Five takeaways from P.J. Fleck’s news conference: Gophers are slow starters

Punter Tom Weston averaged 46.4 yards on his seven punts, having one fair caught at the Boilermakers 14-yard line.

“We were locked in on special teams,” Fleck said. “We made huge punts at critical moments; Tom did a good job with that. … And we were able to be consistent in the field-goal game, and that helped us. We made our two field goals. They missed one.”

The Gophers safety duo of Kerry Brown and Koi Perich each had an interception — Brown’s pick ending a Purdue scoring threat at the Minnesota 1 and Perich’s pick-six providing the winning points. Fleck had praise for another member of the secondary, sixth-year player Jai’Onte’ McMillan.

After the Gophers took a 27-20 lead on Perich’s 27-yard interception return for a TD with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter, Purdue drove to the Gophers 7 and faced fourth-and-goal with two minutes left. Quarterback Ryan Browne fired a pass to Michael Jackson III at the goal line, but McMillan, a transfer from TCU, knocked the ball away from Jackson, ending the Boilermakers’ last good threat.

“He is a selfless player,” Fleck said. “He can play nickel, he can play the dime, he can play safety. He’s very versatile. He’s played a lot of football in his career, so I’m just really proud of the selfless teammate that he is.’’

Fleck considers Nebraska coach Matt Rhule a friend, and the two joined UNLV coach Dan Mullen last summer for a Kenny Chesney concert in Las Vegas.