MINNEAPOLIS- As the crowd of 49,254 entered Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday night, it looked like they weren’t going to get much of a show except for Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith at halftime. A quick 10-0 hole, multiple mistakes, and a slow offense felt to many like 2025 Homecoming was going to result in a devastating loss, something the Gophers couldn’t afford.
Drake Lindsey had other plans.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers marched their way to a 27-20 victory on Saturday night, led by the Redshirt Freshman quarterback who refuses to ever give up, even when his team gets down early in games.
Coming in with a 3-2 record, Minnesota found itself down 10-0 to Purdue, a team that came into Minnesota with a 2-3 record, including three straight losses and a 0-2 conference record. The Gophers punted on the team’s first four drives and looked sluggish in the process. No pressure on the quarterback, no rhythm on offense, and no drive to win. Four three-and-outs, and luckily found themselves down just 17-13 at halftime thanks to a couple of field goals late in the half by Brady Denaburg.
The start of the second half felt more like the same. A quick punt back to the Boilermakers, where the defense stayed on the field as Purdue drove into Minnesota territory with just under 13-minutes left in the third quarter. The defense held strong late in the drive, holding Purdue to just a field goal and going down 20-13 with 8:20 left to play. At the time, the Boilermakers had 326 total yards to just 155 by Minnesota, dominating in all facets of the game.
In the next drive, the Gophers got into Purdue territory with a 19-yard pass to Javon Tracy followed by another five yard pass to him on the next play. After an incompletion, Lindsey hit Fame Ijeboi for 12 yards before hitting Brockington for 14 more. Just like that, the Gophers were on Purdue’s 28-yard line with a fresh set of downs, ready to pounce until a tipped pass led to a Lindsey interception with 5:08 left in the third quarter. One minute later, the team was back on offense after the Gophers defense–and a holding penalty–got Purdue off the field quickly but Purdue followed suit, forcing a Gophers punt one minute later.
As the third quarter ended and Chad Smith asked the remaining fans to “Do the Gopher,” Purdue maintained its seven-point lead, reaching Minnesota territory but ultimately missing the field goal, giving the Gophers another chance to tie the game. The drive looked to be stalled before a facemask penalty gave Minnesota a new set of downs. Taylor took the first run after the penalty for six yards and on third down, Lindsey hit Smith for 14-yards and Drew Bieber for nine, getting deeper into Purdue territory. With 10:31, the Purdue took a timeout with the Gophers facing a 4th and 2 and on the ensuing play, Lindsey looked to pass and had no one in sight. He took off, diving for the first down in what seemed like the momentum shift that Minnesota needed. After two incompletions, Lindsey found Tracy on 3rd and 10 for his fourth catch of the game to extend the drive. Another facemask penalty put Minnesota on Purdue’s eight-yard line and on the next play, Lindsey hit Geers to tie the game at 20 with 7:47 left to play.
With the defense back on the field, Minnesota’ remaining crowd was waiting for something special to happen and Koi heard the call. On the first pass of Purdue’s drive, Koi intercepted Browne and returned it for the touchdown, giving Minnesota its first lead of the game with 7:40 left to play. Minnesota’s golden boy celebrated with the crowd in front of him as his teammates caught up to him and joined in the celebration of his sixth career interception.
Purdue drove down with ease on the team’s next drive, going down to Minnesota’s 14-yard line before calling its second timeout with 3:21 left and a 4th and 5 play coming up after the timeout. With the play, Browne threw the ball to Michael Jackson III for a first down on Minnesota’s five-yard line. Purdue’s line of penalties continues to haunt them as an offensive holding penalty pushed Purdue back to the Gophers-15-yard line. An incomplete pass brought up 3rd and 15 and with 2:15 left, the third down play resulted in eight yard pass. After the two-minute warning, Purdue had a fourth and goal on Minnesota’s seven-yard line and couldn’t convert with a pass breakup by Jai’Onte’ McMillan.
From there, the Gophers were able to run out most of the clock, punting back to Purdue with 21 seconds left, defeating the Boilermakers, and improving to 4-2 on the season ahead of a Friday night game vs. the Cornhuskers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Lindsey finished the game with 232 yards and 2 touchdowns, a passer rating of 100.2. Purdue out-gained the Gophers 444-262 in the game but Minnesota made it count when it mattered with big plays by Lindsey, Geers and Perich in the fourth quarter.
2025 Homecoming was a success!
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