When it comes to the timing of a bye week in college football, P.J. Fleck considers it in a similar manner to how a college student welcomes a late-night pizza.
When it's good, it's great. When it's bad, it's still pretty good.
"I've never seen a bye week come at a bad time, so we'll take it when we get it," Fleck, the Gophers coach, said Monday. "We were able to refresh and get some guys healthy and get our team feeling good again."
The Gophers, hammered 52-10 by No. 2 Michigan on Oct. 7, did not play over the weekend but used the time to regroup and turn their focus to Saturday's game at No. 24 Iowa. At 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten, the Gophers will try to claw their way back into the Big Ten's West Division race. To do so, they'll need to win at Kinnick Stadium, where Minnesota last won in 1999, and against a Hawkeyes team that is 6-0 against the Fleck-coached Gophers.
"The one thing about this football team: You can be very transparent, very real with them," Fleck said, referring to the lessons of the season's first six games. "You show them proof and data of everything that they've done, and they want to respond to it. That's what the bye week was for, to embrace your past to create what's coming."
To that end, the Gophers had a few priorities during the bye week and for the second half of the season.
Getting key players healthy
The Gophers have played the entire season without their top linebacker, redshirt junior Cody Lindenberg, and the past two games without their top running back, true freshman Darius Taylor. Both have leg injuries, and presumably the extra time off could get them closer to returning to the lineup.
Without Lindenberg, the Gophers have used the trio of Maverick Baranowski, Devon Williams and Ryan Selig at linebacker, with varying degrees of success. Taylor has rushed for an average of 133 yards per game, and his absence has been somewhat offset by the emergence of redshirt freshman Zach Evans, who's rushed for 130 yards in two games.
Fleck wouldn't say if Lindenberg and Taylor would practice Tuesday and pointed to the Big Ten's availability report that comes out two hours before game time. Later, when asked about his team's overall health, he said, "It's healthier. Time does help. It gets guys closer."
Improving the passing game
Against Michigan, Gophers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis completed five of 15 passes for 52 yards and a touchdown but threw two interceptions that the Wolverines returned for TDs. Michigan's defense is the stingiest in the nation, allowing only 6.7 points per game. On Saturday, the Gophers will face another stout defense in Iowa, which ranks 10th nationally, allowing 14.9 points per game.
Fleck has pointed to Kaliakmanis' ability to rebound from an 11-for-29 passing performance against North Carolina with games against Northwestern and Louisiana when he was a combined 26-for-33.
"He's maturing with every game that he plays in," Fleck said. "It's just like depositing money into a bank. He's putting more deposits in there by the game, mentally, physically and emotionally. … Every game he's getting a little bit better in his response."
Eliminating explosive plays by the opponent
In the Gophers' 27-22 loss at Iowa in 2021, the Hawkeyes used a 34-yard reception by Charlie Jones to set up a touchdown and got a 72-yard TD reception by Jones to take the lead for good. Last year in the Gophers' 13-10 loss to Iowa, a 58-yard catch by tight end Sam LaPorta led to a field goal, LaPorta's 24-yard reception led to a TD and tight end Luke Lachey's 33-yard catch led to the winning field goal.
"They get your eyes in the wrong spot with the play-action pass," Fleck said. "… They've had some good things dialed up for us, and they've been really good on the first drive. We've just got to find a way to get off the field on defense."
