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Minnesota football: P.J. Fleck does something that hasn’t been done since 1986

By Collin Kottke

DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 02: Head coach P.J. Fleck looks on from the sideline during the first half while playing the Ohio Bobcats during the MAC Championship on December 2, 2016 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 02: Head coach P.J. Fleck looks on from the sideline during the first half while playing the Ohio Bobcats during the MAC Championship on December 2, 2016 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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The P.J. Fleck era starts with a win over Buffalo.

Remember 1986? I don’t. I wasn’t born for another eight years, but I know a lot of Minnesota football fans remember the season. In 1986, John Gutekunst took over as the Minnesota Gophers head coach and won his first game with a 31-7 victory over Bowling Green. P.J. Fleck was looking for a big victory like that on Thursday and they got a victory, but it wasn’t as big as they had hoped.

Minnesota scored one touchdown in the game and it came early in the first quarter. The Gophers didn’t score again until the fourth quarter when Emmit Carpenter finally hit on his third attempt of the night. The Gophers scored a total of 17 points which isn’t great.

The nice thing from the game is the fact that the Gophers held Buffalo to only seven points. Under Tracy Claeys last season, the Gophers never held an opponent to single digits. The best defensive performance last season was when the maroon and gold held Maryland to only 10 points.

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It wasn’t a pretty game for the Golden Gophers on Thursday night. It was a struggle virtually all game long. The struggle from kicker Emmit Carpenter was one of the main shocks of the game. Carpenter was the Big Ten Kicker of the Year last season while missing two field goals all season. He missed two in Thursday night’s opener alone.

The stadium didn’t look very full, but there are many factors to that. Not all students are back on campus, the State Fair, the Minnesota Vikings game all contribute to the lack of an audience.

The main highlight though is the fact the P.J. Fleck did something that hasn’t been done until 1986 and the Gophers won. Beggars can’t be choosers, right?

My friends, we are officially rowing.

Next: Let's predict the Vikings roster!

The Gophers are rowing again next week when they hit the road for their second game of the year. Minnesota will be rowing out to Oregon State for a late night matchup out in Pac 12 country.

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