P.J. Fleck hopes for continued balance with rejuvenated passing game

During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Gophers football fed its fanbase a steady diet of meat and potatoes when it came to offense. With All-American running back Mohamed Ibrahim and injury replacements Bucky Irving and Ky Thomas operating behind an offensive line led by All-American center John Michael Schmitz, the Gophers averaged 45.5 rushes per game, ranking in the top 10 nationally in both seasons.

The results of the run-heavy approach were solid if not spectacular. The Gophers posted 9-4 records both seasons, were third nationally in time of possession both years and boasted defenses that ranked sixth and fourth nationally in that time, helped by the fact that the opponent’s offense can’t score if it’s not on the field.

What was missing, though, was dessert in the form of a passing game. The Gophers averaged only 162.0 and 182.2 passing yards per game, ranking 118th in 2021 and 116th in 2022. And one more victory each season — against Iowa in 2021 and Purdue in 2022 — would have landed the Gophers in the Big Ten championship game.

The passing woes continued in 2023, when Minnesota mustered only 143.4 passing yards per game, 126th in the nation.

That all changed last year when coach P.J. Fleck and offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr. landed Max Brosmer in the transfer portal. Brosmer completed 66.5% of his passes for 2,828 yards and 18 TDs, helping the Gophers go 8-5, a two-game improvement from their 2023 record.

With redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey taking the offensive reins from Brosmer, Fleck and Harbaugh plan to keep the passing game front and center while still rushing effectively.

“As we keep growing together, this has a chance to be a really special passing game, and it doesn’t come around very often when you have a chance to be really, really special in the pass game,” Fleck said Monday ahead of Saturday’s 11 a.m. home game against FCS team Northwestern State. “And we cannot take that for granted.”

“He did a nice job,” Harbaugh said. “Obviously, the completion percentage we want to continue to rise. We need to clean up some things offensively, just within the passing game. … It’s the way I would like a first game to go, be it a redshirt freshman or a redshirt senior."

Said Lindsey: “There’s a lot of things I can get better at and help the offense move down the field. But I thought overall, we did a pretty good job. We’ve just got to execute a little better and get the fine details.”

Lindsey spread the ball around, connecting with eight pass-catchers. Smith and Geers were his go-to targets, getting nine and eight passes thrown their way, respectively.

“I’m very encouraged by what I saw,” Fleck said of his receivers. “… We have that explosive play ability where we can get behind people. We just have to execute at a higher level."

While the Gophers will continue to develop their passing game, they also want old reliable, their running attack, to reappear after a difficult 2024 season. The Gophers rushed for only 115.6 yards per game last year, which ranked 109th nationally and 13th in the Big Ten.

Led by Taylor and the offensive line, the Gophers met Fleck’s challenge, finishing the game with a 16-play, 58-yard march that drained the remainder of the time. Taylor rushed 11 times for 35 yards and caught one pass for 7 yards on the drive.

“You have that four-minute mentality of you want to possess that football,” Fleck said. “Last year, I don’t think we did a great job of that. This was a huge emphasis in the offseason to be able to finish games, find a way with nine minutes to go to end the game.