Inside Gophers coach P.J. Fleck’s ‘crazy’ moment after Washington win

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SEATTLE — P.J. Fleck got a little carried away in the immediate on-field celebration after the Gophers’ 27-24 win over Washington on Saturday.

Linebacker Maverick Baranowski had just sealed the win in the Big Ten opener with a final-play tackle on Huskies receiver Dezmen Roebuck at Husky Stadium. Roebuck’s cleat slid up into Baranowski’s helmet and bloodied his mouth.

Fleck then hugged one of his captains on the field, saw the blood and smeared it on his own cheeks.

“He’s my blood brother,” Fleck said postgame, with Baranowski’s blood also staining the shoulder of his white quarter-zip pullover.

The Gophers’ theme this week was to adopt a gritty frontiersman mindset for their road trip to the Pacific Northwest.

“The Daniel Boones and Davey Crocketts, Lewis and Clarks; let’s go out there and explore,” Fleck said. “Let’s go be the best version of ourselves. Let’s go hunt at night.”

Later, Fleck added, “Back in the day, I’m sure that’s what they did — the frontiersman out west — a little blood on there, I guess.”

The Gophers defense sacked elusive Huskies quarterback Demond Williams seven times and picked him off twice. He was averaging 50 rushing yards per game, but ended with only 15 yards on the ground Saturday. As a team, Washington rushed for only 40 yards on 27 carries and went 1-for-10 on third down.

Fleck singled out to the work of Minnesota’s defensive line on Saturday.

“D-Line played nasty, low, physical,” Fleck said. “I thought they dictated the terms of the fight, dominated the line of scrimmage, eliminated the run game. I think that was one of the biggest factors in the game.”

Coming out of the 41-7 win over Akron, Fleck said he challenged the D-line in practice last week. “We didn’t play violent enough,” he said about the Zips win.

This Saturday, Karter Menz led the U defense with two sacks; Baranowski, TJ Bush, Riley Sunram and Mason Carrier each posted one sack; Anthony Smith and Naquan Crowder contributed a 1/2 sack apiece.

The U defensive front did the dirty work, while Fleck’s blood-smearing move was unbelievable to receiver Javon Tracy.

“I would never do that, but PJ is different,” said Tracy, who had a team-high seven catches for 41 yards and one touchdown. “He’s crazy. He’s very energetic and just loves it. You can tell what he does for the team really shows. We love him for that.”

Baranowski led the U with seven tackles, an interception and a tackle for lost yards. He smiled once Fleck smeared his blood on himself.

“The head coach always having my back for the last five years, I love that guy more than anyone,” Baranowski said. “It’s such an awesome opportunity to share that moment with him. He’s crazy, man.”

Baranowski said the U defense wanted to play faster as a whole on Saturday. “That’s our DNA on this team,” he said. “That’s something we do every day in practice and that is something that carried out to the game. … We are out there fighting, scratching, clawing for everything we can. I thought we did a great job of that.”

Added cornerback John Nestor, “Bleeding, too, don’t forget about that.”

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