Gophers are big underdogs at Ohio State but already beat the Buckeyes for Koi Perich

The Gophers last defeated Ohio State in football in 2000, a 29-17 triumph at Ohio Stadium. Before that, their last victory over the Buckeyes was in 1981 when they won 35-31 at Memorial Stadium. And if you’re looking for a third Gophers victory in the series, you must go back nearly 60 years to a 17-7 victory in Minneapolis in 1966.

P.J. Fleck has faced Ohio State three times as Gophers coach, losing at home in 2021 and at Columbus in 2018 and ’23. Minnesota is back in Columbus on Saturday night (6:30, NBC) to take on the Buckeyes, the defending national champions and top-ranked team in the country.

The Gophers are 23½-point underdogs, yet Fleck will take one big victory over the Buckeyes into that game. It wasn’t won on the football field but rather in the Esko, Minn., living room of George and Danielle Perich. That’s where Fleck and his staff, including then-safeties coach and now-defensive coordinator Danny Collins, convinced four-star recruit Koi Perich that Minnesota, not Ohio State, was the place for him. They endured some tense moments as the Buckeyes and coach Ryan Day made a late push to lure Koi to Columbus.

“We’re just really grateful that he picked the Gophers,” Fleck said of Perich, now a sophomore safety who led the Big Ten with five interceptions in 2024 and earned second-team All-America honors from the Sporting News. A dynamic playmaker in the secondary and return game, Perich also has added offensive duties to his repertoire as coaches seek to get the ball in his hands.

Perich’s route from Esko to Dinkytown wasn’t always a straight line down I-35, but Fleck and the Gophers were constants in showing their interest in the multisport athlete. Perich attended a Gophers camp in July 2022, before his junior year of high school. He came back to campus with his parents in early October for an unofficial visit.

“That was his first kind of big trip,” Danielle Perich, Koi’s mother, said. “I don’t know that either one of us really knew what to expect, but there were a lot of things about it that he liked.”

Perich made another unofficial visit to Minnesota a couple of weeks later and received a scholarship offer from Fleck. He wasn’t yet ready to commit.

“Once they started coming, it seemed like they came pretty fast,” Danielle said. “It was crazy. Every day, we had just piles and piles of mail.”

In January 2023, Fleck and staff members made the two-hour trek to Esko to watch Perich play basketball. Fleck remembers the moment that the 6-1, 200-pounder’s athleticism caught his attention.

“You’re watching him doing warm-ups and doing the layup drill, and then all of a sudden he does a 360-degree dunk. And you’re like, ‘OK, there it is,’” Fleck said.

The schedule in March 2023 became busy for the Perich family. Koi participated in Iowa’s Junior Day, then made unofficial visits to Wisconsin and Michigan, picking up an offer from the Wolverines.

“At that point, all of his options were open,” said George Perich, Koi’s father. “He liked both the Iowa and Wisconsin programs. … We just tried to visit as many places as possible and tried to get him as a good a feel as possible."

Playing a key role in Perich committing to the Gophers was the program’s recent history of sending safeties to the NFL. From Antoine Winfield Jr. with Tampa Bay, Jordan Howden with New Orleans and Tyler Nubin with the New York Giants, the Gophers under Fleck and Collins have earned the reputation of developing that position.

“Antoine Winfield was there, and he had a pretty good conversation with him about the program being a good fit for him and that being the most important thing for him,” George said. “He came back pretty positive about that practice and having talked to some of those NFL guys.”

The Periches were impressed with the consistency of Fleck’s message and the bonds that Collins formed with Koi.

“Danny Collins was instrumental in getting him to Minnesota,” George said. “They were both very diligent with their pursuit.”

Perich made his official visit to the Gophers in June 2023 during one of their “Summer Splash” recruiting weekends. From there, Fleck and his staff had to endure the six long months until recruits could make their commitment official on the early signing day on Dec. 20, 2023.

Turns out, that fall became stressful for the staff because Perich was being noticed nationally.

On Oct. 1, USC offered Perich a scholarship. Florida State followed on Oct. 23. Then came the biggest competitor for his services: Ohio State, which made its offer Nov. 6.

“It was pretty crazy when those blue-blood programs started contacting him and showing some real interest. Kind of fun for me, being a college football fan,” George said.

Perich hadn’t taken any other visits since committing to the Gophers in April, but he decided to check out Ohio State and visited Columbus on Dec. 9. Fleck thought he might be losing him.

“You’re having conversations with him, and you can hear the doubt in his voice,” Fleck said. “You can hear he wants to be certain.”

Decision time was nearing. Collins made another visit to Esko. Day followed a day later on the Friday before early signing day.

“When an opposing coach goes to their house, I would say that’s up in the air,” Fleck said. “Especially with Ryan Day.”

Koi needed time to process his decision.

“He kind of disappeared on Saturday, and just was weighing his options,” Danielle said. “... He was pretty quiet and stayed in the basement.”

On Sunday, Dec. 17, 2003, Perich told Fleck and Collins of his decision: Minnesota.

During Big Ten media days in July, Perich shared his thoughts on his decision.

“It was super close. It came down to the last day,” he said. “Ohio State is Ohio State, and what I liked more about Minnesota was ultimately just their NFL safeties and what they did with that.”

For Fleck, the recruiting victory over Ohio State was a roller coaster ride.