After finishing the nonconference part of the schedule with an unblemished 3-0 record, including a season-opening win over then No. 1 Texas, Ohio State went on the road and beat an explosive Washington team that is going to give the rest of the Big Ten fits the remainder of the year.

Now, the Buckeyes return home to face Minnesota for homecoming this Saturday, and it’ll be a much-anticipated night game in the ‘Shoe in all of its glory.

We like to keep up with what opposing coaches say about Ohio State, both before and after their teams have a chance to match up with the Buckeyes on the field, and this week, it was time to listen in on Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck. He met with his local media on Monday for his weekly press conference, and a lot of the discussion centered around the massive challenge of traveling to Columbus to take on the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes.

Fleck is an energy drink infomercial every time he steps to the podium, and he didn’t hold back with the amount of praise he had for Ohio State. If you missed any of his press conference, he did a great job of selling the colors Scarlet and Gray in front of the media. We have his entire press conference here, thanks to the Minnesota Gophers YouTube channel.

Some of his comments revolve around how good the Ohio State defense is, how challenging it will be to contain wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, the respect he has for Ryan Day and the OSU coaching staff, and more.

Ohio State and Minnesota are set to kick off at 7:30 p.m., and we’ll continue to bring you previews, analysis, and more when it comes to this game and what we’ve seen so far from the Buckeyes in 2025. Keep coming back.

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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck praises Ohio State ahead of game Saturday