Gophers with a 26-25 loss to #4 Penn State

Blocked kicks, fake punts, oh my. A dramatic win for Penn State.

Penn State beats Minnesota 26-25 in a wild and competitive game. Tyler Warren was a critical offense weapon for the Nittany Lions with 8 catches for 102 yards. The #4 team in the country came from behind to secure a win and keep their hopes alive for a College Football Playoff invitation.

Minnesota struck first. After forcing a three-and-out on Penn State’s opening drive, the Gopher offense marched 70 yards over 9 plays for the game’s first score. It was Marcus Major who found a huge hole up the middle and was untouched for a 20-yard touchdown.

The rest of the 1st quarter and into the 2nd a fairly typical Big Ten game. A couple punts, a big Anthony Smith sack on 4th and 5, a Dragan Kesich 48-yard field goal. The Gopher defense was keeping Penn State in check and the offense had done enough to give Minnesota a 10-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter.

This is when Penn State responded.

On 2nd and 1 from the Minnesota 45, Drew Allar connected with Omari Evans who was very open down the sideline for a Penn State touchdown.

Minnesota got the ball and responded with a Brosmer interception, setting up Penn State for a field goal and the game was quickly tied 10-10. And this is when things got weird.

Following the field goal, Minnesota mustered a short drive before having to punt 2:26 in the half. The Crawford punt was downed at the Penn State three-yard line. The Nittany Lions were unable to get the ball out of the shadow of the end zone and were forced to punt. The punt was partially blocked by the senior, Derik Lecaptain.

Immediately following the blocked punt, the Gopher offense went with a reverse, flea-flicker for a touchdown.

(also, it wasn’t a double-reverse, just a reverse, but I digress)

They led 17-10, kicking off with 1:03 in the half and would be receiving the 3rd quarter kickoff. Penn State, with the help of a questionable pass interference, drove 70 yards for another game-tying touchdown…but wait.

Jack Henderson blocked the PAT, Ethan Robinson scooped it up and ran the length of the field to give his team two points. The half ended with Minnesota up, 19-16.

Kesich hit a field goal on Minnesota’s opening possession of the second half.

Penn State scored a 12-yard touchdown on the legs of Nicholas Singleton to take the lead. And following a 4th quarter Brosmer fumble, Ryan Barker hit a 32-yard field goal to extend the lead to 26-22 with 11:51 still on the clock.

But Minnesota would get only one more possession. Brosmer and crew put together a lengthy drive down to the Penn State 7. He hit Jackson for 23 yards on the drive’s first play and six plays later he connected with Elijah Spencer for 23 again to give the offense 1st and goal from the 7.

A handoff to Taylor up the middle went for -1 and then offensive coordinator, Greg Harbaugh called the most confounding play of his career. On 2nd and 8, he sends Spencer in motion to the right, Brosmer takes the snap looking to his right, turns back and throws a screen pass to #69 Aireontae Ersery. On a potential game-winning drive over the #4 team in the country, he decided to pop a screen to his left tackle. The ball was not caught and they were faced with 3rd down from the 8. The 3rd down pass was incomplete and Fleck decided to take the field goal. Kesich made the game 26-25 with 5:48 remaining.

The Gopher defense needed a stop. And they managed to get Penn State to 4th down three times.

They immediately stopped Penn State, putting them at 4th and 1 from their own 34. Franklin called a fake punt and they rumbled for 32 yards and a first down.

The defense stopped the Nittany Lions again getting them to 4th and 1. But Allar on a sneak converted.

And then the defense did it AGAIN. This time, it was from the Minnesota 14, with 27 seconds left, and the Gophers were out of timeouts. But Franklin decided to go for it again. Allar was pressured but found Warren for the first down. He fell to the ground to keep the clock running and the game ended with a 26-25 Penn State win.

The Minnesota defense was able to hold Penn State to just 1 of 11 on third down and the special teams made a couple huge plays to keep the Gophers in it. But two key turnovers resulted in six points, which are significant in a 1-point loss.

There is one game left off the Gophers to improve their bowl standing. They travel to Wisconsin next week to face the Badgers and win The Axe.