For three quarters Saturday, the Gophers offense floundered. But they finally awoke in the final quarter, scoring two passing touchdowns to pull within two scores. It would have been more impressive had the game not been well out of reach for a while. âÄúWe play hard until the end of the game, but I think we should just try harder at the beginning of the game and donâÄôt just wait until the end of the game to play hard,âÄù wide receiver DaâÄôJon McKnight said. âÄúWe should play hard the whole game, but our motto is finish, and thatâÄôs what we try to do is finish every game.âÄù Scoring late when the game is out of reach has become somewhat of a habit for the Gophers. After scoring just nine points in the first three quarters against Wisconsin, the Gophers tacked on 14 in the final quarter, but fell easily 41-23. Down by 18 to USC, the Gophers refused to give up and scored a touchdown with just seconds remaining, making the score a little less lopsided and covering the betting spread. Down by three scores midway through the third Saturday, the Gophers were forced to go to the air with mixed success. Senior quarterback Adam Weber completed just 20 of his 45 passes, but WeberâÄôs poor completion percentage didnâÄôt bother then-head coach Tim Brewster. âÄúWe canâÄôt put the whole thing on [Weber],âÄù Brewster said. âÄúWeâÄôve got to be able to run the football and weâÄôve got to be able to do some things to help him. We threw the ball 45 times, and thatâÄôs too many times.âÄù The Gophers drove downfield with seconds left in the game down by 11, but by the time WeberâÄôs pass was intercepted near the goal line, the game had long been over. Stoudermire impresses but doesnâÄôt set record Cornerback Troy Stoudermire made his first career start on defense after spending all of last year and most of 2008 as a wide receiver and impressed his coaches in his new role by tallying seven tackles. âÄúI thought he was excellent,âÄù Brewster said. âÄúHe played man coverage, he pressed, he challenged their receivers. I thought he did a heck of a job.âÄù Stoudermire was just 45 yards away from breaking the Big Ten record in career kickoff return yards, but didnâÄôt have a chance to reach the milestone Saturday because Brewster said he was âÄúworn outâÄù from playing defense. Mobile quarterback hurts Gophers âĦ again For the third time this season, a quarterback rushed for 50 yards or more against the Gophers, with Purdue quarterback Rob Henry gaining 57 yards and three touchdowns Saturday. The Boilermakers rushed for 230 yards total against the Gophers. âÄúWe were really big on that, trying to make sure [Henry] stayed in the box and trying to contain him,âÄù linebacker Gary Tinsley said. âÄúThat was a big part of it, knowing that they have a dual-threat quarterback like that.âÄù Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa rushed for 99 yards in their 29-28 defeat of the Gophers two weeks ago. In the second week of the season, South Dakota quarterback Dante Warren rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Coyotes to their shocking upset win over the Gophers. The Gophers will have to find an answer for maybe the ultimate dual threat quarterback when Ohio StateâÄôs Terrelle Pryor visits Minneapolis in two weeks. Orseske struggles Minnesota punter Dan Orseske struggled yet again Saturday, averaging just 35.8 yards per punt, which is just below his season average of 37 yards per game. On OrseskeâÄôs fifth punt early in the second quarter, the snap went flying over his head. Orseske recovered the ball near the Minnesota 20-yard line and tried to run with it with defenders bearing down on him but was tackled shortly after. The play gave Purdue ideal field position, and they scored their second touchdown just a few plays later. While the poor snap wasnâÄôt OrseskeâÄôs fault, Brewster said he wished the redshirt freshman would have handled the play differently. âÄúAgain, that was an important play in the game. IâÄôd like to have seen Danny be poised and pick it up and punt it,âÄù Brewster said. âÄúAs a redshirt freshman hopefully it wonâÄôt come up again, but if it does, heâÄôll have poise in the situation to just pick the ball up and punt it, punt it out of there. He had plenty of room to do that.âÄù