New Mexico's bowl kicker signs with Minnesota
The Gophers picked up the placekicker off the New Mexico team they just beat in a bowl game, and Fleck is already selling the fan base on Thursday's opener as State Fair week's real headline act.
Minnesota just signed the guy who tried to beat them in the bowl game
On3's Pete Nakos reported on August 21 that New Mexico kicker Luke Drzewiecki has signed with Minnesota, calling him an all-conference selection out of the Mountain West. The wrinkle is obvious to anyone who watched the bowl game: Drzewiecki spent last season lined up against the Gophers, not for them, in a game Minnesota won 20-17 on December 26.
There's no record here of what went wrong at kicker in Minneapolis last fall, but the fact that the staff went and got the leg off the team they just squeaked past says something about how thin that margin felt in the building. Drzewiecki now walks into a Big Ten program with an all-conference resume and a very specific memory of the last time these two teams shared a scoreboard.
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How last season actually ended
Minnesota closed last season by winning three of its final five, and the shape of that stretch is worth remembering going into a fresh opener. The Gophers beat Michigan State 23-20 on November 1, then dropped two lopsided road games — 13-42 at Oregon and 35-38 at Northwestern — before turning it around at home.
They beat Wisconsin 17-7 on November 29 to close the rivalry series on a high note, then finished last season with that 20-17 bowl win over New Mexico on December 26. It's a season that ended better than its middle suggested, and it's the only form on the board until Thursday.
Fleck is 6-3 on opening night, and he's not shy about why he loves it
P.J. Fleck told reporters this week that he loves Thursday openers and everything that comes with them in Minneapolis. "I think it's what Minnesota is all about," he said, via Fox9. "You're tying the Thursday night game into the State Fair, just the pride people have of living in Minnesota." He's 6-3 on opening night at Minnesota, with his only losses coming against North Carolina, Ohio State and Michigan.
Catch @Coach_Fleck at the @mnstatefair TOMORROW‼️ 11 am – @KFAN1003 (Near the Grandstand) 12:15 pm – @FOX9 (Next to the Giant Slide) #RTB #SkiUMah #Gophers t.co/zuzxojdafQ
That fair tie-in isn't just a talking point — GopherFootball's own account was sending fans to go find him there, posting his stops the day before: 11 a.m. on KFAN near the Grandstand, 12:15 p.m. on FOX9 by the Giant Slide. It's the kind of week Fleck is describing, coach and fan base both out at the fairgrounds days before kickoff.
The other piece of his camp messaging has been about Drake Lindsey, who's back for a second year as the starter after what Fleck has described as some offseason adversity. Behind him, 247Sports has the backup job unsettled between incumbent Max Shikenjanski, Liberty transfer Max Merdinger and freshman Brady Palmer — not a QB1 competition, but a real one for snaps two and three.
Eastern Illinois already has one win this season — Minnesota doesn't
Thursday night vs. Eastern Illinois opens the season at Huntington Bank Stadium, and the Panthers arrive with actual tape: they beat Murray State 28-14 in a Week 0 game on August 27, per ESPN's box score. Running back Charles Kellom carried it 19 times for 171 yards and three touchdowns, including an 88-yard run, while quarterback Cole LaCrue went 11-of-18 for 101 yards and a score.
None of that has stopped Minnesota from opening as a heavy favorite — the line opened at -43.5 with the total set at 51.5, a number that reads more middling than a track-meet total given the spread attached to it. Covers' injury aggregator lists three Gophers as questionable heading in: receiver B. Stevens (illness), tight end P. Walsh (wrist) and running back A. Turner (knee), all reported last week — worth watching, but nothing on that list is a confirmed out.