P.J. FLECK – Page 4 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Perich Teases at Becoming a Generational Talent for Gophers

Posted on October 13, 2024October 13, 2024 by David Shama

Seven games into his University of Minnesota football career, true freshman Koi Perich looks like he will become a generational football player in Dinkytown. He has set a standard for impacting games as a safety and punt returner that teases at a golden legacy he will leave behind at the U.

There he was in the Rose Bowl last night ending the game by intercepting a pass near his end zone as the Golden Gophers held off UCLA for a 21-17 victory. It was the second week in a row for such heroics, having ended the USC game with an end zone interception as Minnesota upset the No. 11 ranked Trojans in Minneapolis.

Perich had two interceptions last night. The first one was a turning point in the game after he intercepted UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers in the third quarter. It was a show-stopper pick with Perich laying out his body to catch the ball inside the UCLA 40-yard line. The Gophers, trailing 10-7, took advantage of the turnover and put together a short drive to go up 14-10 in the game.

Koi Perich photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

The Esko, Minnesota native is an instinctual player with superb athleticism. He is perhaps the most gifted player to come out of the state and play for the Gophers since Rochester running back Darrell Thompson set school records in Dinkytown more than 30 years ago. Perich’s talent can be mentioned in the same breath with two of Fleck’s most prominent players since 2017—wide receiver Rashod Bateman and safety Antoine Winfield Jr.

Perich, who played sparingly early in the season, has won the punt and kickoff jobs, and is a regular presence at safety. He was chosen the National Freshman of the Week (Shaun Alexander Award) following the USC game. He had six tackles, a forced fumble and an interception in the game.

The week before, at Michigan, Perich burst on the college football radar with a team leading 108 all-purpose yards, 82 on punt returns and 26 on kickoff returns. One of those punt returns was for 60 yards and that set up a second half score in Minnesota’s bid for an upset win. Perich had teased his punt return talent with a 28-yard return against Rhode Island before the Gophers started Big Ten play.

Perich has become a target for opposing players when he is trying to return punts—and not always in a high character way. In the USC game a Trojan tackler picked up the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Perich and body slammed him to the ground in WWE style. That was an infraction and so, too, was last night’s incident when a UCLA tackler was penalized for targeting Perich.

So far nothing seems to rattle the precocious Perich who appears to take the good and bad in stride—with rock solid confidence and either a fiery expression or smile on his face. Among the moments that have made him beam was the crowd storming of fans at Huntington Bank Stadium after the Gophers stunned the Trojans.

“That was awesome,” Perich said a week ago. “There was a part where I was in the middle and I don’t know who lifted me up, but I could just see everybody on the field at the same time. That was one of the coolest moments of my life.”

Perich, who has already endeared himself to countless Gopher fans and sent them shopping for his merchandise (https://athletesthread.com/collections/koi-perich), didn’t arrive on campus until June. His learning curve has been fast and his production proved why most every college football program in the country wanted him.

Perich, though, was loyal to Minnesota. He believed in head coach P.J. Fleck who has sent not only Winfield to the NFL, but also 2023 All-American safety Tyler Nubin. “I trusted him for what he has done,” Perich said.

It also didn’t take long for Fleck to believe in his teenage star. “He’s a great football player and he’s just scratching the surface,” Fleck said recently. “He really is special in the way that he approaches the game.

“I’ve always said what I love about Antoine Winfield Jr. is there was always a smile on his face. What I love about Tyler Nubin is there was always a smile on his face.

“There is always a smile on this kid’s face. Not only there’s a smile on his face, there’s always hope in his eyes.

“And he’s the hope. He’s the solution. He’s the confidence. He’s the reason like that’s always in his eyes and it doesn’t matter what he’s doing.”

Along with Perich’s talent and confidence comes a ferocious will to win. “You want to go play him in pickleball, good luck… .He’s one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met, but you saw that. And that’s why everybody in the country wanted them (him).”

The Gophers are 4-3 on the season and 2-2 in Big Ten games. They have too often been mediocre, including on offense but guess who might—sooner or later—take some snaps on that side of the ball? Yup, the playmaker from up north. With Perich, opponents don’t know what’s coming next.

