Minnesota came away with a stunning victory over No. 11 USC despite some interesting coaching decisions.
Saturday night in Minneapolis. But it wasn't without some puzzling decisions over the course of the 60-minute battle.The first eyebrow-raiser came late in the first quarter after the Gophers moved the ball into the red zone. It was third down and seven yards to go when the Gophers decided to run the ball rather than try and throw for the first down. The result was a five-yard run and it led to a 32-yard field goal by Dragan Kesich.
USC responded with aggressiveness, moving the ball 21 yards on two passes in just 21 seconds to set up a game-tying field goal to end the half.Another strange series of events developed in the third quarter. Minnesota trailed 17-10 and faced a fourth-and-two at their own 42-yard line. Fleck ordered the punt team onto the field but second-guessed himself and burned a timeout, electing to bring the offense back onto the field but without a quarterback.
But as confident as Fleck was to give up on the punt earlier in the drive, he didn't keep the faith later in the drive when the Gophers faced a fourth down and eight yards to go from the USC 37-yard line. Rather than send Kesich on for a 54-yard field goal or keep the offense on the field again, he called for the punt and Mark Crawford pinned USC inside the five.
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