Many Gophers fans had already headed for the exits by the time Minnesota reached the final stretch against UCLA on Saturday night at Huntington Bank Stadium. The announced crowd was 43,841, and after quarterback Drake Lindsey threw an interception with the Gophers trailing 31-20 and seven minutes left, plenty of people decided they’d seen enough.
Those who stayed got a louder ending than they expected.
With 2 minutes and 42 seconds remaining, and Minnesota facing fourth-and-7 from its own 28-yard line while still down 14, P.J. Fleck sent out the punt team. The decision drew boos and heckling that could be heard through the glass of the U’s enclosed press box, and the Gophers never got the ball back in their 34-20 loss.
Afterward, Fleck explained exactly why he chose to kick it away.
“We’re down 14 points, still got (two) timeouts,” Fleck said. “If we don’t get that fourth down, they’re going to score another touchdown, and there’s no way we get a chance.
… Punt it, use timeouts before the two-minute warning, get the ball back, and give it another shot with downs. It’s exactly why I did it.”
He was asked whether there was enough time left for that plan to work.
“Absolutely, because you still have the two-minute warning plus two timeouts,” he said. “You stop (them) on runs, stop on third down, punt, they get the ball with two minutes to go. Either way … if you don’t get (the first down) there, then it’s a three-touchdown game and then there’s no chance.
“You give everything you possibly can to give yourself the best chance. And I felt at that point with (fourth-and-7), what we just did the first two plays of it, or the first three plays of it, that’s exactly why we did it.”
The possession that led to the punt started with a 3-yard completion from Lindsey to Darius Taylor, then ended with two incompletions.
Once Minnesota punted, UCLA running back Wayne Knight picked up 15 yards and forced a timeout from the U. After another 6-yard Knight run, Minnesota burned its final timeout. Knight finished with 109 rushing yards on 6.1 yards per carry and scored a touchdown.
From there, UCLA was able to run out the clock in victory formation after getting a first down.
Fleck has previously said his approach is not to “chase points” until the fourth quarter, but he said that philosophy had nothing to do with this call.
“It has nothing to do with that scenario,” Fleck said. “Not one thought process ever came through my mind on whether we chase points, don’t chase points.”
The late-game debate came after Minnesota’s pass defense had already put the Gophers in a deep hole. UCLA scored on two 75-yard touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to build the 14-point lead. Bruins backup quarterback Ty Dieffenbach threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns, while Aidan Mizell accounted for only those two scoring catches and finished with 150 receiving yards.
The punt decision quickly became a flashpoint online as well.
“You lose the game with pride!” former Gophers cornerback Coney Durr wrote on X.
“Go down fighting!! I’m more (ticked) about that 4th down punt than any part of that game.”
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