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.
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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