The Gophers finally won a game when trailing at halftime under Jerry Kill on Saturday. They had to work for it.

Trailing 31-20 at halftime, the Gophers overcame tons of mistakes and bad decisions to defeat Purdue 39-38 at TCF Bank Stadium.

The Gophers had been 0-22 under Kill when trailing at halftime.

The Gophers were awful defensively in the first half but made critical plays when they needed them most. Cedric Thompson made a diving game-saving interception with 2:28 left.

Damarius Travis stopped Purdue quarterback Austin Appleby for no gain on fourth-and-1 on the previous drive.

Gophers kicker Ryan Santoso drilled a 52-yard field goal to give the Gophers the lead for good with less than five minutes left.

The Gophers won't be happy with some of their play, but they got the win and that's the most important thing. They would have lost a game like this in years past. They found a way to win this time.