MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Koi Perich returned an interception for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and Minnesota held on to defeat Purdue 27-20 on Saturday.
Drake Lindsey threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns for the Golden Gophers (4-2, 2-1 in the Big Ten), who overcame deficits of 10-0 and 20-13.
Ryan Browne threw for 203 yards and ran for 61 yards and a touchdown for Purdue (2-4, 0-3), who outrushed the Gophers 253-30 but were done in by numerous
mistakes.
Minnesota tied the game 20-20 midway through the fourth on a 14-play, 70-yard drive that ended in Lindsey's 4-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Geers. The drive was aided by two face mask penalties on the Boilermakers.
On the next play from scrimmage, Perich — a sophomore safety who made many preseason All-America lists — jumped in front of a Browne pass and returned it 27 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
Browne then marched the Boilermakers all the way to Minnesota's 5-yard line, but a holding penalty pushed them back 10 yards and a fourth-down pass was broken up at the goal line by Jai'Onte' McMillan.
Myles Slusher had six tackles, broke up two passes and intercepted another for the Boilermakers, who have lost four straight.
Purdue: The Boilermakers dominated both lines of scrimmage and outgained the Gophers by nearly 200 total yards, but they couldn't overcome nine penalties, three dropped passes and three interception, including one at the goal line on a halfback pass.
Minnesota: The return of leading rusher Darius Taylor, who missed two games due to injury, was supposed to reinvigorate Minnesota's rushing attack. But in the two games since he came back, Taylor has just 44 yards rushing on 22 carries.
Minnesota hosts Nebraska on Friday; Purdue visits Northwestern on Saturday.
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