PISCATAWAY - In conducting his normal start-of-game-week press conference on Monday morning, Rutgers interim head coach Nunzio Campanile fielded 11 questions without having the next opponent, Minnesota, or its head coach, PJ Fleck, come up.

At that point, a Rutgers official gently asked the assembled media if there were any Minnesota questions. Only then did Fleck's name come up, and Campanile is certainly in a position to offer an opinion.

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Campanile was the head coach at perennial North Jersey parochial heavyweight Bergen Catholic from 2010-17. Fleck served as Rutgers wide receivers from 2010-11. Their paths crossed in those days, and Campanile hasn't forgotten.

"I think he's been really impressive," Campanile said Monday. "I first came to practice and watched him. I was like, "Wow, this guy, he's a thousand miles an hour." Can't be real. I guess as I got to know him, seems to be exactly who he is.

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"He's exactly -- he seems to bring that energy every day. I haven't been around him a lot in the last five or six years, but when he was here, I was super-impressed every time I came to practice that he was able to be that energetic, that positive and that competitive at all times, and obviously in the two programs he's had the opportunity to coach, he's done a great job of instilling that culture, and he clearly, that is what they are building their team on."

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Fleck returns to Rutgers on Saturday afternoon, and he is bringing a 6-0, 20th-ranked Minnesota team with him (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network). No matter what you thought about this matchup on paper in July and August, you were wrong. Just know that.

Here are few things to know heading into the matchup.

PJ Fleck's coaching staff is full of Rutgers guys

Fleck isn't the only Rutgers coaching alum making a return with Minnesota on Saturday. Fleck has surrounded himself with ex-Rutgers guys, one of which coached under Greg Schiano. Below is a breakdown of the Rutgers ties among Fleck's assistants.

Kirk Ciarrocca (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks): Rutgers co-offensive coordinator, 2008-10. Ciarrocca succeeded John McNulty, who was fired from his second stint as Rutgers OC on Sept. 29.

Joe Rossi (defensive coordinator/linebackers): Rutgers special teams coordinator, 2012-13; Rutges defensive coordinator 2014-15; Coached under Kyle Flood.

Jim Panagos (defensive line): Rutgers defensive line coach, 2012-15. Coached under Kyle Flood.

Matt Simon (wide receivers/passing game coordinator): Rutgers player development coach, 2012; Rutgers wide receivers coach, 2013. Coached under Kyle Flood.

For what it's worth, a fifth ex-Rutgers assistant, Robb Smith, was Fleck's defensive coordinator at Minnesota for 2017 and most of 2018, but was fired on Nov. 4, 2018 after a handful of horrid defensive showings.

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Minnesota is ahead of schedule

The Golden Gophers returned a lot of experience, and showed defensive improvement after Rossi took over Smith last November, so at a minimum, they had to be viewed as at least a cursory threat to win the Big Ten West this fall.

How seriously to take Minnesota at this point is debatable. It still has to play Penn State (off a bye, Nov. 9 at home), travel to Iowa (Nov. 16), and host prohibitive Big Ten West favorite Wisconsin (Nov. 30, regular-season finale). In the end, maybe Minnesota regresses to the mean and winds up third in the West. We'll soon find out.

Here is what is not up for debate. On Oct. 19, Minnesota, forever a mid-tier (in some years worse) Big Ten program, will play a game with a 6-0 record and a consensus No. 20 ranking. Neither is the norm for the Golden Gophers at this point of a season. Something significant is unfolding for this program.

By any metric, the Golden Gophers are ahead of schedule under this Fleck regime.

Fleck is still only 38-years old

I Googled Fleck's age and I couldn't believe it. One, it feels like he's been around forever already. Two, he's accomplished quite a bit.

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The type of high-energy, super-positive extrovert people tend to flock to, Fleck went 1-11 in his first season as a head coach at Western Michigan in 2013. When he was done, the Broncos started 13-0 in 2016, won the MAC, gave Wisconsin all it could handle before falling in the Cotton Bowl, and finished the season ranked 15th.

Fleck parlayed that rise into Minnesota, which he has going in a positive direction. How high the Golden Gophers can go, and how long Fleck stays are both interesting long-term storylines.

About that gigantic point spread

Those of you concerned with gambling matters, you surely saw this game opened on Sunday afternoon with Minnesota as a 30-point road favorite. That is a huge opening number, but to be honest, it was justified.

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Indiana beat Rutgers, 35-0, which means it covered closing lines of -27.5 and -28. According to Darren Rovell, 17 percent of the total money bet across the more than 100 William Hill sportsbooks was on Rutgers-Indiana. Seventeen percent is an absurdly-high number, especially given the early Saturday slate included Texas-Oklahoma.

So what's the point? Rutgers hasn't covered since it blew out UMass on Aug. 30. Not only has it not covered in that span, it hasn't been close. The line has moved to -28.5 or -29 as of Tuesday morning. I wouldn't expect that to deter potential bettors.

The real shame of it is, you cannot (legally) bet against Rutgers in the state of New Jersey.

Josh Newman is currently the beat reporter for Rutgers University sports. He's a native of Commack, New York, on the north shore of Long Island, and is almost entirely free of his New York accent. Contact him at jnewman4@gannettnj.com