“When we throw the ball and we know what to do and we know where we’re going, we’re very good,” Fleck said. “However, we are playing against really good defensive lines. I mean, no one is just going to let you run the football. For the most part, our pass (defense) does a really good job of handling who we face and what we face.”

The Gophers rank second in the Big Ten in total defense (262.3 yards allowed per game), second in passing defense (139.6) and fourth in scoring defense (15.9 ppg). Opponents have done well against Minnesota’s defense, which ranks 11th at 122.7.

Minnesota’s defense has been opportunistic, leading the Big Ten in turnover margin of plus 8. Fleck wants more.

“I know we’re doing very well in that department right now, but if you look at the games we haven’t won, we don’t get enough takeaways,” Fleck said. “We must play complementary football.”

Improvement on special teams will be important for the Gophers, especially if they continue to play tight games. Dragan Kesic, the Big Ten’s best player last year when he made 23 of 27 field goal attempts, has been in a slump this year, going 7 of 13.

In the return game, they got a boost from true freshman Coy Perich, who leads the Big Ten with a 15.4-yard average on punt returns.