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.
"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.