What did Minnesota coach PJ Fleck say about Penn State on Monday?

Minnesota coach PJ Fleck knows his 6-4 team will have their work cut out for them Saturday when they host No. 4 Penn State at Huntington Bank Stadium. The Nittany Lions (9-1) are a double-digit favorite ahead of kickoff, which is set for 3:30 p.m. on CBS. The Golden Gophers are coming out of their final bye week of the season.

“Two bye weeks is really beneficial for a football team, mentally, physically and emotionally, for their health,” Fleck said Monday morning. “Seasons are getting longer. I think our guys did a really good job of that. Not only that. We had to get better at the things we needed to get better at. Some self-scout. But it gave us a lot more time to work on Penn State as well and get a jump start on that.

“I thought we had a really productive week of not only working on Penn State, working ahead, working on ourselves.”

Penn State, of course, exits a 49-10 win over Purdue. James Franklin will speak to reporters on Monday too. Before that, we recap what Fleck had to say about the Lions below.

What did PJ Fleck say about Penn State on Monday on game week?

He was asked three Penn State specific questions. The first focused on star tight end Tyler Warren:

“Well, I think when we talk about that consistency is the truest measure of performance, I think that’s what you see every single week,” Fleck said. “Really, really good player. We got ourhands full. Put it that way. It’s the versatility to do so many things. And, I think that’s when you’re looking at Penn State, Penn State has the ability to do a lot of different things, and they do it very consistently.

“It’s a new wrinkle every single week, too. So whether it’s three different quarterbacks, whether it’s unique formations, they’re going to give you things you’ve never seen before. And, you’re going to have to stop it, and you have to be really disciplined with your eyes. You have to be really good at tackling in space. You’ve got to play really good up front. They have weapons everywhere. But that’s why you’re the fourth-ranked team in the country. I mean, you’re really, really good, and you have people everywhere that can make plays. And what makes them really difficult to [deal with] is they just rotate guys in and out.

“They platoon the D-line, and when they bring in the next D-line, it looks very similar to the D-line that came in before that. They do that with a lot of positions. But, it’s the consistency of how they play. It’s the creativity that they play with, but then it’s the ability to give you things you’ve never seen before and make you do in-game adjustments more than probably any other team.”

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Fleck’s next question focused on Penn State passer Drew Allar.

“I think it’s just his growth over the years,” Fleck said. “He’s really, really poised in the pocket. He’s big, strong, got a good arm, understands the system, he can run. They’ve got three quarterbacks. One’s a high school quarterback that’s really a tight end who’s just doing it it all for them. They got another quarterback who can throw it and run it really, really well, and then Drew can do the exact same thing. But they all have different skill sets, and they use them in very different ways. But he’s really accurate, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical. I think he processes at a higher level than he ever has. I think that’s a critical characteristic of being an elite quarterback, is how you process, how you get through your reads, how you get to the decisions, how quickly you do that.

“The distance between somebody being open and the ball being on them, that’s a measure of a quarterback knowing what he’s doing. And I think that he has that trait. You can tell he’s coachable. And the team rallies around him, too.”

Final word

Fleck was asked about how small the margins are for his team against the No. 4 Nittany Lions and took the opportunity to heap praise on James Franklin.

“Not only are the windows going to get tighter, but the pressure is going to be on them a little bit quicker,” Fleck said. “They’re playing, nine, 10 guys on their defensive line. And, I don’t mean this in a bad way, meaning that they’re all the same, but you can’t tell what platoon group is in, because they all are good. And they all have special traits. It’s not just about [Abdul Carter]. Or [Amin Vanover]. Or the guys inside. It’s not about just all of them. It’s about how they can rotate guys in. This is one of the healthiest defenses we played.

“You can talk about how athletic they are and how good of recruiting job James has done over his tenure. He is very consistent in what he does, but what I love about watching his groups are, they’re really good at the small things. Yes, they have a ton of talent. But, can you get that ton of talent to do the little things really well?

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The blocking, the tackling, the way they tackle, the situational football piece, understanding all that, and they do a really good job of that. So that’s a direct reflection of their coaching staff and James and what he’s always got his group to be able to do. But yeah, I mean, we’ve got to play really, really good sound football, which we have throughout the year.

“We just got to put it all together in all three areas for four quarters. That’s going to be critical for us. I don’t think that’s hard for anybody to understand. I know that we’re going to get their best shot. This is a top four team fighting for a top four spot in the College ootball Playoff and the Big Ten Championship. They’re fighting for that. So we’re going to get their best shot. We’ve got to play our best football of the year.”