Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck took questions this week ahead his team’s trip to Indiana.
Fleck played wide receiver at Northern Illinois under the guidance of head coach Joe Novak, who was the defensive coordinator at IU for a decade under Bill Mallory. He was with the San Francisco 49ers for two seasons before starting his college coaching journey in 2006.
Below are Fleck’s answers to questions related to Indiana.
No. 4 Indiana (7-1) and Minnesota (5-2) kick at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington (CBS).
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On IU wide receivers Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker through Fleck’s eyes as former receiver and receiver coach.
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.
On the challenge of facing Indiana’s defense.
I think the question is what don’t they do, because they create an issue at every level. Their D-line is ranked the number one D-line in the country, and I would back that up. This is going to be the third elite front defensive line we have faced out of the top five. We were talking about Michigan, Iowa, and then you throw them in the mix. They are really stout, really big, and really athletic. They roll a lot of guys, and they all look that way. Their defensive ends are really big, too.
When you look at the linebackers, they are very fundamentally sound. They all remind me of having eight Mavericks. They are all smart, very instinctual, and understand the game. 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.
Their back end is locked down. They do a tremendous job in what they do, swarm to the ball, and get a lot of takeaways. They are physical and violent. They disrupt everything. They have played a lot of really good offenses and shut them down because they are so disruptive. 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 is below, via Minnesota Athletics:
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