Despite trailing for most of the game, Koi Perich picked off Ryan Browne with 7:40 remaining to give Minnesota their first as they held on to beat Purdue 27-20. The Purdue offense looked nearly unstoppable for three quarters and Drake Lindsey was playing as poorly as he has played in a Gopher uniform. But the Gophers were able to hang around and find a way to pull out the Homecoming win.
Lindsey was truly struggling for most of tonight’s game. He was not helped by the fact that the Gopher offense
had absolutely no rushing attack, the offensive line was not very good and the referees had zero interest in calling defensive pass interference on the Purdue DBs. But when it mattered most, Lindsey showed his moxie, leading the offense to a game-tying drive when he connected with Jameson Geers for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
He finished with decent stats. Throwing two touchdowns, 232 yards and just one interception, which was essentially a punt. However, his accuracy was off; he was often locked into his first read. As the offense transitioned to a short-passing game in lieu of running the ball, he was not getting to the right guys in the right spot. Again…accuracy.
With his struggles, Purdue should have been up by more than just seven points in the fourth quarter. They were able to gash the Gopher defense on the ground and did more to stop themselves than the Gopher defense did to slow them. But again…when it mattered most, the Gopher defense made the plays. Perich was caught flat-footed and took poor angles in his run fits, but again…made the plays when it mattered most.
Other Gophers also stepped up to make some big plays throughout. Kerry Brown’s redzone interception in the first half when Purdue decided to try a half-back pass with Mockobee, was huge for keeping the score down. And Jai’Onte McMillan’s breakup on 4th and goal with under two minutes sealed the game.
Purdue rushed for 253 yards, getting 98 from Devin Mockobee, 73 from Malachi Singleton (on just 5 carries) and 61 from their quarterback Ryan Browne. A 6.3 rushing yards per carry average and the offense earned 456 total yards for the game. Through the first three quarters, Minnesota was fortunate that the score was as close as it was. But critical facemask penalties on the game-tying drive and of course, the pick-six from Browne doomed the Boilermakers…when it mattered most.
This game made it painfully obvious that Minnesota has some serious issues with the offensive line and defending the run. Those will be discussed in the coming days. But when it mattered most, this team stepped up to come from behind and earn another Big Ten win. Up next, Nebraska comes to Huntington Bank Stadium on Friday night.
