Minnesota Gophers End 49-Year Home Drought, Beat No. 24 Michigan 20-14
The short version
- Minnesota beat No. 24 Michigan 20-14 on Saturday, winning the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 2014.
- It was the Gophers' first home win over Michigan since 1977, in the 100th game played for the trophy.
- Minnesota improved to 4-1 (2-0 Big Ten); Michigan fell to 3-2 (0-2 Big Ten).
- Darius Taylor scored twice, including a 3-yard fourth-quarter touchdown catch that put Minnesota ahead.
- Drake Lindsey threw two first-half interceptions, including a 79-yard pick-six, but the Gophers held Michigan scoreless in the second half.
Minnesota beat No. 24 Michigan 20-14 on Saturday, regaining the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 2014 and its first home win in the rivalry since 1977.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated No. 24 Michigan 20-14 on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium, regaining the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 2014. The win came in the 100th game played for the trophy and was Minnesota's first over the Wolverines at home since 1977, ending a 49-year wait. P.J. Fleck's Gophers improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play, while Michigan fell to 3-2 and 0-2 in the conference. The game aired on FOX.
The teams arrived on very different weeks. Michigan was coming off a home loss to Iowa in which quarterback Bryce Underwood delivered the best game of his college career, while Minnesota had just earned a 27-24 win at Washington. The Gophers entered Saturday as 6.5-point underdogs, playing in front of Huntington Bank Stadium's first sellout since the North Carolina game on August 29, 2024.
Minnesota started fast. Michigan punted on the game's opening possession, and the Gophers answered with an 80-yard drive that Darius Taylor finished with a 2-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Drake Lindsey opened 3-for-3 passing for 66 yards.
Lindsey's turnovers then flipped the first half. With no room to step into a throw, he floated a pass that Smith Snowden intercepted, and Jordan Marshall scored to pull Michigan even. Just before halftime, with Minnesota in the red zone chasing a go-ahead score, another off-balance Lindsey throw was returned 79 yards for a touchdown by Wolverines linebacker Nathaniel Staehling, a Brainerd High School product playing in his home state, and Michigan led 14-7 at the break.
The third quarter swung on Minnesota's opportunism. Michigan muffed a punt that long snapper Alan Soukup recovered at the Wolverines' 17-yard line, though the Gophers came away with only a field goal. Two plays after Michigan regained possession, Aydan West, a former Michigan State Spartan, recorded the first interception of his career off Underwood. Minnesota could not reach the end zone on that chance either, and Luke Drzewiecki's field goal to open the fourth quarter made it 14-13.
The fourth quarter turned the game for good. On Michigan's first play of the period, Jaxon Howard burst into the backfield and hit Underwood, whose pass was intercepted by Zack Harden. Noah Jennings then gained 31 yards on an end-around, and Taylor caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Lindsey to give Minnesota a 20-14 lead.
Taylor's two touchdowns were his first since he scored three times against Eastern Illinois, having been kept out of the end zone in the games since. His receiving score was his first in nearly two years, with the previous one coming on October 12, 2024, in a win at UCLA.
Minnesota's defense intercepted Underwood twice, with Anthony Smith and T.J. Bush Jr. also breaking through to the quarterback, and Michigan did not score after halftime. All 14 Wolverines points came in the first half, before the Gophers took control.
Michigan stays on the road next, visiting the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday, October 4, at 12:00 PM EDT at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
