Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck says there’s plenty to ‘clean up’ after first game

His team’s season-opening 23-10 victory over Buffalo came four days earlier, and Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck took a look at the video, discussed it with his team and offered his review Monday.

Overall, Fleck was pleased with his team’s effort, less so with its execution.

“There’s a lot of fundamental details, techniques that we’ve got to clean up,” he said during his weekly news conference ahead of Saturday’s home game against Northwestern (La.) State. “We saw in Game 1 that the great thing about playing Buffalo is they’re a really good football team. I’m not saying this is a No. 1 vs. No. 3 in the country matchup. I’m saying that they’re a really good football team with a lot of returning starters, and we got tested in a lot of different areas.”

Darius the defender: Running back Darius Taylor not only rushed 30 times for 141 yards and caught four passes for 36 yards Thursday night, but he also pulled off a great impression of a defensive back.

With the Gophers leading 7-0 in the second quarter, quarterback Drake Lindsey threw a pass intended for tight end Jameson Geers, who was knocked down. The ball hit Geers’ foot and popped into the hands of Bulls linebacker Mitchell Gonser, who took off toward the opposite end zone. Taylor gave chase and made a diving shoestring tackle that limited Gonser to a 54-yard interception return. Minnesota held Buffalo to a field goal on that possession.

“The play of the game is Darius Taylor chasing that all the way down,” Fleck said. “That was the first clip we showed our football team [in film review], and what the ‘how’ means, and what it means to play at the University of Minnesota.”

Long final drive: Buffalo trailed 13-10 entering the fourth quarter, but Minnesota’s defense twice forced three-and-outs, the second giving the Gophers offense the ball back with 9:45 left in the quarter.

“That was a mind-set drive, and that was a character-building drive, and that’s going to help us as we keep going throughout the year,” Fleck said.

Improved tackling: In last year’s season-opening 19-17 loss to North Carolina, the Gophers were charged with 22 missed tackles. On Thursday, they were charged with none, according to Pro Football Focus.

“[Defensive coordinator] Danny Collins does a really good job of teaching it,” Fleck said of tackling. “We do a really good job of emphasizing it. And I think we’ve done it more than we ever probably have in an offseason.”

Lindsey’s passing: Lindsey completed 19 of 35 passes for 290 yards. At least three incompletions could have been considered drops, and the interception he threw took that fluky carom off Geers’ foot.

Lindsey’s red-zone sack: The Gophers led 7-3 with 10 seconds left in the first half and had the ball at the Buffalo 9-yard line. Lindsey dropped back to pass but didn’t get the ball off, taking a sack of 11 yards. That forced Fleck to use his final timeout and send Brady Denaburg out to kick a 38-yard field goal.

Leaving points on the field: The Gophers kicked field goals of 38, 29 and 25 yards — meaning they missed out on a possible 12 more points on three possessions.

The words “tush push” barely had left a reporter’s mouth and Fleck was there for the interception.

“Yeah, that’s a bad call by me,” the coach said. “That’s a horrible call.”

The situation: The Gophers faced fourth-and-1 from the Buffalo 11 in the first quarter, and Fleck decided to go for it. Minnesota had the best fourth-down conversion percentage in FBS last year (10-for-11, 90.9%), with the tush push formation playing a prominent role. Fleck sent in Geers at quarterback, but he was stopped for no gain by Bulls linebacker Red Murdock.

“You’re sitting there as a head coach saying: ‘I think I should call a timeout here. I really think I should call a timeout here,’ ”Fleck said, immediately regretting his decision. “… Got to be better as a head coach."