Late TD drive lifts Minnesota over Ohio 27-24

So far in this season Ohio Bobcats has 16.7 scored compared to Minnesota Golden Gophers’s 30.7.

On the play after the James turnover, A.J. Ouellette scored the go-ahead touchdown for a 21-20 lead with 8:44 left.

The Bobcats unsuccessfully tried a Hail Mary pass in the closing seconds of the game, marking a dramatic turnaround for the ultimate victors, who had suffered a number of setbacks and even lost their lead in the fourth quarter, the Star Tribune reports.

Ohio had the Gophers on the brink of what would have been a crushing upset.

“Our kids have bounced back”. “We’ve been close every game, but it’s gone our way”. The rest of his football team played badly enough Saturday to make that happen. Smith should be the centerpiece of Minnesota’s offense on Saturday.

Two drives later, Vick found Sebastian Smith for three receptions and 56 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown to go ahead 14-7 in the second quarter.

– Minnesota would score the game-winning touchdown on a three-yard rush by Brooks.

He answered those critics emphatically with one of the best games of his career. “I really can’t explain why, but I felt like a big brother…” “This is the strangest situation I’ve ever been in in coaching”, Kill, the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year, said at his Tuesday press conference.

Leidner’s critics remain strong, but the redshirt junior quarterback responded to the onslaught of recent criticism from fans and in the media with a solid performance that the Gophers desperately needed from him. That came right before the Gophers’ final drive. That will start with quarterback Mitch Leidner, who has to play well this week to set aside questions about his status as the starter.

“It feels good”, Leidner said.

“I talked about it earlier in the week: Never lose confidence in yourself”, Leidner said. He had three carries for 71 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Miscues on special teams, typically an area of strength for the Gophers, almost proved disastrous.

Minnesota’s final drive seemed to take advantage of a bend but don’t break philosophy from the Ohio defense, which yielded too many gashing plays over a short period of time. Then the teams traded field goals, the latter belonging to the Bobcats to boost their lead to 24-20 with two and a half minutes remaining. “And we’re at home and we’ve got to show some more pride in how we go about things”, Carlston said. “But good teams find a way to have the next guy step up, and that’s why I’m so proud of our team”.

With Northwestern on the docket next week to start the Big Ten season in Evanston, Ill., it’s hard to predict how the battered and bruised Gophers will hold up through the conference schedule.