STrib: Gophers reflective after win that was hard but not necessarily good

[BleedGopher]

per Megan:

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck learned an important lesson about football a long time ago.

“A win’s a win,” he said. “There’s hard wins. There are no bad wins.”

That’s the message he relayed to his team Thursday after the Gophers outlasted South Dakota State 28-21 at TCF Bank Stadium in the season opener. And, well, he has a point. A shaky performance might have tempered some fans’ wild expectations for this season. But ultimately, the Gophers are 1-0 with dreams intact.

South Dakota State, though, probably wishes the reverse was true, as this loss likely feels pretty bad to the Jackrabbits.

“We were tested, and our players passed the test,” Fleck said. “And whether we won by 40 or 20 or seven, we won. Now, are there a lot of things we have to get better at? Yes.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...-was-hard-but-not-necessarily-good/558883832/

Go Gophers!!

 

[WAGopher]

PJ was none too pleased with the Gopher's performance as exemplified by his failure to close his on field interview with his usual "Row the Boat, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers" chant.

 

[RememberMurray]

PJ was none too pleased with the Gopher's performance as exemplified by his failure to close his on field interview with his usual "Row the Boat, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers" chant.

Yep. There's no way Fleck can be pleased with the way his team performed. And I doubt that he is. You could see it in his face.

Which is good; I predict he'll have them more than ready for Fresno State.

And as for Megan: I'm one of the fans with "wild" expectations. "Wild" in this case meaning I expect this team to contend for the B1G West title. It is, after all, Year 3.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

There’s what he says in public vs what he says behind closed doors. I know PJ can scream and I’d bet there is some butt kicking and motivating going on behind closed doors about mental focus.

Meyer had a good comment at halftime about gauging a team and what kind of motivation is appropriate - a fragile team needs more measured instruction and coaching, while an overconfident veteran team needs “motivation” (which he and his staff’s are good at delivering).