Gophers overmatched against Ohio State, but hope remains for future

COLUMBUS, OHIO – As the more than 105,000 revelers were slowly making their way out of Ohio Stadium late Saturday night, Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck gave his view on what happened.

Over the previous 3¼ hours, Fleck’s team endured many unpleasantries that made the Homecoming crowd so happy.

“When you get beat up in a fight, you’ve got to respond to it,” Fleck said after the Gophers absorbed haymaker after haymaker in a 42-3 loss to Ohio State, the nation’s top-ranked team and the defending national champion. “And I know our guys will. We’ve got a really good football team — we really do. That just happened to be an exceptional football team we played today."

There will be few arguments against the exceptional nature of the Buckeyes, who have given up a combined 25 points in five games this season.

Ohio State outgained Minnesota 474-162 and gave up only 96 yards over the final 53 minutes, 5 seconds after the Gophers’ opening drive led to a field goal.

The Buckeyes amassed five passing plays of 29 yards or longer and averaged 12.2 yards per pass attempt. They went 7-for-10 on third downs to the Gophers’ 1-for-11.

As for Fleck having a really good football team, that’s something he and his coaches have the chance to prove the rest of the season.

It’s a manageable midsection of the schedule filled with teams that are, for the most part, in the Gophers’ weight class. On paper at least, there are no mismatches like the one Saturday in the Horseshoe.

After that, it’s a challenging trek to No. 2 Oregon (5-0, 2-0), a trip to play Northwestern (3-2, 1-1) at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and the home finale against Wisconsin (2-3, 0-2).

More opportunities to prove their coach right.

“We got our butt kicked, so you’ve got to be able to swallow that pill,” Fleck said. “And it’s all of us, me included. … We’re only going to get better from it."

Saturday’s experience didn’t include the result that redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey would have hoped for.

“There were a ton of different looks,” said Lindsey, who went 15-for-26 for 94 yards but did not have a turnover. “That’s why they’re very hard to score on. They’re giving you so many different fronts, so many different packages.”

The Gophers revamped their offensive line in hopes to gain consistency, especially in the run game. Nathan Roy moved from left tackle to right tackle, Greg Johnson moved from left guard to left tackle, Dylan Ray moved from right tackle to right guard, and Marcellus Marshall shifted from right guard to left guard. The only constant was Ashton Beers staying at center.

The result didn’t show it — 2.7 yards per carry Saturday — but Fleck saw promise.

“We’re just looking for the best five,” Fleck said. “We’re looking for the right combination. We knew that we were going to have to adjust some things based on what their defense presented. … It might take a game or two, but I feel really good about where we’re at there."

The return of running back Darius Taylor from a two-game injury absence didn’t produce a difference in the game’s result, but the Gophers are a much better team when he’s at full health.

“Had it been 3-3 in the middle of the second quarter, we might have played him less, so we could extend that workload,” Fleck said. “But being down the way we were down, we needed to have our best players on the field.”

The coach added that Taylor “felt really good, which is a great sign.”

Looking forward is what the Gophers must do after experiencing how one of college football’s blue bloods can impose their will on an opponent.