Wild’s Owner Talks Schedule, Expectations, Kaprizov

The Wild plays at Winnipeg tonight as part of an October schedule that has Minnesota on the road for the remainder of October. The Wild opened the regular season with home games last Thursday (3-2 win over the Blue Jackets) and Saturday (5-4 shootout loss to the Kraken).

In a recent interview with Sports Headliners Wild owner Craig Leipold said he takes his input from the players and coaches and that they are embracing the schedule that has them on the road for seven games this month. “…Let the players bond together and spend more time together, and feel like they’re a team, is really an advantage that we think we have,” Leipold said.

Here is a brief Q & A from an in-person conversation with Leipold who has owned the franchise since 2008.

What are you most excited about as the season starts up?

“I want to get the bad taste of last season out of my mouth. I don’t want to think about the problems our team had last year (including missing the playoffs). Our team is better than that. I am anxious to see the team back on the ice. I am very excited about the way that they’ve been practicing in preseason.”

NHL media authorities are unsure if the Wild can make the playoffs.

“I think that’s fine. I think that’s probably accurate right now. I say we are a playoff team. I get my read a lot from (GM) Billy (Guerin). Billy agrees this team is a playoff team. We should be in the playoffs. We expect to be in the playoffs and if we’re not we’ll be very disappointed.”

What are the strengths of this team?

“Everything kind of builds around (forward) Kirill Kaprizov. He is a special player. I think our first line is going to be really strong.

“We have practiced the penalty kill very hard. Our power play was in the top 10 last year. I think we’re going to be better this year. Preseason, our first line power and second line power play did fantastic.

“But we all know that’s preseason. I like our team. I think we’re going to be a grindier team, made of grinders, and I think we lacked a little bit of that last season.”

Kaprizov has two more years remaining on his contract and there is already speculation about his long term NHL home. The Wild will retain him, right?

“Ultimately that’s going to be Kirill’s decision, but we think we’re going to have a very compelling case. First of all, we own his rights for two years. We’re excited about that. He’s excited about being here.

“You know, I guess it is the down side of having a marquee player like this is that it gets people talking a lot about, what if you lose him?

“Well, we haven’t been thinking about that except for the fact that we’re not going to lose him. We’re going to make sure that this is where he wants to be. He will see that this is a team he can win (with) here, in this market. And as I’ve stated before, nobody is going to outspend us when it comes to Kirill.”

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Seven Takeaways about Struggling Gopher Football Program

Posted on September 22, 2024September 22, 2024 by David Shama

Minnesota, a 2.5 points underdog to Iowa, collapsed in the second half against Iowa last night. Here are seven takeaways about the game and the program.

1. Minnesota’s 31-14 loss to Iowa was a thud with Gophers fans and unleashed critics of the program now in its eighth year under head coach P.J. Fleck. Sellout crowds at Huntington Bank Stadium don’t happen every game but twice now in less than 30 days Fleck’s team has disappointed the fanbase. Last night’s atmosphere before an over capacity announced stadium crowd of 52,048 was electric.

Just like the North Carolina game on August 31, the Gophers couldn’t hold on to a 14-7 halftime lead. Only last night’s second half was much worse than the 19-17 loss to a North Carolina team that James Madison defeated 70-50 yesterday! The Gophers missed a significant marketing boost for their program in the rivalry game loss to the Hawkeyes.

2. Tackling continues to be a major issue for Minnesota. The Gophers missed 22 tackles in the North Carolina game and Iowa ran at will against the Minnesota defense in the second half. The Hawkeyes put up three scores on their first three drives in the third quarter including 15 and 40-yard touchdown runs by running back Kaleb Johnson.

Iowa’s offensive line manhandled the Gophers with their zone blocking. Beyond the line of scrimmage, Gopher defenders took the wrong angles or were out of position to make tackles. It was evident Minnesota missed injured defensive backs Justin Walley and Aidan Gousby.

3. It was Iowa, not unexpectedly, that made the successful halftime adjustments last night. The Hawkeyes not only figured out how to move the ball and score but defensively found an answer to Minnesota’s passing game that produced two second quarter touchdowns.

