When Gophers coach P.J. Fleck reviewed his team's 30-0 victory at Colorado on Saturday, he noted the successes and pointed out areas that needed to improve. The latter category included the coach himself.
Gophers coach P.J. Fleck takes blame for clock mixup at Colorado
Fleck said he should have double- and triple-checked the situation after his team missed out on a field-goal attempt late in the first half of a 30-0 win at Colorado.
September 20, 2021 at 9:43PM
Late in the second quarter at Folsom Field and with the Gophers leading the Buffaloes 13-0, Minnesota took over at the Colorado 49 with 1:05 to play after Thomas Rush's fourth-down sack of Brendon Lewis. The Gophers moved to the Buffaloes 32 and had 26 seconds left.
On a second-and-10 play, Tanner Morgan hit Daniel Jackson for a 15-yard gain to the 17, but Gophers linemen Sam Schlueter and Conner Olson were penalized as ineligible men downfield. The play ended with 19 seconds left in the half, and the Gophers were backed up to their 37.
Fleck, with one timeout remaining, said he was told by an official from the Pac-12 crew that the clock would restart at the snap of the ball, but the clock restarted on the referee's signal. Morgan went through his pre-snap progressions and got the ball off just before the time expired, but the 9-yard run by Trey Potts ended the half.
"I'm going based on what I was told, simple as that,'' Fleck said Monday. "I had a timeout. If I was told that the clock would've continued to go, I would've called a timeout. I would've just gone up and we would've run hurry-up, ran the ball, called timeout and kicked the field goal. Going based on what I said, that's why I didn't call a timeout. I thought that was a mistake.''
Fleck, thouhh, took the blame for a missed opportunity for a field-goal attempt.
"I've got to double- and triple-check that, simple as that,'' he said. "Officials do a really good job usually communicating with me over and over and over about those situations. It falls on me; I should've double- and triple-checked. I kind of took that for granted a little bit, but I told the players that was my fault.''
Etc.
• Guard Curtis Dunlap Jr., who left Saturday's game because of a leg injury suffered early in the fourth quarter, should be ready to play against Bowling Green, Fleck said.
• The Gophers' next two games will be 11 a.m. starts. The bomecoming matchup on Saturday against Bowling Green at Huntington Bank Stadium will be broadcast on ESPNU. Minnesota's Oct. 2 game at Purdue will air on BTN.
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