Fleck Smears Player's Blood on Cheeks After Gophers Beat Washington 27-24

Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck wiped blood from linebacker Maverick Baranowski's cut mouth onto his own face after a 27-24 Big Ten win at Washington.

Minnesota opened Big Ten play with a 27-24 win over Washington on Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Linebacker Maverick Baranowski clinched the outcome on the game's final play, tackling Huskies receiver Dezmen Roebuck.

That play left a mark on the linebacker. Roebuck's cleat caught Baranowski's helmet and opened a cut on his mouth, and when head coach P.J. Fleck hugged one of his captains in the celebration, he noticed the blood and smeared it on his own cheeks. Baranowski's blood also stained the shoulder of Fleck's white quarter-zip pullover. "He's my blood brother," Fleck said afterward.

Minnesota built its week around a gritty frontiersman mentality for the trip to the Pacific Northwest. "The Daniel Boones and Davey Crocketts, Lewis and Clarks; let's go out there and explore," Fleck said. "Let's go be the best version of ourselves. Let's go hunt at night." He later tied the postgame scene to that idea: "Back in the day, I'm sure that's what they did — the frontiersman out west — a little blood on there, I guess."

Receiver Javon Tracy, who led the Gophers with seven catches for 41 yards and a touchdown, said the gesture was beyond him. "I would never do that, but PJ is different," Tracy said. "He's crazy. He's very energetic and just loves it. You can tell what he does for the team really shows. We love him for that."

Baranowski smiled when he saw Fleck wipe the blood across his own face. "The head coach always having my back for the last five years, I love that guy more than anyone," Baranowski said. "It's such an awesome opportunity to share that moment with him. He's crazy, man." Cornerback John Nestor offered a coda to the defense's night: "Bleeding, too, don't forget about that."

The defensive performance backed up the mood. Minnesota sacked Washington quarterback Demond Williams seven times and intercepted him twice. Williams, who had been averaging 50 rushing yards per game, was held to 15 on the ground, and the Huskies finished with 40 rushing yards on 27 carries while converting one of 10 third downs.

Fleck pointed first to his defensive line when explaining the result. "D-Line played nasty, low, physical," he said. "I thought they dictated the terms of the fight, dominated the line of scrimmage, eliminated the run game. I think that was one of the biggest factors in the game."

The push had been building since a 41-7 win over Akron. Coming out of that game, Fleck said he challenged the defensive line in practice last week, telling reporters of the Akron performance, "We didn't play violent enough."

Karter Menz led the Gophers with two sacks, with Baranowski, TJ Bush, Riley Sunram and Mason Carrier adding one apiece and Anthony Smith and Naquan Crowder splitting another. Baranowski topped Minnesota with seven tackles to go with an interception and a tackle for loss, and he said the defense set out to play faster. "That's our DNA on this team," Baranowski said. "We are out there fighting, scratching, clawing for everything we can. I thought we did a great job of that."