ANN ARBOR, MICH. – The Gophers gained possession at their own 1-yard line with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left in the first half Saturday.

The score was tied 7-7.

"It was like déjà vu," offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said after the game.

A year ago, the Gophers started a possession from their own 1 late in the first half tied with Michigan 7-7. The Gophers failed to convert a third down, had to punt and Michigan scored a touchdown to take a 14-7 halftime lead.

The Gophers never recovered and lost 42-13.

On Saturday, the Gophers coaches talked on their headsets about avoiding a repeat of that same scenario as they sent their offense into the field.

Tight end Maxx Williams, left, fended off Michigan’s Jeremy Clark for a 10-yard gain on third-and-2 during the Gophers’ last possession of the first half.

"Our thing was, 'Hey, let's not give them the ball back,' " Limegrover said. "It was literally, 'Let's find any way we can to get a first down here.' "

They did much better than that. The Gophers dug out of that hole and came up with a 24-yard field goal by Ryan Santoso as time expired to take a 10-7 halftime lead.

That drive gave the Gophers momentum and put the team in a comfortable spot: The Gophers entered the game 17-0 under Jerry Kill when leading at halftime.

"That [drive] may be as critical a part of the game as there was, getting it out of there," Kill said.

The key moment in the 12-play drive came on third-and-5 from their own 6. Michigan called timeout with 1:31 left.

Mitch Leidner faked a handoff to David Cobb, rolled to his right and threw toward tight end Lincoln Plsek. Plsek jumped, twisted his body and came down with a 21-yard completion.

"He made a great catch," Leidner said. "I told him in the huddle, 'Lincoln, there's a good chance you'll be running free here.' He was, and I wish I could have put a better ball on him so he could've kept running with it."

Cobb took over at that point. He had runs of 14, 8 and 20 yards to go along with an 11-yard reception.

"That was a series and a drive that left a mark," Limegrover said.

How much so? In the third quarter, the Gophers outscored Michigan 17-0 and held the Wolverines to minus-4 yards.

"You can't discount how big a deal that [drive] was for our kids because we hadn't beaten these guys," Limegrover said. "It was 58-0 three years ago when we came here. At 10-7, it was totally different. In that halftime, it was like, 'Yeah, we want more. We're not even happy with where things are at.' That's a big change."