BERKELEY, CALIF. – Last fall, Koi Perich introduced himself to the college football world in grand fashion. The true freshman from Esko, Minn., had famously turned down mighty Ohio State the previous winter and stayed with his home-state Gophers in a major recruiting win for Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck.
On the field, Perich immediately showed a flair for the dramatic.
He put the exclamation point on the Gophers’ home victory over Southern California with an end zone interception, which led to students storming the field and carrying him off on their shoulders. The next game, he was at it again, sealing a victory at UCLA with the second of his two interceptions as roughly 16,000 Gophers fans celebrated at the Rose Bowl.
That brings us to Saturday night at California Memorial Stadium, where it became apparent that the 2025 script is playing out differently for the Gophers and Perich.
In a back-and-forth battle in which the Gophers trailed early but rallied to take a third-quarter lead over Cal, Perich played a key role in an episode that led to the Golden Bears securing a closer-than-the-score-looks 27-14 victory.
Cal remained ahead 17-14 after the Gophers’ Brady Denaburg missed a 51-yard field-goal attempt — which came after an unsuccessful run call on third-and-7. On the ensuing possession, the Minnesota defense forced the Golden Bears to punt from their 47-yard line.
Perich, a second-team All-American by the Sporting News last year, was back to field the punt from Michael Kern. The ball took a sideways bounce, and Perich adjusted to track it. On a second bounce, the football shifted back and caromed toward Perich. The ball hit off Perich’s left foot, and Cal’s Aiden Manutai recovered the muffed punt return at the Minnesota 8-yard line. Three plays later, Bears quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele hit wide receiver Jordan King for a 2-yard touchdown pass and 24-14 lead that became the decisive points.
It was a mixed bag Saturday night.
