The Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-1) stunned the Michigan Wolverines (3-2) on Saturday in a 20-14 victory to re-claim the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 2014.
The Elite
The Little Brown Jug is back where it belongs. Coming into this game, Minnesota had only beaten Michigan twice in my lifetime. They had lost five straight to the Wolverines, and hadn’t beaten them in Minneapolis since 1977. So don’t let anyone steal your joy. Wins over Michigan are extremely rare for this program. I don’t care if this is not
the same caliber of team that won a national championship three years ago. Any trophy game win is worth celebrating, this one especially. Soak it up!
Danny Collins. I owe Danny a mea culpa. Three weeks ago, in this very column, I declared that he was not a Big Ten-caliber defensive coordinator following a disastrous showing in a blowout loss to Mississippi State. What a difference three weeks makes. He took care of business against Akron and architected an impressive performance on the road against Washington before delivering a defensive masterpiece on Saturday against Michigan. His defense limited the Wolverines to 180 yards of total offense and pitched a shutout in the second half. The only touchdown the Gopher defense allowed all game came after a second quarter interception that set up Michigan on offense at the Minnesota 24-yard line. Interceptions on back-to-back drives by Aydan West and Zack Harden in the second half set up critical scoring drives.
The Minnesota defensive line. The Gophers’ dominance on defense started up front, where Minnesota stifled Michigan’s ground game and limited them to 2.8 yards per carry. Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood was sacked three times — twice by T.J. Bush — and rarely got loose. He was able to pick up a pair of first downs on a fourth quarter drive with a 14-yard run and then a 9-yard run, but the drive ended on a third down sack. And both interceptions were thrown when Underwood was under pressure.
Zack Harden. The second-year safety continues to shine as one of the top players on Danny Collins’ defense this season, finishing Saturday’s game with four total tackles. Harden came up big on the Wolverines’ opening drive, dropping running back Jordan Marshall for a loss on 3rd & 1 at the Michigan 49-yard line. In the fourth quarter, when Jaxon Howard’s hit on quarterback Bryce Underwood sent the ball flying into the air, it was Harden who snatched it out of the air for his first career interception.
Aydan West. The Michigan State transfer cornerback was elite in pass coverage, especially when lined up against the Wolverines’ top wide receiver J.J. Buchanan. It was Buchanan that Underwood was trying to connect with when his pass sailed into the arms of West for his first career interception.
Noah Jennings. The Cincinnati transfer wide receiver was Drake Lindsey’s most reliable target, hauling in seven receptions for 70 receiving yards. Jennings also picked up 31 yards on a perfectly-blocked end-around run on the first play of the Gophers’ game-winning touchdown drive.
T.J. Thomas. Darius Taylor was responsible for both of the Gophers’ touchdowns in the red zone, but it’s the Elon transfer running back who seems to be finding his footing on offense. He is a more compact back with a 5’8”, 190-lb. build, but Thomas is a tougher runner than he gets credit for. He led the team with 12 carries for 56 rushing yards on Saturday and made a diving catch on a bullet pass from Drake Lindsey on fourth down to keep Minnesota’s opening drive alive to start the second half.
The much-maligned Minnesota offensive line. Even with their third-string center (with the caveat that Greg Johnson is no ordinary third-string center) and their third-string left guard, this unit played physical and held their own against a very tough Michigan defensive front. They struggled with blitzes at times, especially in the second quarter, but didn’t allow a single sack. And while Thomas and Taylor only combined to average 2.9 yards per carry, the offense was able to run the ball with some consistency.
Penalties. Michigan has been one of the most penalized teams in the country under head coach Kyle Whittingham, and Minnesota needed to play clean to take advantage of that. The Gophers did exactly that, only drawing one flag all game.
The Meh
Special teams. Kicker Luke Drzewiecki is innocent, nailing both of his field goal attempts to remain a perfect 8-for-8 on the season. But the return game was bottled up all game long, and punter Tom Weston had a punt partially blocked in the second quarter to give the Wolverines a short field. To his credit, Weston came through when the team needed him most, pinning Michigan down at their own 13-yard line with a 57-yard punt in the final minutes of the game.
The Ugly
Drake Lindsey. Without a doubt, this was his worst performance since throwing three interceptions in the loss to Iowa last year. Lindsey finished the game 17-of-25 for 136 passing yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, and the only points Michigan scored in the game came off those two turnovers.
On 3rd & 6 at the Minnesota 24-yard line, blitzing linebacker Troy Bowles had a free run at Lindsey and hit him as he launched an ill-advised pass that hung in the air long enough for cornerback Smith Snowden to sit and wait for it to fall into his arms. The Wolverines scored five plays later to tie the game, 7-7.
Then came the back-breaker. The Gophers were putting together a vintage P.J. Fleck drive to close out the first half, marching 64 yards on 12 plays to take nearly eight minutes off the game clock. On 1st & 10 at the Michigan 23-yard line, offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh dialed up a throw-back screen pass to Darius Taylor. But Lindsey had two defenders in his face and linebacker Nathaniel Staehling read the play perfectly, jumping the route and returning the interception 79 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
