Gophers insist they're looking beyond Northwestern's 1-8 record

Northwestern, the Gophers' opponent on Saturday, is not having a successful football season when judged by the team's record, which is, well, the standard way of deeming quality throughout sports. The Wildcats are 1-8 and lug an eight-game losing streak with them to Minneapolis.

P.J. Fleck, however, has a different view of Northwestern.

"I told our team, 'You're gonna go play the defending Big Ten West champ,' '' the Gophers coach said. "Yep, that's our mind-set because [the Wildcats have] earned that right.''

In actuality, the Wildcats last won the Big Ten West in 2020, their second division title in three years. Last year, they tied for last in the West at 1-8. Fleck's point, though based in hyperbole, is that Northwestern is much better than its record might indicate.

"When you're looking at the cut-ups and strictly the film, you don't even pay attention to the record,'' Gophers linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin said. "You're gonna say that this is a really good football team, and it is a really good football team.''

Last week, the Wildcats hung tough with No. 2 Ohio State before falling 21-7 in rainy and windy conditions in Evanston, Ill., that slowed the game's pace. On Oct. 1, they lost 17-7 at then-No. 11 Penn State in a heavy downpour. Four of their losses were by eight points or fewer.

If Fleck seems cautious about the Wildcats, it's partly based in his respect for coach Pat Fitzgerald, who has won those two division titles at a school where it's extremely difficult to win, and because Fitzgerald helped a young Fleck with coaching advice when he was starting his career. In addition, the Gophers (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) still are searching for consistency even in November. In last week's 20-13 win at Nebraska, the Gophers trailed 10-0 at halftime after a sluggish start before backup quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis supplied a second-half jolt of energy and the Minnesota defense forced six consecutive three-and-outs.

"We've got to be able to make routine plays,'' Fleck said, pointing to some drive-killing dropped passes. "We're way better when the routine ones are made. When the routine ones aren't made, no matter what team you are, you're going to be behind the chains, you're not going to be an efficient offense. When the routine tackles are not made, you're not going to be a very effective and efficient defense.''

Who'll be under center to make the routine or even spectacular plays likely won't be known until pregame warmups. Kaliakmanis, a redshirt freshman, would be in line to make his first home start if sixth-year senior Tanner Morgan can't play.

Morgan suffered what Fleck termed an upper body injury on the last play of the first half at Nebraska, and that came two weeks after Morgan suffered a concussion on Oct. 15 at Illinois. He missed the following week's game at Penn State. If Morgan was concussed for the second time in three weeks — Fleck hasn't announced a diagnosis — it would seem unlikely he plays.

Coming off a three-game losing streak, Fleck went to his motivational bag of tricks and dubbed the Oct. 29 game against Rutgers as the start of a five-game "Gopher Football Playoff'' to close the season. So far, the Gophers are 2-0 in that mythical playoff, and a win over Northwestern (1-8, 1-5) would have them on a roll entering the trophy games against Iowa on Nov. 19 and Wisconsin on Nov. 26. They're still alive for the Big Ten West Division title, which would require them to win out and Illinois and Purdue to each absorb two more losses.

So far, the Gophers have achieved bowl eligibility with their six wins, which have come against teams with a combined 34-46 record. They're not taking Northwestern for granted, according to safety Tyler Nubin.

"Winning is hard, especially at the college level, especially in our conference,'' he said. "Everybody every single week can come and beat you at any given time.''