The Iowa defense turned up the pressure in the second half on Minnesota quarterback Max Brosmer and covered his receivers. When the game was being decided in the third quarter, Brosmer completed one pass for six yards. The fourth quarter he was four of five for 38 yards.

4. Fleck’s program, long built on a high production run game, has lost its mojo. The Gophers ran for 79 net yards against North Carolina. Last night they totaled 79 net yards again.

Darius Taylor photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

The blocking by the offensive line on run plays has been disappointing. This is an experienced unit, but it hasn’t jelled. And there has been more of a commitment to a pass-run balance, which sounds great if it works. Part of that strategy is based on limiting Darius Taylor’s run attempts. He’s the team’s only elite running back and the hope is to keep him healthy after he missed seven games last season.

5. The program is trending in the wrong direction. Coming off of a 6-7 record last year, Minnesota is 0-2 so far against its only Power Four opponents in 2024.

Minnesota’s Big Ten record dating back to the end of the 2022 season is 8-11. Fleck is 1-7 against Iowa. The Gopher program has the potential to do better than those kinds of numbers.

6. It’s fair to wonder whether the team’s offensive and defensive coordinators (Greg Harbaugh Jr. and Corey Hetherman) are as capable as their predecessors. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca was on board during two stints when the Gophers had some of their best success. He left for Rutgers in January of 2023.

Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi also earned a lot of praise while he was in charge for several years. He had top 10 national defenses at Minnesota. He left after last season for Michigan State.

7. The schedule looked formidable before the season. Now it appears more imposing.

Minnesota is at Michigan next Saturday and then back home for a October 5 game against another national power, USC. The most winnable game on the schedule could be October 12 on the road at UCLA in the Rose Bowl. If the Gophers aren’t favored in that game, they might not be in the rest of their games: Maryland, Illinois, Rutgers, Penn State and Wisconsin.

Time to surprise the critics and change the program’s trend has to be the mantra now in Dinkytown.

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Koi Perich Adds Intrigue to Minnesota-Iowa Rivalry Game

Posted on September 18, 2024September 18, 2024 by David Shama

The unexpected comes to mind this week as Minnesota and Iowa prepare for their 118^th football game. Why? Because both teams and their fans had no idea last year’s game in Iowa City would end with such drama.

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Iowa’s Cooper DeJean fielded a punt and ran 54 yards for an apparent touchdown to give his No. 24 ranked team a 16-12 lead. However, the go-ahead score was negated after officials determined that before fielding the football, DeJean signaled an illegal fair catch.

Emotions always run high in rivalry games but the replay ruling that wiped the touchdown off the scoreboard took things to a higher level. Iowa fans reportedly threw bottles, cans, and food onto the field. The Minnesota bench was targeted with debris, forcing the players to move out of their sideline area.

The Golden Gophers hung on to their 12-10 lead, winning for the first time in Iowa City since 2000 and taking home the famous rivalry trophy, Floyd of Rosedale. Minnesota’s other four wins this century all came in Minneapolis where Saturday’s game will be played.

The 2023 game was a bitter defeat for the Hawkeyes, including for DeJean who now is in the NFL playing for the Eagles. DeJean is only 21 years old, but he will be remembered as a legendary player for Iowa. He has a charming backstory with origins in Odebolt, Iowa, a small town with less than 1,000 people.

As a high school player, the scholarship offers were modest coming from the likes of North and South Dakota schools. But like a movie character DeJean had a passion for the home-state Hawkeyes and, boy, did he make their fans happy soon after he accepted an Iowa scholarship. It was the only Power Five offer he received.

A superb cornerback and punt returner, he played three seasons at Iowa and the results were the kind of stuff that gets your uniform number retired and name on a short list of program legends. In 2022 he set a school single season record by returning three pass interceptions for touchdowns. He was a unanimous cornerback All-American last season on a who’s who of All-American teams. He was also named Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year and Return Specialist of the Year after dazzling on punt returns including a 70-yard TD against Michigan State—and the score that wasn’t against the Gophers.

