Gophers coach P.J. Fleck watched the film — gore and all — of his team's come-from-ahead 37-34 overtime loss at Northwestern and assessed what went wrong Monday, especially during the fourth quarter when Minnesota blew a 21-point lead.
Fleck knows that the blame lands on him because he's the coach. His job now is to get his team to apply the lessons learned from Northwestern going forward, which starts with Saturday's game against Louisiana.
The task of regrouping for the homecoming game against the Ragin' Cajuns might have become more difficult.
The status of Gophers running back Darius Taylor, the nation's leader in rushing yards per game, for Saturday's game is uncertain after the true freshman suffered an injury late in the fourth quarter against Northwestern.
Fleck on Monday did not give a specific update on Taylor, saying he'd have an update two hours before game time. That's when Taylor's official status will be known as the Big Ten releases its availability at 9 a.m. before Saturday's 11 a.m. game. Players listed as questionable or out appear on the report.
On a third-and-2 play from the Northwestern 36-yard line, Taylor was tackled for a 1-yard loss by Wildcats linebacker Xander Mueller and grabbed the back of his left leg near the knee. Taylor, who rushed 31 times for 198 yards and two touchdowns Saturday, did not play in overtime, and Fleck said the team's medical staff held him out.
Taylor was named Big Ten freshman of the week for the third consecutive time on Monday. He has rushed 87 times for 532 yards and four touchdowns, stringing together games of 193 yards against Eastern Michigan, 138 at North Carolina and 198 at Northwestern. The Detroit native had a run of 43 yards for a touchdown on a fourth-and-1 play against the Wildcats.
"That's a Big Ten collision in a hole, and he not only won the battle, he finished it,'' Fleck said.
