Bowling Green Coach Mocks Minnesota’s Pass Attack After Gophers Run Over Falcons

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NCAA Football: Quick Lane Bowl-Bowling Green at Minnesota
Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Gophers defeated Bowling Green 30-24 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Tuesday, in a contest that felt a lot closer than it actually was, thanks to a Falcons squad that, to their credit, would not go away in the 2nd half.

But in the end, PJ Fleck remained undefeated in bowl games, as Gophers head coach (5-0), and Minnesota extended their bowl winning streak to SEVEN games, the longest in college football.

Darius Taylor returns to dominance in Quick Lane Bowl victory

Fresh off of a new contract with Minnesota’s official NIL collective Dinkytown Athletes, phenom freshman running back Darius Taylor made his triumphant return to the football field, after spending about half of the regular season nursing undisclosed injuries.

Related: Phenom Freshman Darius Taylor Announces He’s Staying in Minnesota

Just like when he won three-straight Big Ten Freshman of the week awards a couple months ago, Taylor was playing on another level compared to everyone else, running up, down and all around the Bowling Green defense.

When the dust settled and the scoreboard showed a Minnesota 30-24 victory, Darius had racked up 208 yards and a touchdown, on 35 carries, as PJ Fleck showed off his most prized weapon for the 2024 season.

Minnesota Gophers underwhelming through the air

With Taylor running at full speed, Fleck realized very quickly that the Falcons defense was not going to be able to slow him down. And when PJ knows that you can’t stop his running game, he’s going to run and run and run and run and run and run and run.

So to nobody’s surprise, that’s what happened. Minnesota ran the ball 44 times, between Taylor, Jordan Nubin and QB Cole Kramer. On the contrary, aforementioned super senior quarterback — who pushed off some wedding planning to make his first career college start — only threw 16 times, completing half of them for a total of 26 yards and one early game touchdown strike to Elijah Spencer.

Related: Gophers Football Receiving ‘Substantive NIL Packages’ Recently; Basketball Still Behind

Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler mocks Gophers pass attack

After the game, Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler appeared frustrated with losing to a Gophers team that couldn’t even muster 30 yards through the air, telling a local reporter at the postgame podium that Minnesota “couldn’t throw it from me to you”.

Loeffler didn’t seem concerned with the many other reporters within earshot, who do not cover the Falcons, including Pioneer Press beat reporter for Gophers sports, Andy Greder.

The funny part about the opposing head coach’s comments is that they aren’t wrong. There’s a reason why Cole Kramer was a career backup at the University of Minnesota, a school that has not been known for its passing prowess for at least two decades.

PJ Fleck will PJ Fleck no matter who is making jokes

But as has often been the case under PJ Fleck, that didn’t matter on Tuesday night because Loeffler’s Falcons couldn’t stop Darius Taylor, just like defenses struggled to stop Mo Ibrahim before him. I expect the Gophers passing attack to improve by leaps and bounds next season, under transfer QB Max Brosmer.

Related: 4 Minnesota Gophers Defensive Coordinator Candidates to Replace Joe Rossi

But as long as Darius Taylor is healthy or Minnesota has a dominant feature back to feed, opponents are going to have to prove they can stop the ground game before Fleck worries about throwing the ball against them. And I can promise Scot Loeffler’s comments aren’t going to change his ways. In fact, they’ll make PJ him smile from ear to ear.

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