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Old National Presents: The 3-2-1—Maddening loss at Minnesota

On3 imageby: Brian Neubert10/11/25brianneubert
NCAA Football: Purdue at Minnesota
Oct 11, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back Kerry Brown (14) tackles Purdue Boilermakers running back Devin Mockobee (45) during the first half at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

In one of the more frustrating losses Purdue has absorbed in recent years, Minnesota rallied in the fourth quarter to upend the Boilermakers 27-20, as Ryan Browne‘s pick-six interception with 7:40 left wound up deciding the game.

Purdue totaled 405 yards to Minnesota’s 262.

PDF: Purdue-Minnesota statistics

Below, GoldandBlack.com’s immediate post-game analysis …

PURDUE WAS THE BETTER TEAM FOR MOST OF THIS GAME

Outside the last 10 minutes, Purdue was better than Minnesota. But from there it showed that it just doesn’t know how to win.

Purdue held a 20-13 fourth quarter lead after missing a field goal that would have pushed the lead to 10. Then, a Gopher touchdown drive for Minnesota extended by two facemask penalties on lineman Demeco Kennedy, followed immediately by a first-play pick-six thrown by Ryan Browne, Purdue’s third interception of the day.

This was a golden opportunity squandered, quite simply, by gaffes: Turnovers, penalties and certainly dropped passes.

Really a gutting defeat and yet another example of Purdue needing to not beat itself before it can beat anyone else. The slippery slope moments that decide games just keep going against the Boilermakers.

PURDUE WORE MINNESOTA DOWN

Purdue played a solid game Big Ten-style. It ran the football, moved the chains, won the line of scrimmage and let the defense do the heavy lifting, executing an aggressive approach beautifully, thanks in part to the bounceback game of all bounceback games.

As bad as the secondary was vs. Illinois, it was equally good vs. Minnesota, stifling in man-to-man coverage especially.

You win and lose as a team but the defense should have had at least 6-10 more points worth of margin for error and seven points fewer going against it.

It was a winning performance that resulted in a loss because Purdue just isn’t in a place to close games out, to make this play or that play to secure a win.

ONE MAJOR GAFFE

One of Purdue’s three interceptions came in the red zone, thrown by Devin Mockobee early in the game.

That was just a poor decision by the coaching staff above all else. Purdue’s offense was moving the ball and didn’t need tricks in that moment. It got too cute and paid a big price.

You’ve got to be creative at Purdue. You’ve got to be aggressive at Purdue.

But you can’t squander points by taking risks when you don’t need to take risks. Even if that had play had scored, it was still unnecessary.

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