Trey Potts scored the contest’s lone second-half touchdown and Tyler Nubin made a game-saving interception to help Minnesota record a 20-13 win over Purdue in Big Ten play in rainy conditions on Saturday afternoon at West Lafayette, Ind.
Tanner Morgan completed 9 of 18 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown for the Golden Gophers (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten). Potts rushed for 78 yards on 15 carries, Chris Autman-Bell caught a touchdown pass and Mike Brown-Stephens had 105 receiving yards on just two catches.
Aidan O’Connell was 33-of-51 passing for 357 yards with one touchdown and one interception for Purdue (3-2, 1-1). Milton Wright caught six passes for 91 yards and one touchdown, David Bell had six receptions for 120 yards and King Doerue rushed for 95 yards on 21 carries.
O’Connell attempted to rally the Boilermakers to a tying score and back-to-back completions of 23 and 15 yards to Bell to move the ball to the Minnesota 27-yard line. But three plays later, O’Connell’s throw was intercepted at the Golden Gophers’ 13 by Nubin, and Minnesota ran out the final 47 seconds for its eighth win in the last nine meetings with Purdue.
Purdue held a 434 to 290 edge in total offense. The Boilermakers ran 85 plays to Minnesota’s 52.
The Golden Gophers trailed by three points at halftime before opening the third quarter with a three-play, 75-yard drive.
Morgan hit Brown-Stephens for 54 yards on the first play and Potts followed with a 17-yard run. Potts then scored from the 4 to give Minnesota a 17-13 lead.
The Boilermakers had a chance to move within one when they lined up for a 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. But holder Jack Albers had trouble catching the ball and getting it down in the sloppy conditions and Mitchell Fineran’s kick went wide right with 10:26 left.
The downpour was even more intense later when Minnesota’s field-goal operation handled things flawlessly as Matthew Trickett booted a 38-yard field goal with 1:46 remaining to make it a seven-point margin.
Purdue ran 48 first-half plays while holding a 13-10 halftime edge. The Golden Gophers ran just 19 plays.
Minnesota scored on its first offensive drive when Morgan connected with Autman-Bell on a 32-yard scoring pass.
The Boilermakers got on the board on Fineran’s 36-yard field goal with 6:03 left in the opening quarter. Purdue later took a 10-7 lead on O’Connell’s 7-yard scoring pass to Wright with 13:40 left in the half.
Trickett kicked a 42-yard field goal to tie it at 10 with 4:49 left. Fineran made a 24-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining to give Purdue the three-point halftime lead.
–Field Level Media