The Minnesota Gophers suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to the Purdue Boilermakers 20-10. The Gophers’ dreams of an undefeated season were crushed.
“I don’t think I played well enough,” said Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan. “Clearly that doesn’t allow you to stay ahead of the sticks and I have to be better for sure to give us a better chance to be successful.”
Minnesota’s high powered offense started off the game slow and was without leading rusher and dark horse Heisman candidate Mohamed Ibrahim, who was absent for the entire game. A five yard loss on the first play from scrimmage and a three-and-out sent the ball back to the Boilermakers quickly. The Gophers had trouble running the ball all day.
“Mo was close,” said Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck. “I think if we had a few more days, he would’ve been able to go…he was out there pregame, practiced yesterday, practiced Thursday…again we’re always going to keep our players safe.”
Purdue halfback Dylan Downing managed to scamper for an 11-yard first down on their first play on offense, and the Boilermakers didn’t step off the gas pedal. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who was battling a rib injury, threw a crucial third down pass to tight end Paul Piferi to keep the drive alive. The drive ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Downing and the Gophers faced their first deficit of the season.
On the Gophers’ next drive, Morgan followed up a near interception with actually tossing another to linebacker Jacob Wahlberg. The Boilermakers would take over at midfield and convert a 43-yard field goal making the game 10-0.
Thanks to a Jordan Howden interception, Minnesota was able to get on the score board in the second quarter. Gophers kicker Matthew Trickett, after missing a 27-yard field goal earlier, nailed a 45-yarder to make the match a one score game, 10-3.
Turnovers kept the Gophers alive and in the game: First Howden, then Jalen-Logan Redding second with a fumble recovery (forced fumble by Tyler Nubin) and to end the half, Nubin picked off O’Connell. Minnesota would be tied with the Boilermakers if not for a dropped Michael Brown-Stephens catch in the endzone that bounced off of him into the hands of Purdue defensive back Cam Allen.
The Gophers now have a 2-19 record when trailing at halftime under Fleck’s tenure.
Danny Striggow and the Gophers defense started the second half strong. During the third down with 12 yards to go, the Gophers’ edge rusher sacked O’Connell to force a Boilermaker punt. Following that stop, Minnesota started off strong offensively as well with a successful Brevyn Spann-Ford tight end screen pass for a twenty yard gain.
Brown-Stephens made a critical ten-yard catch to set up Minnesota with a first and goal. Minnesota running back Bryce Williams bowled his way into the endzone to tie the game at 10 a-piece.
In the final quarter, both teams dominated defensively. With around eight minutes left in regulation, O’Connell tossed a 22-yard pass to his favorite target and Iowa transfer, wide out Charlie Jones. This would slot the Boilermakers in Minnesota territory. The drive would end in a 25-yard field goal by Purdue kicker Mitchell Fineran. The Boilermakers led 13-10 with just under 5 minutes remaining.
Minnesota went three-and-out on their next possession. Following that, redshirt freshman Purdue running back Devin Mockobee went off, running for 68 yards down to the Gopher’s two yardline, then found paydirt. Purdue took a 20-10 lead on a 2-play, 75-yard drive that only took 45 seconds.
Morgan’s pass during the final minutes was intercepted by Allen again; the safety had two key interceptions in the game. Purdue would win the game 20-10 and Minnesota would lose its second straight homecoming game.
“Gotta congratulate Purdue, they played a really good game,” Fleck said. “They forced us to not play very well and you have to give them a lot of credit. They’re well coached, they got a good football team and we didn’t play well enough to win tonight.”
The Gophers enter their bye week and will not play next weekend. They will travel to Champaign, Illinois to face off against the Fighting Illini on Oct. 15. Illinois defeated the Wisconsin Badgers Saturday by a final score of 34-10 in Madison, Wisconsin.
“We’re not frustrated at all,” said Gophers linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin. “We didn’t stop them [Purdue] to allow our offense to win the football game. We’re not going to sit here and go back and forth, this is the team’s fault.”