Drake Lindsey salvages ugly performance by Gophers with beautiful finish

The opponent hadn’t won a Big Ten game but left Huntington Bank Stadium having amassed 467 yards of offense.

The home team had four consecutive second-half possessions that ended with punts, displaying an offense that could neither run nor pass effectively.

And a 10-point halftime lead that seemed safe for a while crumbled under the pressure of 71- and 85-yard haymakers that put the visitors less than two minutes from an upset.

Yet after three hours of not-so-good football Saturday, the Gophers found a way in the final half-hour to emerge as 23-20 overtime victors over Michigan State, salvaging some pride and something tangible in a day that was turning ugly.

With the victory, the Gophers improved to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten entering their second bye week of the season.

Aesthetically, this wasn’t a game that many of the Gophers faithful will savor. If the burglars who knocked off the Louvre had somehow grabbed this game as part of their booty, they would have broken back in and handed it back.

There was, however, beauty for the Gophers in how this game finished, with redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey leading a 65-yard drive in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter to tie the score on a 2-yard quarterback sneak, then winning the game on a 3-yard mad dash to the pylon on a naked bootleg in overtime.

The play was called “24 Blast,” and offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr. gambled that Lindsey, 6-foot-5, 230 pounds and not known for his foot speed, could make it happen.

The QB faked a handoff, pivoted to his right, stiff-armed a Spartans defender to create separation, and raced to the front left corner of the end zone. The play withstood a replay review, and what was left of the crowd of 45,339 went home happy and relieved.

“Drake just put the ball in his hands and put the game on his shoulders,” Gophers tight end Jameson Geers said. “He’s a playmaker, and he went out and won the game for us.”

Added coach P.J. Fleck: “I want to thank all of our fans and for sticking around, hanging there with us. If you happened to leave, you missed a heck of an ending. If I had said Drake Lindsey is going to run it in for a touchdown to win in overtime, you probably would have taken the under.”

The victory secured bowl eligibility for the seventh time in Fleck’s nine years in Dinkytown. The Gophers will try to improve their destination by finishing strong against a schedule that concludes a trip to Oregon, a trek to Wrigley Field to play Northwestern, and a home game against Wisconsin.

That response stared late in the fourth quarter after Michigan State capitalized on Elijah Tau-Tolliver’s 85-yard run with a 1-yard TD plunge by Brandon Tullis to take a 17-10 lead. With 1:52 left, the Gophers caught a break when Michigan State’s Martin Connington pushed the kickoff out of bounds, giving Minnesota possession at its 35.

A facemask penalty moved the ball to the Michigan State 47, and Lindsey moved the chains on third-and-4 with a 13-yard completion to Le’Meke Brockington.

Fame Ijeboi, who rushed for 107 yards in place of the injured Darius Taylor, converted a third-and-2 situation with a 3-yard run to the MSU 20. Lindsey found Geers for 9 yards, and a pass interference penalty on the Spartans moved the ball to the 2. Lindsey then scored on a sneak with 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

In overtime, Minnesota’s defense — which posted seven sacks — forced the Spartans to settle for Connington’s 36-yard field goal for a 20-17 lead.

Lindsey and Co. made sure that lead was short-lived.