Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck did not waste time getting to the point when asked about Indiana’s wide receivers this week. In his eyes, Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker are not just talented - they are a problem in every phase.
“I don’t know if I can relate much to them as a receiver because they are a lot bigger, stronger, faster, and more athletic than I ever was. I don’t know what that’s like to be like that.
But they are dynamic in their own ways. They can play down the field really big, and they can play really small in tight, confined spaces.
They can make every catch, and they can run every route in the route tree. They threaten you constantly with speed down the field vertically.
They are loose-hipped, and they have great body control and a great center of gravity. They are tremendous in contested catches.
They have all made high-pressure situation catches. They are two of the best in the country on one team.
That is a luxury that they have and that they use. They are very good in the run game, too, which I don’t think they get enough credit for-how hard and how well they block on the perimeter.
That allows all their dynamic backs to come shooting out on the second level and finish runs. They are the defending national champions for a reason and a top-five team in the country for a reason.”
That was only part of Fleck’s assessment ahead of No. 4 Indiana’s matchup with Minnesota on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers are 7-1, the Golden Gophers are 5-2, and kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
Fleck also had plenty to say about Indiana’s defense, and the praise did not stop at the front line. He called the Hoosiers’ defensive line “the number one D-line in the country,” and said he would “back that up.” Minnesota, he noted, has already seen several top-tier fronts, including Michigan and Iowa, and Indiana fits right into that group.
“They are really stout, really big, and really athletic,” Fleck said. “They roll a lot of guys, and they all look that way. Their defensive ends are really big, too.”
At linebacker, Fleck described a unit that wins with smarts and instincts. He said they are “very fundamentally sound” and “all remind me of having eight Mavericks.” He also singled out Jones, a player Minnesota recruited, recalling a story from the recruiting process.
“The Jones kid we recruited, we know him very well. Not to get graphic, but I remember when we were recruiting him, his dad sent me a photo of him taking a bite out of the heart of his first deer.
That guy is tough, and you can see that toughness spread throughout the entire team. He plays everywhere and does everything.”
Fleck saved some of his strongest words for Indiana’s secondary, which he said is “locked down.” He said the Hoosiers “do a tremendous job in what they do, swarm to the ball, and get a lot of takeaways,” and added that they are “physical and violent” and “disrupt everything.”
“They have played a lot of really good offenses and shut them down because they are so disruptive,” Fleck said. “We have a massive challenge ahead of us.
We have played some of the best defenses in the entire country, and that will continue to be true as we keep moving forward. It is just a great challenge as we continue to challenge ourselves to be better.”
Fleck’s full Monday press conference was available via Minnesota Athletics.
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