The Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-2) mounted a fourth-quarter comeback Saturday night to escape with a 27-20 Homecoming win over the Purdue Boilermakers (2-4).
The Elite
Turnovers. The Gophers have struggled to generate
turnovers this season, with four of their six turnovers coming against Northwestern State. Against Purdue, Minnesota forced three turnovers, and each of them was critical to the outcome of the game. Kerry Brown’s diving interception at the goal line in the second quarter foiled a Boilermaker scoring opportunity that would have given them a 14-0 lead. John Nestor’s interception later in the second quarter was converted into a game-tying 46-yard field goal. Finally, Koi Perich’s pick-six in the fourth quarter gave the Gophers their first lead of the game and proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
Jai’Onte’ McMillan’s fourth down pass break-up. On 4th & Goal at the 7-yard line, Minnesota brought pressure with seven defenders, leaving four defensive backs in single coverage against Purdue’s wide receivers. McMillan was lined up against Michael Jackson III, the Boilermakers’ leading receiver. Jackson ran a slant and McMillan won the matchup, getting a hand in to break up the pass and force a turnover on downs.
Danny Collins’ halftime adjustments. I did not have very kind things to say about the Gophers’ defensive coordinator at halftime. So I must give credit where credit is due: The Minnesota defense looked much better in the second half, limiting Purdue to three points in the final two quarters. Most importantly, the run defense took a step forward after getting gashed on the ground by Purdue in the first half.
Purdue’s offense before halftime:
- 9-of-16 for 87 passing yards and 1 INT
- 23 attempts for 178 rushing yards (7.7 YPC)
Purdue’s offense after halftime:
- 12-of-24 for 116 passing yards and 1 INT
- 17 attempts for 75 rushing yards (4.4 YPC)
Brady Denaburg. He did it. He finally did it. Denaburg made his first field goal attempt of 40 yards or more since 2023, stretching back to his time at Syracuse. He was 2-for-2 on the night. I tip my hat to him.
The uniforms. These are hands down my favorite current uniform combination. Straight fire.
The Meh
Drake Lindsey. This was the first time all season that Lindsey didn’t look like himself. He was under frequent pressure, and the physical play of the Purdue defensive backs — which was tacitly endorsed by the officiating crew — forced him to try to fit far too many passes into tight windows. But there were also times when Lindsey had a clean pocket and was off the mark, especially on touch passes and a handful of screen passes. His interception in the third quarter came on a tipped pass, but it was also a bad decision on his part. Ultimately, he delivered when his team needed it, particularly on a three-yard scramble on 4th & 2 in the fourth quarter.
The wide receivers. As I said, the officiating crew made it all but clear that they were not going to be calling defensive pass interference against Purdue, giving their defensive backs the green light to play press man coverage and abuse the Minnesota wide receivers with impunity. What disappointed me more than the poor officiating was how often the Gophers’ pass catchers struggled to create separation. The Boilermakers finished with 12 pass break-ups, which accounted for half of Drake Lindsey’s incompletions. Not all of those pass break-ups are the fault of the wide receivers, but the lack of separation certainly did not help.
The Ugly
The offensive line. It’s bad. And the fact that head coach P.J. Fleck and offensive line coach Brian Callahan are still shuffling the offensive line at the midpoint of the season tells me they are searching for answers. The ground game is the worst it has ever been under Fleck, with Darius Taylor picking up just 32 rushing yards on 14 carries. The Gophers are simply not playing physical up front, and Taylor is having to fight just to get back to the line of scrimmage. The most concerning part is that it seems to be getting worse each week, not better.
The run defense. 178 yards rushing in the first half simply cannot happen.
Minnesota had no business winning this game. A win is a win. I’m not going to reject the result, but I have serious concerns about the process. You’re not going to win many games giving up 250 rushing yards. You’re not going to win many games by rushing for 30 yards. You’re not going to win many games when you need not one but TWO facemask penalties to keep your game-winning touchdown drive alive. Even going back to Rutgers, you’re not going to win many games on a bad snap that costs the opposing team 15 yards of field position. There is something to be said about the resilience of this team and their ability to find ways to win even when they’re not playing well, but when you live on the edge, you can also die on the edge.
