North Carolina spoils Minnesota’s opener and raises some concern
Minnesota kicker Dragan Kesich misses a 47-yard field goal attempt as time expires against North Carolina Thursday August 29, 2024 at Huntington Bank Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s no mystery that Minnesota Coach P.J. Fleck will need to go back to the drawing board after losing to North Carolina for a second-straight season.
Over 50,000 fans in their gold packed Huntington Bank Stadium to see the Golden Gophers get revenge on the Tar Heels, but ended up watching their team fall 19-17 in dramatic fashion. The rainy weather wasn’t favorable either, which made the field slippery and caused an hour delay.
The hard part to swallow from Thursday night for Fleck is the fact that Minnesota only generated 244 yards of total offense, and couldn’t execute any explosive plays downfield. Both defenses came to play, and dictated the flow of the game.
Quarterback Max Brosmer struggled in his debut with the Golden Gophers. He completed 13 of his 21 passes for 166 yards. However, Brosmer was sacked five times, and never got into a rhythm. Fleck expected some growing pains with Brosmer, and his transition to the FBS. So he’s not putting the blame on the gunslinger when it’s a team game.
“You gotta give North Carolina some credit on that, I think game one you’re feeling each other out pretty good, especially in the beginning,” Fleck said. “You got new Defensive Coordinators on both sides, and you got to give both of them credit for creating chaos on both sides.”
Once the smoke cleared, North Carolina finished with more yards, plays and first downs than Minnesota. Not to mention the Tar Heels led in time of possession. The game was scoreless through the first quarter, but there were some fireworks in the second quarter.
The Golden Gophers scored their only two touchdowns of the game, courtesy of Brosmer and running back Marcus Major. Fleck’s squad even led by a touchdown at halftime. The second half was kind of sloppy for Minnesota. After all, the Golden Gophers couldn’t find the endzone, and had to settle for field goals.
Kicker Dragan Kesich couldn’t deliver when his number was called. Although he connected on a field goal in the fourth quarter, he missed two total, including a 47-yarder as time expired. All of Minnesota’s missed opportunities, and penalties frustrated Fleck. Holding onto the ball appears to be an issue too.
“We couldn’t get off the field on defense, and we just weren’t executing well enough on offense, whether we had a drop, or we had pressure, or we fumbled,” he said. “There were some things that we were doing that we can’t do to win football games.”
Despite all of the mistakes, Fleck thought there were some bright spots to build on with the offense. Major finished with a team-high, 73 yards on the ground, to go along with a touchdown. Wideout Daniel caught four ball for 55 yards.
Defensively, Minnesota did enough to win. It’s hard to argue against that when North Carolina finished with 252 yards of total offense. Linebacker Cody Lindenberg finished with a game-high, 11 tackles. Fellow linebacker Maverick Baranowski added 10 stops, including one for loss.
The Tar Heels even lost their starting quarterback Max Johnson after he got injured in the second half. The Golden Gophers still couldn’t take advantage of Mack Brown operating with backup Conner Harrell, who led the offense on two scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
The humbling loss has some fans concerned. Fleck has now lost five of his last six games overall. Now he needs leaders to emerge, and for players and staff members to hold themselves accountable. Regardless, it’s a long season ahead, so Fleck isn’t going to hit the panic button. The 43-year old strongly believes his team will bounce back next week against Rhode Island.
“We got a lot to learn, continue to grow up, and continue to get better, and we will.”
