Souhan: The Gophers were spiraling, and now this is one of P.J. Fleck’s best seasons

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:

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.

Perich has played in six college games as a true freshman. He has five interceptions, and two of them were near the goal line in the waning seconds of a close victory.

He has forced a fumble and become the Gophers’ most explosive return man in memory.

If Fleck hadn’t landed Perich, he could very well be 3-6 this season, having won only four of his last 13 games, and all of those requests for raises could be viewed in a different light by school administrators.

As a former NFL receiver who coached at a smaller school and positioned himself as the arch enemy of silence, Fleck could have been mistaken, at the beginning of his Gophers tenure, as the next Jim Wacker.

Instead, he’s been much more like Glen Mason — capable of recruiting underappreciated running backs and offensive linemen, and intent on relying on his running game.

His weakness has been finding and developing quarterbacks.

He found a winner in Max Brosmer.

Brosmer looked skittish in the season-opening loss to North Carolina but has progressed dramatically.

It’s hard to develop a player during the season. The Gophers’ coaches have helped Brosmer become a game winner instead of a game manager.

Because I’m a fan of the English language, I have never been a fan of Fleck’s oratorical style.

What matters much more is whether that oratorical style works on the recruiting trail and in his own locker room.

After Iowa embarrassed the Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium on Sept. 21, Fleck asked the fan base to stick with his team.

Since then, his team has improved dramatically.

The Gophers are even winning without relying too heavily on their traditional strength — a power running game. Darius Taylor has been effective, but he hasn’t dominated the way Mohamed Ibrahim did.

We’re seeing in-season improvement at quarterback, receiver and on defense.

That’s quality coaching.

What stands between Fleck and a second exceptional season, like the one he produced in 2019, is a victory against Penn State.

Beating Penn State would give the Gophers an opportunity to finish the regular season at 9-3 and 7-2 in the Big Ten, which would be one nonconference loss away from matching the final regular season record of the 2019 team that went to the Outback Bowl and beat Auburn.

Is beating Penn State possible?

Not long ago, beating USC and winning four in a row looked close to impossible.