Game Balls: Top performers from Minnesota's 27-20 win over Purdue
The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 27-20 on Saturday evening at Huntington Bank Stadium, erasing a 10-point first-half deficit. Below, Gophers Nation hands out game balls to five Golden Gophers who had major impacts in Minnesota’s fourth win of the season.
QB Drake Lindsey: It wasn’t Lindsey’s best day by any means, but considering the Gophers’ offensive line continuously struggled to block in the game and the offense was almost entirely one-dimensional, it was an overall solid day. Lindsey finished the game, completing 21-of-45 passing attempts for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
RB Darius Taylor: Taylor was unable to do much on the ground in the win for Minnesota, with 14 carries for 32 yards, but he made his impact felt in the passing attack, picking up 67 yards on six receptions.
WR Le’Meke Brockington: It was another strong performance for Brockington, who had four receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown on Saturday on nine targets. He notably had 41 yards after the catch. His second-quarter touchdown on a screen pass before taking it 24 yards for a touchdown helped settle down the Gophers after trailing 10-0 early in the second quarter.
LB Devon Williams: Williams had 11 tackles and one tackle for loss. He also had a key deflection in the second quarter, resulting in a John Nestor interception.
S Koi Perich: It wasn’t a perfect day for Koi Perich, but when the Gophers needed their star safety the most, he came up in the clutch. Just seconds after Jameson Geers tied the game with a 4-yard touchdown reception, Perich picked off a Ryan Browne pass for a 27-yard pick six, giving Minnesota their first lead of the day at 27-20.
P Tom Weston: Weston was perhaps Minnesota’s biggest weapon and one of the bigger reasons that they were able to win on Saturday. Weston on seven punt opportunities consistently flipped field positioning, averaging 46.4 yards per punt with two punts of over 50 yards and one landing inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
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