I try each week to have an interview with a representative from Purdue football’s opponent but this year I’ve only been able to do so with Notre Dame. The first two opponents don’t have a ton of representation
online and USC no longer has an SB Nation site. Then there’s Illinois who never seems to want to do Q&As for reasons that I can’t fully grasp. But alas. Regardless, the fine folks from The Daily Gopher agreed to answer my questions this week and they did not disappoint. Make sure to check them out for coverage heading into this weekend’s game.
Minnesota comes into this game at 3-2 but none of their wins are particularly impressive. How would you characterize the season so far for the Gophers?
Other than one game, this season is going exactly as expected. The program was replacing a starting QB, 3/5 of their offensive line, both corners, their top two receivers and a few key defensive players who left early for the draft. So they had a number of questionable position groups. But in year 9 of the Fleck era, the program has some stability and replacing starters isn’t quite as scary as it used to be. They earned a couple of non-conference wins, lost their first game on the road at Cal, beat Rutgers at home and were unsurprisingly owned by Ohio State. Other than the Cal game, this is exactly what was expected. With a bunch of new starters, a younger core getting opportunities, this is a year for those kids to learn and potentially field a better team in 2026.
Drake Lindsey has done a good job protecting the football this year with just two interceptions against seven touchdowns. What are his strengths and weaknesses?
Drake Lindsey is going to be a very good quarterback. He has an elite arm, an ideal frame, is given a lot of trust by the coaching staff and the Gopher fanbase is very excited about this kid. Trailing at halftime of the Rutgers game, and struggling to run the ball, the staff made a conscious decision to let Lindsey win the game with his arm. And he delivered. His strengths are in his arm and his decision making. He throws a beautiful ball and so far has limited his poor decisions when throwing. His mobility and scrambling abilities are not impressive, but given time in the pocket, he has been delivering.
The Purdue defense has some very big holes especially in their secondary. Does Minnesota’s defense have any holes that make you worry heading into a matchup against Purdue?
I would say that the biggest “holes” for this Gopher defense are tackling and having a young/new defensive coordinator. Tackling has been an issue at times, particularly in the Cal and Rutgers games. In the second half of the Rutgers game, the Gopher defense made a concerted effort to take away the passing game of Athan Kaliakmanis. Meanwhile, Rutgers started running the ball, gashing the Gopher defense on the edges. Combined, this had defenders out of position, missing tackles and lead to 161 yards rushing for Antwan Raymond. At times, Danny Collins (the Gopher DefCord), has been very good in his new job and at times he has been overmatched (see second half of Cal game). He is learning on the fly and has had mixed results.
Which units on both offense and defense are the strengths and weaknesses for this Minnesota team?
Strengths – the passing game on offense and safeties on defense. Lindsey has been very good, but the Gopher receivers have also been very good at creating separation and getting open. On defense, Koi Perich and Kerry Brown are both NFL caliber safeties.
Weaknesses – the running game and linebackers. Darius Taylor is a very talented running back for the Gophers, but the offensive line has not yet found it’s footing and the ground game has been non-existent. Defensively, I mentioned the missed tackles. The linebackers for Minnesota are solid, but they need to clean up their tackling.
If you wake up Sunday and see Minnesota lost to Purdue, what would be your best guess as to why?
I think it would be because our freshman quarterback had a game making freshman mistakes that directly lead to Purdue points. That and then Purdue would have to find a rushing attack that kept the Gopher defense on its heels throughout the second half after building a bit of a lead.
What’s your prediction for Saturday night?
This feels like a great matchup for Minnesota. I expect to see the Gopher passing game move the ball and then the hope is that the ground game can find some yards. Purdue should score some points, also through the air, but it won’t be enough. If Minnesota is positive in the turnover battle, they might open this up to a sizeable win.
