P.J. Fleck on late game decision vs USC

Jim Rome

Minnesota head coach says going for it on 4th down late was essential in beating the Trojans.

Transcript

00:00Listen, I know you've turned the page.

00:01I know you're focused on UCLA,

00:03but I've got to get you to go back to USC for one minute.

00:06When you look at that fourth and goal

00:07from the one in the final minute,

00:09you could have kicked a field goal.

00:10Instead, you go for it and you score a TD.

00:12It was so close, PJ, that it had to be reviewed.

00:15Can you take me through the thought process?

00:17Why did you decide to go for it and not kick it?

00:20That's a great question.

00:21I mean, you've been answering that question

00:22pretty much all week,

00:23and it was a pretty simple call when it's all said and done.

00:26If you peel back the onion a little bit,

00:28we got three takeaways on defense,

00:30but they pretty much went down the field for 380 yards

00:33in every single one of their possessions.

00:34We had to limit possessions.

00:36And when you look at it, we weren't stopping them,

00:38but we were creating some takeaways.

00:40And I figured with a minute left with no timeouts,

00:42USC is one of the most explosive teams in the country.

00:45If they marched down the field,

00:46they only got to go 70 yards in a minute.

00:48They're one of the best two-minute teams in the country

00:50with one of the best passers,

00:52one of the best core wide receivers out there.

00:55And if we don't get the four down,

00:59then they got to go at least 70 yards

01:00to be in field goal range.

01:01So it was worth it to me.

01:03If we kick the field goal, that's fine,

01:04but they're probably going to get the ball in the minus 25,

01:06where they only got to go 50 yards to be in field goal range,

01:08maybe less with Michael Lance.

01:10So to me, it's not very often you got a quarter of a yard

01:15to beat the number 11 team in the country

01:16at the University of Minnesota

01:17in front of a sellout crowd, a stripe out,

01:20our third this year.

01:22So you had to do it.

01:24And it wasn't a very hard call.

01:25Had to be done, and our guys executed it well.

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