the concern. This is as simple as rowing the boat. Expect the Gophers to break out Saturday!

 

[LakerFan]

Are they working hard? That's a speech for week 5 if they didn't show up on a game day. Not after game one. We need confidence, no doubt. The players are feeling their way, trying to impress the coach, worried about keeping their spot, playing time etc Talk about the good things we did do. There were plenty. Come on PJ...where is the excited to coach these guys notebook? It was game one for the players more than it was game one for PJ....PJ has security...players worry about a lot of stuff if you point em in the wrong direction.

Players go into the locker room that day knowing they underachieved. Coach talks to the team and discusses what went wrong and what needs to go better. In your world he now puts up a fence between US (team and coach) and THEM (media, fans, admin, world) and cherry coats everything he says in a positive light in case if gets back from THEM to US and affects US because we(US) are too weak minded to hear any criticism and still be able to perform. Maybe he speaks plainly about mistakes with THEM because if he says the same things to US and THEM it is consistent and shows he has integrity in what he says, and now when a player does hear a compliment, it actually means something and isn't just noise.

 

[John Galt]

per Greder:

With the film reviewed and his game ball stowed away, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck issued a warning after the 17-7 win over Buffalo.

“It wasn’t that we were really disappointed, but it was we all know we did not even come close to playing our best football,” Fleck said Monday. “When you can not play your best football and win a game like that, OK. Not that you get away with it, but you are almost say, ‘OK, if we continue to do that, a lot of teams are going to beat us.’ ”

The Gophers (1-0) implemented a vanilla offensive scheme to lighten the load for its inexperienced quarterbacks and a reconfigured offensive line playing together for the first time.

Their thin defensive secondary weathered a predominately aerial attack, and the special teams overcame two startling missed field goals to seal an opener that was in doubt throughout Thursday night.

http://www.twincities.com/2017/09/0...-better-or-lot-of-teams-are-going-to-beat-us/

Go Gophers!!

Dare I say it, a "bad win?"

 

[Heracles]

Dare I say it, a "bad win?"

Yep, plenty of outrage over wins like this one with the previous regime. They usually found a way to right the ship enough to have some nice 8 win seasons. I think the rest of the season will really show us what Fleck and staffs' coaching chops are like.

Because this is a common occurrence with this program, I'm not overly worried yet. Pound out a win and I'll feel great. Lose and I won't. Too early to make that call after Buffalo.

 

[hello-world]

Are they working hard? That's a speech for week 5 if they didn't show up on a game day. Not after game one. We need confidence, no doubt. The players are feeling their way, trying to impress the coach, worried about keeping their spot, playing time etc Talk about the good things we did do. There were plenty. Come on PJ...where is the excited to coach these guys notebook? It was game one for the players more than it was game one for PJ....PJ has security...players worry about a lot of stuff if you point em in the wrong direction.

He's trying to win national championships, not contend in the B1G West. Of course he's not happy with a 17-7 win against Buffalo. He probably wouldn't be happy with a 49-0 win against Buffalo. He might be relentlessly positive but he holds himself to a higher standard. He's not going to sugarcoat an ugly win against a bad team.