Mark Rosen started the show by giving thanks to everyone for the support as his wife underwent surgery for a brain tumor on July 31st. The Gopher football team hand wrote letters of support and sent them to Mark after he found out the news.
Reflecting upon this past week’s game against New Mexico State, Coach felt they needed to start fast since they have a ton of young players. They didn’t start as fast as they wanted, but eventually in the second quarter they started to pick it up. “With young guys, you see them in camp, but you don’t know what you have until you get out there. We aren’t close to where we need to be yet.” Gave credit to the team for not panicking when down 10-7 and kept making plays.
On Zack Annexstad: “He’s a walk-on on paper, not on the field. We believe that he’s going to do well when he is on the field. He and Tanner (Morgan) are both so ahead of their time.”
Fleck gave credit to Annexstad’s “aura” and quiet presence that instills confidence in his teammates. Nothing bothers him. Baker Mayfield gave him a call before the game as the only other true freshman walk-on to start a game. PJ said he met Baker a few times at different award shows and had some people reach out to him to see if he would call Zack. They said he talked for about 15-20 minutes.
On a run in the second half, Zack came up holding his shoulder a bit. PJ said he couldn’t decide if he wanted to slide or stay upright and went down a bit awkwardly but overall he is fine.
No major injury news from last week’s game. Dan Nichol (the strength coach) and the nutrition staff were given credit for keeping players healthy.
Coach believes the offensive line is right where he thought they would be at this moment. The group started slow but got into a groove in the second quarter. He specifically brought up Jared Weyler and Donnell Greene as two players that had great games.
Blaise Andries from Marshall, MN made his first start against New Mexico State. Last year PJ said he battled every week as to if he should play him or not. He’s thankful he didn’t as now he is still a redshirt freshman. Additionally, he commented that he’s in the same position now with Daniel Fa’alele and Curtis Dunlap.
A user asked why they don’t save the four games of redshirt for Curtis Dunlap or Daniel Fa’alele for the end of the season in case of injury. Fleck responded, “We don’t want their first time being on the field, their first time physically on the field. We want them to have experience and be comfortable so if they go in, they will perform. We wanted to give them their first experience. Everyone is worried about their first catch, block, tackle, etc. now that is all gone.”
Looking forward to Fresno State, some analysts think they may represent a non-Power 5 team in a New Year’s Day bowl. While Coach hasn’t had much opportunity to schedule non-conference opponents going forward yet, that is something he is looking forward to.
PJ compared Fresno State’s quarterback to Russell Wilson in terms of being a thrower first but being able to hurt you on the ground with his feet. They have three good receivers on offense and a deep front seven on defense.
“Up front is where games are won and lost. We have to be able to create pressure.”
Mark Rosen asked what PJ was going to do to keep building his brand going forward. Fleck’s response was to teach players that it is about more than football. It is about building positive steps in every aspect of their lives to make them better people. “We want fans to be proud of not only what we do on the field, but what we do off of it. I want them to be proud of how we do it. I also want our students to be proud of our team and what they are doing.”
At Western Michigan, they lost to Nichols State in PJ’s first season. Fleck remembers telling the AD that one day, students would scalp tickets outside the stadium once they started to win. He also believes that will happen here: “I can’t wait for that time. We are building for that to happen.”
Reflecting upon this past week’s game against New Mexico State, Coach felt they needed to start fast since they have a ton of young players. They didn’t start as fast as they wanted, but eventually in the second quarter they started to pick it up. “With young guys, you see them in camp, but you don’t know what you have until you get out there. We aren’t close to where we need to be yet.” Gave credit to the team for not panicking when down 10-7 and kept making plays.
On Zack Annexstad: “He’s a walk-on on paper, not on the field. We believe that he’s going to do well when he is on the field. He and Tanner (Morgan) are both so ahead of their time.”
Fleck gave credit to Annexstad’s “aura” and quiet presence that instills confidence in his teammates. Nothing bothers him. Baker Mayfield gave him a call before the game as the only other true freshman walk-on to start a game. PJ said he met Baker a few times at different award shows and had some people reach out to him to see if he would call Zack. They said he talked for about 15-20 minutes.
On a run in the second half, Zack came up holding his shoulder a bit. PJ said he couldn’t decide if he wanted to slide or stay upright and went down a bit awkwardly but overall he is fine.
No major injury news from last week’s game. Dan Nichol (the strength coach) and the nutrition staff were given credit for keeping players healthy.
Coach believes the offensive line is right where he thought they would be at this moment. The group started slow but got into a groove in the second quarter. He specifically brought up Jared Weyler and Donnell Greene as two players that had great games.
Blaise Andries from Marshall, MN made his first start against New Mexico State. Last year PJ said he battled every week as to if he should play him or not. He’s thankful he didn’t as now he is still a redshirt freshman. Additionally, he commented that he’s in the same position now with Daniel Fa’alele and Curtis Dunlap.
A user asked why they don’t save the four games of redshirt for Curtis Dunlap or Daniel Fa’alele for the end of the season in case of injury. Fleck responded, “We don’t want their first time being on the field, their first time physically on the field. We want them to have experience and be comfortable so if they go in, they will perform. We wanted to give them their first experience. Everyone is worried about their first catch, block, tackle, etc. now that is all gone.”
Looking forward to Fresno State, some analysts think they may represent a non-Power 5 team in a New Year’s Day bowl. While Coach hasn’t had much opportunity to schedule non-conference opponents going forward yet, that is something he is looking forward to.
PJ compared Fresno State’s quarterback to Russell Wilson in terms of being a thrower first but being able to hurt you on the ground with his feet. They have three good receivers on offense and a deep front seven on defense.
“Up front is where games are won and lost. We have to be able to create pressure.”
Mark Rosen asked what PJ was going to do to keep building his brand going forward. Fleck’s response was to teach players that it is about more than football. It is about building positive steps in every aspect of their lives to make them better people. “We want fans to be proud of not only what we do on the field, but what we do off of it. I want them to be proud of how we do it. I also want our students to be proud of our team and what they are doing.”
At Western Michigan, they lost to Nichols State in PJ’s first season. Fleck remembers telling the AD that one day, students would scalp tickets outside the stadium once they started to win. He also believes that will happen here: “I can’t wait for that time. We are building for that to happen.”
