The Gophers’ offense has struggled so broadly this season it’s hard to pin the problem on one specific area. Coaching, scheme, position or player, it’s just not humming.

“We all have to be better,” head coach P.J. Fleck said Monday.

Minnesota ranks 125th in the nation in yards per play (4.9) and 89th in points per game (25.3). Their per-play averages in the running and passing games are also outside the top 120 in the country. It’s been a slog in Big Ten play.

Fleck is quick to point out Minnesota has faced three of the top scoring defenses in the nation — Indiana (third), Iowa (fourth) and Michigan (18th). But the U also has played Washington (42nd) and Purdue (125th).

The Gophers (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) will play another highly regarded defense at 11 a.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium. No. 5 UCLA (8-0, 5-0) sits fifth in the nation in points allowed (13.4 per game).

But for Minnesota to reach bowl eligibility with a sixth win, improvement is mandatory over the final month of the season. Each team on the rest of the schedule — Penn State, Northwestern and Wisconsin — also has defenses ranked in the top 25.

On Monday, Fleck answered a handful of questions about his offense. Here’s what he said on key topics.

Offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh has been Minnesota’s play caller since 2023, and the U has ranked outside the top 75 in yards per play and points per game each year.

Q: How do you look at the job Harbaugh done through two months of the season?

“Well, we’re kind of in it. So, I guess I really haven’t thought about it because you’re looking to be 1-0 every single week,” Fleck told the Pioneer Press. “I know we’re playing against some really, really difficult defenses. I know everybody on our offensive staff and the players are doing everything we can to score as many points as we can.”

Q: How do you look at Harbaugh’s play calling and your influence there? Does that shift?

“That’s always a relationship between the head coach and OC. I mean that’s — you evolve throughout the entire year with what your roster looks like. And you do everything you can to maximize the yards and maximize the points.

“You’re looking to do everything and anything possible to maximize the yards and points and win as many games as you can because ultimately it comes down to winning. And how we do that? We’ve got to find creative ways to do that offensively, defensively and (on) special teams each week in the Big Ten. And we just came up a little bit short last week (a the 23-16 overtime loss at No. 4 Indiana).”

Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey averaged a season-low 3.2 yards per attempt against the Hoosiers. The U incorporated a lot of passes around the line of scrimmage, especially in the first quarter. He had three total passes over 20 yards; one completed on a trick play in a 39-yard touchdown to Roman Voss.

Q: How much of that scheme was out of respect for Indiana’s front versus what you felt was best to attack them?

“The game plan was to not only run the football but throw to run it. And then when we had to take our shots. But you weren’t going to have long (in the pocket). That’s a credit to them. They’ve done that to everybody. And if you want to sit back there and you know have the timing of five- to seven-step-drop passes, then you’re going to have a long evening (Indiana had 13 pressures and four sacks Saturday, both season highs against Minnesota). That’s going to be in second-and-22 a lot. So, we were looking for death by 1,000 paper cuts.”

We knew we had to control the clock. We had to be able to win the time of possession or come close to it. And we were going to play elite defense and get some takeaways.

“We did everything we said we were going to do. And, again, we didn’t come out with the win, but we executed the plan the way we wanted to execute the plan.”

Lindsey has six touchdowns and six interceptions in the five Big Ten games. In the last two games, he has completed less than 60% of his passes and failed to reach 200 yards. He doesn’t appear to have the same confidence he had in the first half of the Washington game, when he had three touchdown tosses.

Q: For Lindsey specifically, what are the biggest keys for him to find more consistency?

“Trust in the pocket, standing in that pocket, trusting your technique, trusting your fundamentals, trusting your reads, trusting the people that are in front of you,” Fleck said in his news conference. “I think trust is just really key for any really good football team that has success.”

The Gophers offensive line has been forced into changes with starting center Ashton Beers and backup center Brett Carroll lost to season-ending leg injuries, and guard Jaden Ball missing the past four games with a hand injury.

Q: Are you going to explore other options along the offensive line?

“I think our guys up front are fighting their tail ends off right now. I think this was one of our better games running the football (118 yards vs. Indiana), which if you asked me going into the game would we run the football that well? That’s going to be tough sledding versus that unit. I thought they worked really well cohesively. And again, they do things on defense; that’s why they’re a top five defense. This isn’t just made up, make-believe Pixie dust stuff. They’re really good.

… We always have people ready to go. We want to continue to raise that floor and we’ll continue to do that with every week.”

Source: Yahoo Sports