If you see the Gophers use a trick play that features a wide receiver throwing a pass during Saturday's Homecoming game against Bowling Green, don't be surprised. There's some history and snarky social media prodding that might come into play.
Bowling Green teases Gophers coach P.J. Fleck with tweet on his 2003 interception
The Falcons dug back into their archives for video from 18 years ago, when then-Northern Illinois wide receiver Fleck showed why he was better at catching passes than throwing them.
September 24, 2021 at 11:01PM
On Thursday night, Bowling Green's football Twitter account, @BG_Football, sent out a tweet with a video of the Falcons facing Northern Illinois in 2003 in a game that drew ESPN's "College GameDay'' to Bowling Green, Ohio, for the matchup of the No. 12 Huskies against the No. 23 Falcons.
The tweet focused on a first-quarter play in which the Huskies, down 7-0, faced second-and-15 from their 30-yard line. Quarterback Josh Haldi threw a lateral to the right sideline to senior wide receiver P.J. Fleck — you might have heard of him. Fleck chucked the ball from the Huskies 25 to the Falcons 22 — "a flea-flicker by Fleck," the ESPN2 broadcast roared — only to see the pass intercepted.
Bowling Green cashed in that turnover for a TD on its way to a 34-18 victory.
That wasn't the only pass of Fleck's college career. Along with his 179 catches, 2,162 yards and 11 TD grabs for Northern Illinois, he threw three other passes, completing one that went for 61 yards against Western Michigan in 2001.
Fleck this week spoke about his team needing to be on alert for trick plays by Bowling Green, which is a 31-point underdog in Saturday's game. Maybe the Falcons need to have their radar up, too. Turnabout, after all, is fair play.
The Grizzlies have already beaten a Big Ten team this season.
