I hope that everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend and the beginning of the school year is a smooth transition. The Monday Perspective took the long weekend to contemplate the Gophers week one win over Buffalo and we are very excited about the debut of Drake Lindsey.
A redshirt freshman, getting his first collegiate start is not always something that produces great results, but I think that Lindsey’s first game is reason for optimism.
The stats were good, the eye-test was great and the decision-making
was decent. But TMP’s optimism is less about the stats and more about the trust put in this freshman.
Throughout the offseason there were clear indications about just how much the coaching staff believed that Lindsey was their man. Perhaps most compelling was the fact that they made zero effort to bring in an experienced quarterback to provide competition and even a tiny semblance of a backup plan.
You may recall the 2023 season when Athan Kaliakmanis had started 11 games for the program as a redshirt sophomore. The athletic quarterback was the hand-picked recruit of Fleck and Kirk Ciarrocca, he was “their guy” and was coming off a decent season as the team’s starter. But that offseason they made the decision to bring in some competition for their young starter, he decided to leave and that opened the door for Max Brosmer to come in and have the season he had in 2024.
Rumors even persisted this offseason that highly sought after quarterbacks in the transfer portal reached out to Minnesota, desiring to be this year’s Brosmer. But the staff was not just committed to Lindsey, they believed he was ready to be an elite quarterback to lead the program in 2025.
And that was backed up throughout the offseason and into week one of the season where Lindsey threw a whopping 35 passes. Early on in this Buffalo game, the staff was willing to let Lindsey use his arm to move the offense and that lasted till through the final drive.
- 2nd play of the game – 12-yard first down strike to Koi Perich
- 1st 3rd down of the game – 11-yard out to Jalen Smith that was a perfectly thrown ball and bobbled on the sideline
- 3rd and 8 on the first play inside the redzone – pass play to Geers for 7.5 yards
- next drive, 1st and goal from the 9 – pass play called, for a Geers touchdown
- the one minute offense to end the first half – 9 pass plays called to just 2 running plays as Lindsey led a 50-yard drive to get points before the half
The final breakdown of plays for the Gopher offense was 44 runs and 35 passes. But before the game’s final drive, where the offense milked 9:45 of clock with 16 plays, the breakdown was 29 runs to 34 passes. The point is, the staff trusted Lindsey with both quantity of attempts and in key moments.
And for the most part the decision making throughout those key moments was also very good. The 1st quarter pass to Smith that was bobbled was an elite throw, he rolled out to find Geers for a 14-yard gain that was dropped, and of course the 60-yard strike to Smith that essentially put the game out of reach.
There were some poor decisions along the way. He took a sack inside the 5-yard line, one bad pass “should” have been an interception and a few other plays inside the redzone were questionable throws. But the good certainly outweighed the bad and here is where I’ll remind you that this was the first start for a redshirt freshman.
A great start for Lindsey. Looking forward to watching his development, but through game 1, I am pleased.
