Gophers narrowly suffer another big upset

The Gophers played arguably the worst first half in decades. The offense committed five turnovers, including 4-straight at the end of the half with the last being on a Florida Atlantic 1 yard line. Minnesota had only 114 yards in total offense. The special teams contributed one of the Gophers’ two touchdowns with a 91-yard kickoff return by Jay Thomas to try to keep it respectable.

The defense was just as bad, giving up 35 points and 398 total yards. 314 of those yards came passing (no surprise). FAU receiver Cortez Gent had almost as many yards receiving (109) as the entire Minnesota offense. Things really got ugly in the second period when the Gophers were outgunned 21-0.

All of this damage was done against a team that just recently moved up to Division 1A and plays most of its home games in a high school stadium. The “œmighty” Owls lost to a very ordinary Oklahoma State 42-7 last week. They had an 0-12 season last year. It’s hard to fathom the Gophers being dominated like this by such a weak opponent. I shutter to think what a Big Ten-caliber team would do to a Gopher team that played a half like that.

The Gophers special teams contributed three more points to start the 3rd quarter but even that success left something to be desired. Minnesota had the ball 1st and goal at the 5-yardline only to end up having to kick the field goal after stalling at the four. The Gophers finally got into the end zone again on their next possession, cutting the margin to 35-24. The comeback was stymied on the following possession, as Adam Weber was picked off for the 3rd time on the Owl 10-yard line.

Florida Atlantic again took advantage of that turnover and drove it quickly down the field for a TD and a stunning 42-24 lead with exactly 12 minutes left in the game. Things were looking as bleak as they ever had so far this season, and there have been some deep valleys already.

However, the Gophers weren’t done, storming back with two TDs and, with a 2-point conversion included, the lead was cut to 42-39. On the game’s final drive, Weber was intercepted to end the game. It was Minnesota’s 7th turnover. Weber’s numbers were very indicative of what this team did today: four touchdown passes and four interceptions.

It was a nice comeback in the 2nd half ““ very reminiscent of the identical 21-point hole and near miss come-from-behind-win they had in the first game against Bowling Green. Still, the Gophers were outplayed overall. Two more turnovers in the second half were the main reason the comeback fell short.

The Gophers are now 1-2 in non-conference play with all the games being razor close, with the first two going into overtime. Normally, such a stretch would be chalked up to hard luck and there would be reasonable hope that future outcomes might go their way. However, considering the competition in those games and the Big Ten schedule to follow, it looks like it’s going to be a long hard road ahead. On the positive side, the Gophers are in FAU’s position now. Any and every win will seem huge.

Talk about the Gophers rough start on the Brew’s Crew Message Board.