P.J. Fleck expecting Gophers’ defense to challenge Kamari Moulton

MINNEAPOLIS — Although the Golden Gophers are eager to redeem themselves on defense after a lackluster performance in week six’s road loss, their head coach believes they’ll have a huge test for Saturday’s rivalry game.

The annual Battle for Floyd of Rosedale between Minnesota, and Iowa will take place at Huntington Bank Stadium, and P.J. Fleck knows the opposition has a dynamite weapon on offense. Hawkeye running back Kamari Moulton currently leads the Big Ten in rushing yards per game, and containing him is going to be a tall order for Fleck’s defense.

After all, Moulton is setting the conference on fire with his physicality, speed and durability. So practices have been intense all week for Fleck’s boys, and they’re prepared to match Moulton’s energy.

“No. 28 is a really good tailback, he runs the ball really, really well, a lot of what they do is zone schemes to open the gaps, and he has a really good feel for hitting it,” Fleck said. “He (Moulton) knows where the zone is going to hit, and he understands the entire run game.”

Iowa’s last trip to Minneapolis was a nightmare for Fleck, and running back Kaleb Johnson trampled his defense. Johnson completely took over the game, and finished with 206 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Fleck feels Moulton is more than capable of generating that type of rushing production, so he anticipates it’s going to be a battle in the trenches.

“You can see even if there isn’t really anything, he goes and gets the dirty yards, but he’s really hard to tackle, and picks up his legs,” he said. “The offensive line is big and physical, they got a bunch of draft picks up there, and they’re receivers are as dynamic as they’ve been.”

Minnesota (4-2) currently ranks 52nd nationally in rushing defense, and Coach Kirk Ferentz will try to exploit that weakness. Both teams are coming off a bye-week, and will have some new wrinkles to the playbook. Moulton is versatile too, can catch passes out of the backfield, and provides solid blocking in pass protection. He can also be the workhorse, but the Hawkeyes have other capable rushers too.

Regardless, Moulton remains Fleck’s top priority, and his defense isn’t backing down to the challenge. With studs like edge rusher Anthony Smith, and linebacker Maverick Baranowski, Fleck is confident Minnesota can set the tone. The Gophers will be eying Moulton on every play that he’s in the backfield, so the Hawkeyes’ offensive line will try to maul Fleck’s group and establish themselves up front.

Which is why Fleck understands that his defense will have a small margin for error, and plugging up the gaps is going to lead to success. It doesn’t look good on paper that Purdue running back Fame Ijeboi to rushed for 195 yards, and three scores on Minnesota’s defense two weeks ago. Not to mention the Boilermakers racked up 305 yards on the ground against the Golden Gophers.

Moulton could very well be licking his chops leading up to kickoff. Ferentz trusts that Moulton will move the chains, and become a stronger runner as the game carries on, especially in the fourth quarter. So Fleck is making sure his defenders are ready for a dogfight in a phone booth, courtesy of a heavy workload from Moulton.

“They’re getting the ball to him in a lot of different ways.”