Minnesota ended up flying out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport just after 9 a.m. Saturday morning following the cancellation of their original Friday flight due to the nationwide ground stop issued by the FAA.
But I’m not sure the Gophers ever landed in State College.
For the third time this season, the Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-5) lost in a blowout, this time in a 42-14 loss on the road to the Penn State Nittany Lions (6-4) after falling behind 28-0 in the first half.
On the opening drive of the game,
all three of the Gophers’ first three plays went for negative yards, including a sack on third down. But the drive was saved by a defensive holding penalty in the secondary on that third down sack, only for quarterback Drake Lindsey to fumble the snap three plays later. Penn State recovered the fumble at the Minnesota 44-yard line and scored five plays later to take a 7-0 lead.
The Gophers went three-and-out on their next drive and Tom Weston shanked his punt, which only netted 18 yards, setting up the Nittany Lions at the Minnesota 33-yard line. Four plays later, Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht had all the time in the world to find tight end Benjamin Brahmer open in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown pass, extending the Nittany Lions’ lead to 14-0.
Lakeville product Carson Hansen gashed his home state team to the tune of 126 rushing yards in the first half, including a 46-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give his team a three-score lead.
Penn State effectively put the game away on their final drive of the first half and their opening draft of the second half. Becht connected with running back Cam Wallace out of the backfield for a one-yard touchdown pass before halftime to make it 28-0, before leading the Nittany Lions on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive coming out of the locker room, capped by another touchdown pass to Brahmer.
Minnesota scored on their first possession of the second half, sparked by a 58-yard pass from Lindsey to running back Darius Taylor on a wheel route — the longest pass completion of the season for the Gophers. Lindsey’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Javon Tracy on the next play cut the deficit to 35-7.
After Minnesota forced a three-and-out on defense, the Gophers capitalized on a kick-catch interference penalty on the punt return, driving 42 yards for a drive that ended with another Lindsey-to-Tracy touchdown. Their next drive ended with a turnover on downs, effectively eliminating any chance of an improbable comeback.
Lindsey finished 16-of-30 for 185 passing yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked three times. Darius Taylor led Minnesota in rushing with 13 carries for 32 yards. The defense allowed Penn State to run wild, rolling up 229 yards on the ground. Rocco Becht was 9-of-15 for 84 passing yards with three touchdowns.