On Saturday, the Gophers will introduce Iowa to—just maybe—their own version of Cooper DeJean. Minnesota’s nominee, of course, is prized freshman recruit Koi Perich, a substitute safety for now but already the team’s punt returner.

Perich has that small town background, too, coming from Esko, Minnesota, with a population of about 2,000. Unlike DeJean coming out of high school, the college football world coveted Perich including mighty Ohio State who he turned down at the last minute.

After signing with the Gophers in December, Perich showed what he could do in a high school all-star game in San Antonio. Playing in the All-American Bowl against some of the better prep talent in the country last January, Perich was named MVP. He had an interception, broke up two passes, made a tackle for a loss, and blocked and recovered a punt.

As a high school senior last fall Perich played defense, offense and special teams while leading Esko to a 10-1 record. He accounted for 27 touchdowns, including five on defense, along with three scores on punt returns and one on a kickoff return.

In Perich’s brief career with the Gophers, he’s played special teams and also spot minutes as a defensive back and has an interception. But it’s been as punt returner that he has mostly caused a stir. Replacing regular returner Quentin Redding who is injured and out for the year, Perich already has a 28-yard return. He has returned three punts for an average of 16.67 yards (in 2023 DeJean averaged 11.5 for the season). .

The moxie and athleticism are so evident when Perich is on the field that his presence makes observers watch in anticipation of what he will do. He has inspired confidence in Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck who is quick to point out that Perich, unlike some freshmen who enrolled in January, has only been in the program since June.

Perich has had some catching up to do with all there is to learn in college football, but Fleck said the freshman can handle the process by the “shovels.” Talented, intelligent and confident, Perich has inspired trust in Fleck—something a freshman doesn’t easily earn.

“He’s a heck of a football player,” said Fleck who talks about the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Perich as a player who prompts anticipation that something good is going to happen when he is on the field.

Perhaps like a punt return or interception to beat the hated Hawkeyes on Saturday, or next year, or the year after?

Minnesota, with a 2-1 record, is about a 2.5-point underdog to Iowa, also 2-1. For the Gophers to win they likely will need sophomore running back Darius Taylor’s big play ability.

Taylor, who is one of Minnesota’s top Name, Image and Likeness earners, missed the North Carolina opener because of a hamstring issue. The Gophers probably win that game, a 19-17 loss, if Taylor had played.

Taylor, who averaged 133.2 yards rushing in 2023 (third best in program history), had a hamstring injury that caused him to miss seven games last season. Darrell Thompson, the record setting former Gopher running back and now color analyst on the Gopher Radio Network, acknowledged how hamstring injuries can be re-occurring.

Thompson said hamstring prevention and maintenance are challenging because “you gotta really take care of it and rehab it and never forget about it.” He added: “…It’s a big delicate muscle, especially when you’re a running back, receiver, defensive back, where you gotta…(track) the problem like all the time.”

Thompson told Sports Headliners fingers are crossed regarding Taylor. “Absolutely. We need him. He’s a very integral part of the offense. He’s the straw that stirs the drink, so we need him to be in one piece.”

Thompson believes Taylor’s production can go to a new level this fall for a couple of reasons. His workload will be shared with other backs, mostly Oklahoma transfer Marcus Major. Odds are that a “pitch count” can reduce his vulnerability to injury.

Another positive is it looks like Taylor will be targeted more as a pass receiver. In two games he already has nine receptions after a total of 11 in six games last year.

Fleck, of course, knows what he’s got in Taylor who had a 80-yard touchdown run last Saturday in Minnesota’s win over Nevada. “I think he’s one of the best players on this football team, and maybe in the country. …He’s really important to our team, not only on the field, but off the field. The type of person he is, the leader he is. How he’s developing as a man.

“There’s so many things that I love about Darius, but yeah, we missed him (against North Carolina). I mean you can’t sit there and say you don’t miss your best players when they’re not in there. …”

Thompson, BTW, was expected on Monday to start his annual routine of eating bacon each day leading up to the Iowa game. His plan is to “eat as much bacon as possible” during the week, although he confessed there are limits. There was a year when he had nine pieces in one day and he didn’t feel so “great” after gobbling all that down. The news, he said, didn’t go over well with his cardiologist.

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