WEEK FIVE ROUNDUP
Oct. 4, 2017
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Each week we will be gathering the top notes from the previous Saturday and Tuesday’s press conference. Take a look below:
Gophers To Honor Joe Tiller
This Saturday the Gophers will be the first team to play Purdue since the passing of Big Ten coaching legend Joe Tiller. Tiller amassed an 87-62 record during his tenure with the Boilermakers, which lasted from 1997 to 2008.
“He's one of the best coaches in Big Ten history but not only one of the best coaches, one of the best people,” Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said. “He changed Purdue football forever and set up one of the best tenures of any coach that ever coached at Purdue and ever in the Big Ten.”
Fleck is all about serving and giving and during Tuesday’s press conference made it clear that Minnesota was going to support Purdue and honor Tiller.
“What we need to do as a Big Ten institution is to support him and his family,” Fleck said. “We support everything they are about in terms of the Joe Tiller era and what he stood for, and so we will wear a logo that we've designed.”
Heartbeat of the Defense
Through four games the heartbeat of the Gophers defense has clearly been Jon Celestin. The senior leads the team in tackles with 35 including 27 solo which ranks fifth in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten.
Celestin recorded six tackles including 1.5 for a loss of three yards against Buffalo. He followed it up with a team leading 10 tackles including one for a loss of five yards and a fumble recovery against Oregon State. Celestin was all over the field against Maryland recording a career high 15 tackles (most since Damien Wilson had 15 against Northwestern in 2014). Last season he recorded 80 tackles (second most on the team), seven tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and four pass breakups.
Tight Ends Producing
Nate Wozniak and Brandon Lingen have seen an increased role in the passing attack and will be counted on even more in the weeks to come with injuries in the receiving core. They have combined for seven starts this season. Lingen (24 yards) and Wozniak (23 yards) had the first two catches for Minnesota against Maryland. Lingen later caught his fourth career touchdown pass, but his first since Nov. 14, 2015, at Iowa. Wozniak has five receptions for 86 yards including a career long 50-yard catch this season. Lingen has five receptions for 55 yards and one touchdown.
“We have to continue to get them involved,” Fleck said. “I thought Lingen had his best game. Maybe -- I haven't been here to talk about his career or not, what he's done in his career, but I thought he played like he should be playing.”
Geese?
All year the Gophers team meeting room has been decorated with decoy geese but this Tuesday was the first time Fleck has been asked by the media about them.
“Geese fly in a V and we're talking about developing leadership. There is a lot of people here that don't have experience that are expected to lead and they've never done that, let alone lead a Div. I football program in the Big Ten,” Fleck explained. “So the goose at the front of the V, that's the one that has to work the hardest. The geese to the sides are the ones that draft them. The loudest geese are the ones in the back because they're encouraging everybody else to continue to fly. If one goose happens to leave the flock, there is another goose that leaves with them. There's no man or no goose left behind, and so we talk about how we're going to take turns at the front leading this football team.”
http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/100417aag.html
Oct. 4, 2017
Buy Tickets//2017 Schedule//Sign Up For Daily Email!
Each week we will be gathering the top notes from the previous Saturday and Tuesday’s press conference. Take a look below:
Gophers To Honor Joe Tiller
This Saturday the Gophers will be the first team to play Purdue since the passing of Big Ten coaching legend Joe Tiller. Tiller amassed an 87-62 record during his tenure with the Boilermakers, which lasted from 1997 to 2008.
“He's one of the best coaches in Big Ten history but not only one of the best coaches, one of the best people,” Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said. “He changed Purdue football forever and set up one of the best tenures of any coach that ever coached at Purdue and ever in the Big Ten.”
Fleck is all about serving and giving and during Tuesday’s press conference made it clear that Minnesota was going to support Purdue and honor Tiller.
“What we need to do as a Big Ten institution is to support him and his family,” Fleck said. “We support everything they are about in terms of the Joe Tiller era and what he stood for, and so we will wear a logo that we've designed.”
Heartbeat of the Defense
Through four games the heartbeat of the Gophers defense has clearly been Jon Celestin. The senior leads the team in tackles with 35 including 27 solo which ranks fifth in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten.
Celestin recorded six tackles including 1.5 for a loss of three yards against Buffalo. He followed it up with a team leading 10 tackles including one for a loss of five yards and a fumble recovery against Oregon State. Celestin was all over the field against Maryland recording a career high 15 tackles (most since Damien Wilson had 15 against Northwestern in 2014). Last season he recorded 80 tackles (second most on the team), seven tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and four pass breakups.
Tight Ends Producing
Nate Wozniak and Brandon Lingen have seen an increased role in the passing attack and will be counted on even more in the weeks to come with injuries in the receiving core. They have combined for seven starts this season. Lingen (24 yards) and Wozniak (23 yards) had the first two catches for Minnesota against Maryland. Lingen later caught his fourth career touchdown pass, but his first since Nov. 14, 2015, at Iowa. Wozniak has five receptions for 86 yards including a career long 50-yard catch this season. Lingen has five receptions for 55 yards and one touchdown.
“We have to continue to get them involved,” Fleck said. “I thought Lingen had his best game. Maybe -- I haven't been here to talk about his career or not, what he's done in his career, but I thought he played like he should be playing.”
Geese?
All year the Gophers team meeting room has been decorated with decoy geese but this Tuesday was the first time Fleck has been asked by the media about them.
“Geese fly in a V and we're talking about developing leadership. There is a lot of people here that don't have experience that are expected to lead and they've never done that, let alone lead a Div. I football program in the Big Ten,” Fleck explained. “So the goose at the front of the V, that's the one that has to work the hardest. The geese to the sides are the ones that draft them. The loudest geese are the ones in the back because they're encouraging everybody else to continue to fly. If one goose happens to leave the flock, there is another goose that leaves with them. There's no man or no goose left behind, and so we talk about how we're going to take turns at the front leading this football team.”
http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/100417aag.html
