Gophers football notes: Kicker's try at running for two points hits a wall

Gophers kicker Ryan Santoso got a chance to play running back Saturday, when coach Jerry Kill called for a fake kick on an extra point attempt early in the third quarter.

Mitch Leidner's 6-yard touchdown run had just trimmed Purdue's lead to 31-26. Kill wanted two points instead of one, so he ran a play where holder Peter Mortell flips the ball to Santoso, running up the middle.

Santoso is 6-6, 245 pounds, but Purdue stuffed him short of the goal line.

"I need to take lessons from David Cobb more," Santoso said after the game.

Kill took the blame. He was asked if it surprised him when Purdue coach Darrell Hazell went for it on fourth down with a 38-36. Damarius Travis had stuffed quarterback Austin Appleby for no gain on that play, giving the Gophers the ball with 8:21 remaining.

"It didn't surprise me," Kill said of Hazell's decision. "I'm the same guy on a PAT who rolled the dice and tossed it to our kicker. And we felt like we were going to walk it into the end zone. Had a guy miss a block, but I never judge anybody and so forth. I've done things."

The Gophers gave Cobb a career-high 35 carries, and he turned those into 194 yards, nearly passing the 200-yard mark for the third time this season. He has 189 carries for 1,013 yards this season after rushing for 1,202 yards last season.

Asked if he ever gets tired, the senior said, "Never when you're winning. I never get tired."

The Gophers had a key officiating call go against them in the second quarter with Purdue leading 21-20. Danny Anthrop appeared to catch a slant pass deep in Minnesota territory, and Antonio Johnson made a big hit, knocking the ball loose.

Cedric Thompson picked up the ball and ran out to midfield, but the officials blew the play dead as an incomplete pass. On the replay, Anthrop appeared to catch the ball and take two steps, but the play was upheld as an incompletion. Purdue turned that into a 26-yard field goal.

Another key replay went the Gophers' way. The officials originally ruled that Leidner fumbled in the third quarter, but replays clearly showed his knee was down before he dropped the ball.

"We felt his knee was down and so forth," Kill said. "It certainly was a big play in the game, and the biggest thing I was concerned about is I thought Mitch might've hurt his knee again because of the way he went down. He's protecting himself, but he's got to learn to get his pads down. That was kind of a half-slide and you can't do that. So we've got to coach him up a little bit on those kinds of things."

A few players later, Santoso kicked the go-ahead field goal.

"We just can't do those things," Hazell said.

Gophers defensive back Derrick Wells could face discipline from the Big Ten for running onto the field from the sideline to confront Anthrop after he blindsided Thompson. The officials flagged Damien Wilson for the penalty, when it should have been Wells.

"I thought it was Damien," Kill said. "Me and Damien had a conversation. I had a conversation with the wrong person."