The Minnesota Gophers prevailed this afternoon in a 31-28 win over the Scarlett Red Knights in a seesaw Big Ten classic. The teams combined for almost 750 yards in total offense, and Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey threw for over 300 yards, and three touchdown passes.

Neither defense distinguished itself today, but the Gophers made some key plays where it mattered. And the only turnover of the game, an interception by Minnesota’s Kerry Brown, led directly to his team’s second touchdown.

Rutgers Puts Gophers in Early Hole

The game started inauspiciously for the Gophers as Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanais sliced and diced the Minnesota secondary for 47 yards as he led his team on a ten-play 71-yard drive. But the Scarlet Knights stayed on the ground after that, and the drive stalled, forcing a field goal attempt by Jai Patel. Fortunately for the Gophers, defensive tackle Deven Eastern blocked the 22-yard attempt, and they took possession at their own 12-yard line.

Rutgers was right back at it on the next series as Kaliakmanis went 5-5 on an eight-play 60-yard drive that culminated in a four-yard touchdown reception by DT Sheffield to put the Scarlett Knights up 7-0. The highlight of the drive was a 22-yard connection between the Rutgers QB and KJ Duff. Once again, the Gophers offense stalled and Kaliakmanis and Rutgers offense went right back to work.

Minnesota Comes Back

Deftly mixing the pass and run, the Scarlett Knights marched down the field on a 12-play, 68-yard drive, finishing it off with a Kaliakmanis 14-yard toss to Duff to push the Rutgers lead to 14-0. But then, Gophers’ quarterback Drake Lindsey electrified the crowd when he heaved a long pass of 78 yards to Jalen Smith, who fought his way to the Rutgers three-yard line. Three plays later, Minnesota running back Fame ljeboi busted into the end zone to cut the Scarlett Knights’ lead to seven.

And the Gophers’ defense would make their presence known on the ensuing series. On third and 6 from his own 29-yard line, Kaliakmanis launched a pass intended for Duff that was intercepted by Minnesota safety, Kerry Brown who, with a great effort, returned the ball 28 yards to the Rutgers eight-yard line. Then on the very next play, Lindsey hit Le’Meke Brockington, who made a nice overhead catch for the touchdown, knotting the score at 14.

The ensuing Rutgers drive was halted by a third-down, seven-yard sack by Gophers’ linebacker Maverick Baranowski, forcing a punt. But the Scarlett Knights would get the ball back right before halftime, and on runs of 17 and 27 yards by Antwan Randall, they would march the ball to the Gophers’ two-yard line.

Randall would punch it in from there, and Rutgers would regain the lead 21-14. On the kickoff, Minnesota’s Koi Perich would bring the crowd to its feet with a 56-yard kickoff return. But a 50-yard Brady Denaburg field goal attempt never had a chance, and the half ended.

Gophers Make a Statement to Open Up the Second Half

The Gophers made a statement with their opening drive of the second half, taking the opening kickoff and marching down the field on a 13-play, 85-yard drive. Lindsey would go 9-11 for 77 yards and end it with a feathered pass caught by Jalen Smith to once again tie the score. Then on their next drive, Minnesota took the lead on a Denaburg 26-yard field goal. Ijeboi had the big play on the drive as he broke several tackles on a 16-yard run.

But Rutgers came right back, going 75 yards in nine plays with Randall doing much of the damage on the ground, including his four-yard touchdown run to move Rutgers into a 28-24 lead. Once again, the Gophers refused to lie down as Lindsey engineered a seven-play, 72-yard scoring drive capped off by a four-yard strike to Javon Tracy, his third catch of the drive. The theme of Minnesota’s second half drives was the precision ball distribution by Lindsey and stout pass blocking by the Gophers’ offensive line.

Kaliakmanis was directing his team on the potential winning drive when a bad snap and an unprepared quarterback led to a 15-yard sack and a second-and-25 situation for Rutgers on the Minnesota 41-yard line. On fourth down, the Scarlett Knights opted for a 56-yard field goal attempt by Dane Pizzaro that went wide right, and with that, the Gophers had sealed a well-earned 31-28 win.

Comments From Gophers’ Coach P.J. Fleck

After the game, I asked coach Fleck this about his offense’s performance against Rutgers.

New Leaf News: P.J., on the three scores in the second half, caught balls between five and seven receivers, caught balls on each of those drives. I thought that was the key to the offense today, along with a really stout job by the offensive line.

P.J. Fleck: “They didn’t allow any pressure on Drake. I thought that was tremendous. Our whole game plan was to keep it pretty balanced and even. Let’s go run the ball. It just didn’t turn out that way. And you gotta be able to swallow that pill and say alright, talk to the O-line. Listen, guys, it’s gonna be a throwing game now. Don’t let them touch the quarterback. And they didn’t all night. But remember, I told you at the beginning of the year, it’s not gonna be how Drake plays.

For us to have success this year, we don’t have a Rashad Bateman, we don’t have a Tyler Johnson, we don’t have a Daniel Jackson who’s got all this pub, and that’s the guy who’s gonna get all these balls. Now I’m not saying our receivers can’t and won’t be as good as those guys one day. And Drake can truly go through his reads and throw to the open guy. Somebody’s gonna be open. And I thought Drake does such a great job of that. Coach Harbaugh and him have such a great relationship.

And sometimes when you have one guy, they can take away one guy. But now, if we can keep developing the way we’re doing it, it’s the system, right? And its players within that system that know if you’re selfless, you might have 14 catches one game, and you might not have a catch the next game.

But that’s how it works. You know, the Minnesota Vikings have more receivers than Justin Jefferson. And they have a lot of them because you can take away one guy. I think our guys are learning how to play as one. And they don’t really care who gets the ball, who gets the touchdown. And I think today showed that.”

Summary

Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey finished the game 31-41 for 324 yards and three touchdowns in a masterful second-half performance. Seven receivers had three or more receptions, with Tracy leading the way with six catches. Gophers’ offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh called very few run plays against Rutgers, but the leading rusher was Ijeboi with 42 yards.

Linebacker Devon Williams led Minnesota defenders with 13 tackles. Perich added 11, with some particularly hard hits on receivers over the middle. Anthony Smith paced the team in sacks with one and a half. And Brown created the only Minnesota takeaway with his second quarter interception.

The Gophers have a tough task next week as they take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus. The game is schedule for a 6:30 pm CST start.