The Michigan Wolverines are looking to avenge their loss to Iowa last week as they face the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis on Saturday. As we head into the matchup, let’s catch up on the latest from the players, coaches and media heading into Saturday’s contest.
Pate’s Take: Michigan lacks “killer instinct”
Coming off the loss to the Hawkeyes, Josh Pate didn’t have the kindest of things to say about the demeanor of the Wolverines. “I know what I saw,” he said. “I just don’t know how to explain it. (Iowa) just found a way.
“Iowa couldn’t
even run the ball. Hank Brown just ended up being good enough. It used to take Iowa a month to throw the football 35 times. That throw at the end is the stuff of legend. And they returned a kick for a touchdown.
“This game keeps you up not one night, but several nights if you are Michigan, because you are 2-of-4 in the red zone for 10 points. You have eight penalties for 75 yards. But more so than that, they had several chances for a kill shot here. And there was just no killer instinct. That’s getting lazy. you’re up big against a lethargic opponent, and you think, ‘it’s ok, we got it in the bag.’ You can’t think that way. You can’t collectively operate that way.”
From the booth: Joel Klatt says Minnesota reminds him of Iowa
FOX has the broadcast for today’s game, and Joel Klatt likens the Golden Gophers to the Hawkeyes.
“They remind me of Iowa in a lot of ways,” Klatt said on Big Ten Network this week. “They’re gonna be sound. They’re going to play their butt off, and they typically don’t beat themselves.”
Klatt continued to highlight the seven sacks the Gophers’ defense had against Washington last week and the ability for that defense to force turnovers.
“3-1 is probably where (Michigan) should be, it just feels a lot different because their offense against Western Michigan was bad…everyone played poorly. (But) their offensive performance against Iowa was actually quite good, and something to build on,” he said.
Portnoy’s perspective: Michigan can beat anyone
If you’re looking for the optimists’ take on Michigan, you don’t have to go further than Barstool’s Dave Portnoy. He is as confident as ever in the Wolverines because they should have beaten Iowa, according to him. The alum broke down the remaining schedule and pointed out wins he sees, including this one at Minnesota, saying the Wolverines can afford one more loss with their strength of schedule to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Behind enemy lines: Fleck comments on bloodthirsty finish against Huskies
Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck is a madman. After pulling off an upset over the Huskies last week, a clip was shown of him taking blood off the face of one of his own players and wiping it on himself. It was…something.
“The theme of the week was being frontiersmen: be the Daniel Boones, Davy Crocketts and Lewis and Clarks,” Fleck said. “Head out west and be explorers. Davy Crockett killed 105 bears. I’m sure he got a little blood on his face. It was one of those moments that I look back at my wife and she says, ‘What did you just do?’”
If you haven’t seen the clip, I personally think it is disgusting and psychotic. But at the same time, that’s exactly the mentality I’d want to see from my head football coach coming off a big win like that.
Pregame Palooza: Matt Leinart calls Michigan “very beatable”
Big Noon Kickoff is in Minneapolis for the game. Notoriously, former USC quarterback and FOX college football analyst Matt Leinart has never been the biggest fan of the Wolverines. However, he praised the Gophers and called his shot — Minnesota is going to upset Michigan.
“Michigan is a good football team, but they’re beatable,” Leinart said to MinnesotaSportFan.com. “This is a game where I think Minnesota can win. That’s a program-defining win. Especially this season…these are the ones that can really get you to the top and give you confidence moving forward. I think they can win tomorrow; spoiler alert: I’m going to pick them to win. I think (Minnesota is) going to win.”
So across the board tomorrow, expect to see a bunch of M’s heading into the game, but not all of them to be colored maize and blue.
