The Gophers started out slow and their rebound to Bowling Green’s offensive scores wasn’t enough on Saturday during the University of Minnesota’s homecoming at Huntington Bank Stadium.
Bowling Green and Minnesota traded punts to start off the game, with Chris Autman-Bell leaving the game after hauling in a 9-yard reception on the Gophers third play in regulation. Soon, Matthew Trickett converted on a 33 yard field goal to make the game 3-0.
The Gophers would not score another point for the rest of the half as The Falcons took a 7-3 lead at the half off of a Matt McDonald touchdown scamper. Bowling Green had luck letting McDonald run around all game long. Both of their touchdowns were goal line quarterback draws.
The second half was more of the same for the Gophers as the offense could never get going. Bowling Green on the day tallied four sacks on the experienced Minnesota offensive line. The Gophers lost 37 total yards as an end result.
Fleck told the media postgame, “couldn’t have played any worse … undisciplined … couldn’t get into any rhythm. 100% falls on me, this is 100% on me. I apologize to our fans.”
In the fourth quarter, Minnesota started out strong with a burst by RB Trey Potts for a 51-yard gain. But that run would prove to no avail as the Gophers lost 17-14. With 2:13 left in the game, Gophers QB Tanner Morgan threw a game-sealing interception. That was Morgan’s first of the game and it was intended for Dylan Wright.
The Gophers would get the ball back with 23 seconds left but Morgan would throw an interception with 17 seconds left down the middle intended for Mike Brown-Stephens. Tanner Morgan entered the game with 481 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
“I did not respond well enough today,” Morgan said postgame. “That’s 100% on me. I don’t just say that to say that. I mean that.”
Against Bowling Green, Morgan was 5-13, throwing for 59 yards and 2 interceptions. The Gophers play at Purdue next Saturday at 11 AM CST on the Big Ten Network.
“We didn’t have it today, and that’s 100% on me…we just couldn’t get in rhythm in the passing game,” Fleck said. “This is a tough storm to row through, but we’re going to row right through it.”
Fleck also said that the Falcons threw some new blitzes at the Gophers that their offense wasn’t prepared to handle.
With that loss, Minnesota falls to 2-2 on the season. Their next game will be on the road against Purdue on Saturday Oct. 2 with an 11 a.m. kickoff time.
Correction: A previous version of the story misstated Bowling Green’s team name. The team is called the Falcons.
