Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck is making some interesting comments after his team earned a huge upset win over USC. Fleck says his team took an antidote of confidence after getting beat by Michigan in September, per the Pioneer Press. The antidote apparently was an actual drink that contained Sprite, per On3.

Minnesota defeated USC in a huge Big Ten Conference win for the squad. The Golden Gophers defeated the Trojans, 24-17. Minnesota football is now 3-3 on the season, and 1-2 in the league. The squad got the run game going to defeat the Trojans, finishing the contest with 193 yards on the ground.

USC is in trouble in its first year as a Big Ten member. The Trojans are now just 3-2 overall, with a 1-2 conference record. USC got snake bit by penalties against Minnesota. The team was penalized eight times in the game, for 59 yards.

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Minnesota Golden Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer (16) runs for a touchdown against the USC Trojans during the second half at Huntington Bank Stadium.
© Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

No one expected the Golden Gophers to do much this season in the Big Ten. Minnesota was picked by many analysts to finish near the bottom of the conference, with 247 Sports putting them at no. 14 overall in the league. The conference welcomes in USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington this season.

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Minnesota is doing a bit better than that projection. While the Golden Gophers are 1-2 overall in the Big Ten, a conference win over USC is clearly a huge boost. The Trojans were picked by almost every analyst to finish in the top half of the Big Ten.

Fleck has had success in Minnesota. The coach had an 11-win season in 2019, with back-to-back 9 win campaigns in 2021 and 2022. The 2023 campaign was a disappointment for the team, as they finished the year with a 6-7 record.

The biggest mystery about Minnesota football may be what is contained in this antidote players are drinking. Players reportedly drank capsules of the stuff that included the lemon-lime soft drink. Fleck says the players were given antidotes following a tough loss to Michigan earlier this season.

“The antidote, we call it the antidote, the antidote this week was all confidence. Belief, confidence. My pregame speech was 10 seconds, ‘Let it rip!’ That’s it. That’s all I told them. And they did, they let it rip,” Fleck said.

Minnesota fans hope that no matter what is in this elixir, the players keep drinking it and getting wins. The Golden Gophers next play UCLA on Saturday, for a chance to win two conference games in a row against new league members.