Minnesota seeks improvement in matchup vs. Northwestern State

Minnesota earned a victory in its season opener, but that doesn't mean coach P.J. Fleck is satisfied heading into his team's next matchup.

Fleck is looking for improvement on both sides of the ball when Minnesota (1-0) faces Northwestern State (1-0) on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.

The Golden Gophers are coming off a 23-10 win at home over Buffalo last week.

"There's a lot of fundamental details, techniques that we've got to clean up," Fleck said. "We saw in Game 1 that the great thing about playing Buffalo is they're a really good football team. ... We got tested in a lot of different areas."

Golden Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey passed many of his tests in his first collegiate start. He completed 19 of 35 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.

Fleck praised Lindsey but said the young quarterback still had room to improve. The Golden Gophers had the ball on the opposing 9-yard line last week when Lindsey took a sack for an 11-yard loss to prompt the offense to settle for a 38-yard field goal.

"There's a lot of things he learned," Fleck said. "You can't take a sack down there in the green zone."

Northwestern State will make the trip north from Louisiana to Minnesota, where the weekend forecast calls for temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s. That is a big difference from campus in Natchitoches, La., where the high temperature is forecast for 88 degrees on Saturday.

The Demons are coming off a 20-10 win over Alcorn State in their season opener. Northwestern State built a 13-0 lead at the half and held on for the victory, a momentous one for Northwestern State, which snapped a 20-game losing streak and earned its first win since Nov. 5, 2022.

Second-year coach Blaine McCorkle said the victory inspired confidence -- and relief.

"I don't think I've ever seen a team and a campus and a city as in need of a win as this football team, this university and Natchitoches did," McCorkle said. "It allows everybody to take a sigh of relief and lets people know that this football program (that) this city and this campus loves so much is alive and well."

Demons quarterback Abram Johnston will try to build on his opening week. He completed nine of 18 passes for 85 yards and one touchdown, with one interception.

--Field Level Media