ANN ARBOR, MICH. – Late Saturday night, P.J. Fleck quickly took to the podium in the bowels of Michigan Stadium and offered his assessment of what just had transpired during the previous three-plus hours on the soggy turf.
After Michigan ran all over Fleck's Gophers in a 33-10 victory — the Wolverines rushed for 366 yards on the strength of touchdown gallops of 77, 67 and 60 yards — the coach used "whupping'' repeatedly to describe the result.
But in the whupping the Wolverines administered, Fleck found a lesson that his team must learn.
"Sometimes you've got to get your butt kicked by a champion to one day figure out how to become a champion,'' Fleck said Sunday on WCCO Radio, echoing his comments from the night before. "We haven't won a championship in 50 years. That's what they look like.''
It's not a fun part of Fleck's program-building process, of course, for players and fans alike, but one that the Gophers are facing after suffering their first blowout loss under the new coach. The defeat dropped Minnesota to 4-5 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten, with three games remaining in the season.
The difference between the Gophers and Wolverines was glaring in two areas Saturday night. Quite simply, Michigan was faster and stronger.
The speed showed through especially in Michigan's running game. Be it Karan Higdon (16 carries, 200 yards) or Chris Evans (13 carries, 191 yards), the Wolverines got past the first level of defense and broke free against the Gophers.
"We haven't played a team with that type of speed all year. And that showed,'' Fleck said. "The biggest difference in the two teams was, one has a ton of speed and one didn't.''
That Michigan speed led to an uncharacteristic number of missed tackles by the Gophers, who entered the game ranked No. 20 nationally in total defense. "It all comes to execution,'' said linebacker Blake Cashman, who saw extensive action after taking over for Jon Celestin, who was slowed by an elbow injury. "… Maybe we were playing on our heels and didn't hit them in the mouth first.''
Michigan's advantage in strength was evident in the line play, especially on defense. With defensive tackle Maurice Hurst clogging the middle and defensive end Chase Winovich supplying pressure, Wolverines sophomore Khaleke Hudson dominated from his "viper'' safety/linebacker position. Hudson had 13 tackles, including 6 ½ tackles for loss and two sacks. He also forced a fumble by Gophers quarterback Demry Croft that Winovich recovered, ending a promising Minnesota possession that reached the Michigan 42 midway through the third quarter with the Wolverines leading only 20-7.
"It was tough running the ball inside today,'' said Rodney Smith, the Gophers' leading rusher with 38 yards on 18 carries.
As the Hurst/Winovich/Hudson trio asserted control, the Gophers offense went backward. From the end of the first quarter until 8:08 remained in the fourth, before Minnesota's late field-goal drive, the Gophers ran 27 plays for minus-10 yards.
"We're not strong enough,'' Fleck said. "… We got thrown around a little bit last week at Iowa, we got thrown around a lot today.''
So, where do the Gophers go from here? They need two more wins to gain bowl eligibility, one if there aren't enough six-win teams and their high Academic Progress Rate score pushes them in. A bowl game is not yet on Fleck's radar. "If you watched us last night,'' he said, "we're far from a bowl team.''
Instead, his aim is use the lesson from the whupping to help someday reach Michigan's level.
"We've got to get our team to look like that, play like that, run like that,'' he said. "And we'll get there.''
Randy Johnson covers college football for the Star Tribune. E-mail: rjohnson@startribune.com. Twitter: @RJStrib
