Michigan held on to beat Minnesota, 27-24, despite a sloppy second half. Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said Wink Martindale‘s defense in the first half was one of the differences.

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The Wolverines smothered the Gophers’ run game, holding back Darius Taylor to 36 yards. Other than a first half Hail Mary that led to 3 points — one that upon review looked incomplete — the Michigan defense dominated the first half on the way to a 21-3 lead.

“[Our goal] was to keep Wink out of what he was doing in the first half. It wasn’t like they stopped playing hard, but Wink does so much,” Fleck praised. “He’s one of the greatest defensive coordinators in the country. NFL, college … you ask anybody in the NFL, there are so many looks and there are so many things you don’t prepare for.

“But we had to get them out of it, and I think you saw that at the end of the first half, we were just doing some things that kind of made them stay in what they were doing, get a little bit more basic. We could see what they were doing a little bit more, put a little more confusion in what they were doing, and we were able to get some points on the board.”

It wasn’t easy, he continued.

“When you give Wink time, see the formation, see the motion, make checks, make another call, confuse you, and you’re working at that one to two pace, he can do it a lot more efficiently,” Fleck said. “When you’re working at that three to four pace, a lot of times they’ll keep the same call. They’ll do a single blitz … they’ll do something that’s a little bit more generic, because if you’re doing it when it’s a little bit higher tempo, it’s hard for all eleven to be on that same page, right?

“That’s the way that is in layman’s terms, the best I can describe it. He’s very good. He’s a really good football coach.”

And at the end, despite the adjustments, they came up just short. An offsides on an onside kick derailed the comeback, but Minnesota thoroughly outplayed Michigan in the second half after U-M took the fight to the Gophers in the first. A blocked punt and a Zeke Berry strip fumble recovery set up two scores.

“They played really hard, played a really good first half in all phases,” Fleck praised of Michigan. “The first half for us, we didn’t play our best football, to say the least. We had a blocked punt, we had a fumble, gave them 14 points in the first half. But again, people are going to say, well, that’s why you lost. You continue to go through the game, it tells its own story.”

As for he onside kick offsides — it was close. But it did appear one of the Golden Gophers’ players touched the ball before it went 10 yards, regardless.

“I didn’t hear anything except he was offsides. I was 10 yards away. I was down where the ball was going to be received, because that’s where I really want to see, because if something happens, can you challenge it? Can you not challenge it? Was it a recovery, was it not? I’ve got to get in the meat of where the ball is going to be. I didn’t see it.

“I haven’t seen the last play, nor does one play win or lose you the game. Everybody’s going to focus on that. I’m not going to sit here and get fined and do all those other things. I have more respect for my boss and the University of Minnesota and the Big Ten to say it … that’s one play, and I haven’t even seen it. But we got it, and it was executed really well.”

Fleck on the Michigan offense

Michigan’s offense, meanwhile, struggled to 241 yards. Still, the ball control forced Minnesota to hurry up a bit in the second half.

“We’re down 21-3, and I think everybody understands that Michigan is going to lean on you and run the football,” Fleck said. “Throwing the football — they threw it 18 total times. They’re going to lean on you and run the football, so the game is going to be pretty short. And [quarterback Alex Orji] is really good. He’s big, he’s thick, he can run, he can throw. What people don’t really see with him is he rides things really well in the run game, and really gives time for the backs to be able to see. They have really good backs, and they can see it and get running forward and get their momentum going forward, come downhill pretty quick. But he rides it pretty good into the line of scrimmage.

“He’s a competitor. He’s hard to bring down. He’s a load, now. I remember looking at him in warm ups, and his ankles are bigger than my thighs. He’s got a really, really thick frame, and he’s got a really low center of gravity, or high center, however you want to say it. He’s got really balanced center of gravity, and he’s hard to bring down. He’s a really big young man. He’s a pretty good player.”

Just good enough to lead a key victory for the Wolverines Saturday.

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