Gophers overpower Purdue in 41-13 road win

Could it be that Jerry Kill was celebrating the University of Minnesota Board of Regents passing of the Athletes Village plan on Friday that inspired him and his Gophers football team to a 41-13 at Purdue on Saturday? But Kill had to be delighted with how the running attack and defense performed in a 41-13 laugher in West Lafayette.

But after that Purdue looked every bit as inept as Minnesota was supposed to be. Kill’s quote speaks volumes about why the Gophers have no business as road chalk at Purdue: “I’ve never seen anything like it in my 32 years of coaching”. And there’s no reason to think the Boilermakers can’t hang tough again, with frosh QB David Blough rallying the team from a 24-0 deficit at Michigan State last week, giving Purdue a legitimate spark. Purdue Boilermakers this Saturday, October 10, 2015, 3:30 PM ET from the Ross-Ade Stadium.

Minnesota defensive back Eric Murray (31) back peddles to stay in… However, Army might come in short-handed, with quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw listed as questionable for Saturday’s game.

“Shannon Brooks is going to be a heck of a back”.

Now consider this – sophomore linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley suffered a torn ACL in Wednesday’s practice and didn’t play against the Golden Gophers.

The reason: Brooks, whose combination of speed and power rekindled images of former Purdue star Mike Alstott.

But his long run on the second play of the second half got the FBS’ second-worst scoring team started.

Purdue scored a touchdown on its first drive, converting a 4th-and-1 at the Gopher 2-yard line and then taking the lead when D.J. Knox ran the ball in on the next play.

Minnesota won its third straight in the series for the first time since 1989-91. Leidner finished 8 of 12 for 59 yards with two TD passes and one interception, and Lingen caught three passes for 22 yards.

It also was a much-needed change-up after getting shut out 27-0 at Northwestern last weekend. “This was not a good outcome for us today”.

Purdue (1-5, 0-2) had tested No. 4 Michigan State last week and scored a touchdown on the opening drive.

Paul Griggs’ first extra-point attempt hit the left upright. But the Gophers intercepted Purdue three times, and Jalen Myrick returned one 27 yards for a touchdown.

“We have to take a close look at everything we’re doing, schematically, fundamentally and make sure we get better”, Hazell said. “All of a sudden we were out of sync”. – That missed field goal would have been nice. Six plays later, Leidner capitalized with a 1-yard TD plunge that gave Minnesota a 10-6 lead.