P.J. Fleck's Gophers are out of their depth against Big Ten competition

Jim Delany paid a visit to Minnesota in 2015 when he served as Big Ten commissioner, and he used the occasion to attend a Gophers football game.

Delany met with reporters in the pressbox and when asked about the disparity in competition between the league's East and West divisions, Delany dismissed that line of thinking by suggesting that success tends to be "cyclical."

Sorry, commish.

It wasn't cyclical then, or now.

When he counts his blessings, P.J. Fleck should be thankful every single day that he coaches in the Big Ten West while he still has that life preserver.

That was the main takeaway Saturday night after watching Fleck's Gophers get run out of their own stadium by the second-ranked Michigan Wolverines.

The final score was 52-10 but the Wolverines could have picked their margin of victory before kickoff. Truthfully, they could have left the Little Brown Jug at home because there was .0000000001% chance that trophy was changing hands.

"There were times they did it at will," Fleck said. "They beat us, period, in every facet of the game."

In boxing terms, it was a heavyweight vs. a welterweight.

The Wolverines are better at every position. They are bigger. Faster. More physical. More athletic. More talented. Better coached.

The mismatch was so extreme that it was hard to believe the two teams reside in the same conference, which technically is true, but one plays in the varsity division and the other in the JV.

The East is a prime cut of steak with three teams — Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State — ranked in the top six nationally and contenders for the College Football Playoff.

The West is beef stroganoff. Just a bunch of bland-to-bad teams.

The best team from the weakly West would finish fourth — at best — in the East, and Maryland might be better than the bunch too.

Entering the weekend, six of the seven teams in the West ranked 74th or lower nationally in scoring offense, including the Gophers. Five of the seven ranked 82nd or lower in total offense, including the Gophers.

The gift of being in the West goes away after this season with the arrival of four Pac-12 schools. The Big Ten is doing away with divisions, which means schedules become much more challenging and being average won't get rewarded with a division title.

What was confirmed Saturday is that the gap between Fleck's program and Michigan's is roughly the size of the Pacific Ocean at present.

The Gophers were overwhelmed on both sides of the ball.

The offense basically made one meaningful play. The defense continued to give up big plays in allowing Michigan to average an astounding 7.7 yards per play.

Sophomore quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis raised more concerns with another shaky performance that included two interceptions returned for touchdowns, the first one 12 seconds into the game.

Kaliakmanis never looked comfortable after that, and it didn't help that his line crumbled around him against Michigan's physical defense.

The offense is so unimaginative and lacking rhythm that the whole operation looks disjointed. Even their lone touchdown came after bizarre clock management by Fleck at the end of the first half.

Trailing 24-3, the Gophers took possession at their own 25 with 5 minutes 50 seconds left until halftime. Fleck opted to slow-play it, using running plays to drain the clock.

On fourth-and-2 from the Michigan 40, Fleck allowed the play clock to tick away as fans booed. He called a timeout with 22 seconds left.

A 5-yard run by Bryce Williams gave them a first down. Then Kaliakmanis threw a rainbow pass to Daniel Jackson for a 35-yard touchdown with six seconds left.

Fleck's clock management didn't make sense as it unfolded, but the play had a positive outcome. That's a dangerous way to operate.

That was the only real highlight in a 60-minute game. One play.

The Wolverines made it look easy. Expectations were low for the Gophers before the game, but they still managed to go beneath them.