After losing to Michigan on Sept. 28, the Gophers football team was 2-3, having won only three of its previous 10 games, with one of those victories a surprisingly close affair against Bowling Green in a minor bowl.
P.J. Fleck was in danger of posting losing records in consecutive seasons for the first time in his head coaching career. The Gophers hadn’t posted consecutive losing seasons since Jerry Kill’s first two years running the program, in 2011 and ’12, when Kill was busy aiming an industrial-strength fire extinguisher at the flaming garbage he inherited from Tim Brewster.
Fleck’s program was facing a crisis, in fact and perception.
Since halftime of that loss at Michigan, the Gophers have surged. They mounted a dramatic comeback that fell just short against the Wolverines, then won four in a row — a home upset of 11th-ranked Southern California, a victory at UCLA, a blowout of Maryland and a victory at No. 23 Illinois.
What looked like a potential collapse has turned into one of Fleck’s best seasons, entering Saturday’s game at Rutgers.
Here are the three perpetual challenges that Fleck has met while making the Gophers relevant again:
1. Retain in-state talent
Fleck isn’t going to keep all of Minnesota’s best high school players in state, but his ability to land safety and return man Koi Perich is one of the major reasons this season has become a success.
Perich is spectacular. He could play for any program in the country. He might turn out to be the best Gophers player in a generation — which would be a major accomplishment, given the number of Gophers who have excelled in college and the pros, including the Vikings’ Blake Cashman and the Buccaneers’ Antione Winfield Jr.