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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Honestly_ on 2025-08-29 14:52:22+00:00.

by Bobak Ha’Eri

MINNEAPOLIS – Nine minutes and forty-five seconds. A clock-melting, unstoppable final drive taking up nearly two-thirds of the final quarter sealed the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ (1-0) 23-10 opening victory over the Buffalo Bulls (0-1) in Minneapolis on Thursday night.

It was exactly the kind of play Minnesota Coach P.J. Fleck is looking for: “That was Gopher football at the end, and our o-line taking over, tight ends taking over, and [quarterback Drake Lindsey] on third down throwing completions to keep moving the chains.”

The Gophers got exactly the kind of test they were looking for out of Buffalo. Though the MAC team was outmatched, Pete Lembo’s Bulls are off of a 9-4, Bahamas Bowl champion season and returned 16 starters. They took advantage of key opportunities Minnesota mistakes left for them, both with defensive coverage miscues (one leading to a long touchdown) and errors by the Gophers’ young quarterback. None of those latter errors cost the Gophers a victory, but exposed areas that need work.

The biggest question for the Gophers heading into the 2025 season is quarterback. Max Brosmer is now in the NFL; in his place debuted promising redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey, who played adequately with flashes of brilliants and notable moments that bely his inexperience at the college level.

Lindsey went 19 of 35 for 290 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. His throws were solid driving down the field, but showed notable issues throwing in the red zone – his passes were often too high or forced into situations that a better defense might have picked off. At the end of the first half, he showed a lack of awareness and took a sack after holding onto the ball for too long in a red zone situation rather than tossing it away and getting possibly another try (the Gophers settled on a field goal). By the second half, his game was improving—and he played a key part of the final drive.

The Gophers running attack is back, behind running back Darius Taylor who put together 141 yards on 30 attempts. His understudies A.J. Turner and Cam Davis had reasonable supporting roles, but Taylor is showing the vision and physical play that work well with the Minnesota offensive line.

Minnesota’s first-half performance seemed incongruous: they appeared to controlling all facets of the game while committing just enough errors to only have a 10-3 lead heading into the locker room. In addition to the problems throwing in the red zone, Lindsey had an interception after a ball bounced off the falling receiver’s ankle into the arms of a waiting Buffalo player – who proceeded to return it 54-yards before being taken down by a sprinting Darius Taylor, setting up the Bulls’ first-half field goal.

Fleck smirked thinking about the play: “After that you’re sitting there going, ‘Wow, is tonight our night?’”

The Minnesota defense gave the offense room to figure things out. It was the formal debut of defensive coordinator Danny Collins, after Corey Hetherman was hired away by Miami…and Hetherman served for only a year after Joe Rossi was hired away by Michigan State (Collins had served in the role for two bowl games).

The Gophers defensive line was just as physical and disruptive as before, anchored by Deven Eastern and (the charmingly eccentric) Anthony Smith. Fleck described them repeatedly as “relentless.” The Bulls ground game was limited to only 44 total yards, with their star running back Al-Jay Henderson bottled up to 25-yards on 11 attempts. Buffalo QB Ta’Quan Roberson did not make any critical errors but, outside the deep pass for a touchdown, managed only 12-20 and 107 total yards.

The Gophers dominated the final quarter. The drive following Buffalo’s 3rd quarter touchdown ended in a field goal early in the 4th; that drive again showed glimpses of Lindsey’s strengths and weaknesses. This was followed by a defensive three-and-out; and Lindsey finally had his break-out moment on his first play of the subsequent drive: a deep pass to wide open Jalen Smith for a 60-yard touchdown. The defense held the Bulls to another three-and-out and Minnesota got the ball back with 9:45 left in the game…

What happened next was a master-class in burning clock: 16 plays (15 rushing), 58-yards, and 6 first downs, capped by a 4th & 1 conversion by Darius Taylor to seal the game. Throughout the drive, Buffalo burned all 3 time outs, the two-minute warning stopped the clock, and nothing could stop the Minnesota momentum.

Fleck loved every moment of it: “A nine-and-a-half-minute drive is Gopher football.”

Notes:

  • The Gophers’ next game is against FCS Northwestern State Demons, which just snapped a multi-year losing streak on Thursday, but the are unlikely to offer much challenge other than further tuning the Drake Lindsey era. Minnesota’s third game will be a road game at Cal that should show how well this new offense is operating.
  • Buffalo hosts FCS Saint Francis Red Flash, who were shut-out by ULM in Week 1. They follow that up with a road trip to Kent State before what might be a better benchmark test against Troy on September 20th.
  • P.J. Fleck opened his presser by addressing the horrific Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis, noting the win was “small” compared to the tragedy in the community.
  • The new Gophers field goal kicker, Brady Denaburg, went three for three on kicks of 38, 29, and 25.