After an incredibly slow start, the Minnesota Gophers were able to stage an impressive second-half rally at the Metrodome Saturday night. They trailed 21-0 to Bowling Green at halftime, but the Gophers forced overtime, thanks to 17 fourth-quarter points. Unfortunately for Minnesota, a gutsy two-point conversion decision by Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon and the subsequent conversion gave the Falcons a 32-31 win. The loss spoiled the head coaching debut for Minnesota's Tim Brewster.
Brewster must have been horrified by what he saw in the first half. The Falcons scored three first-half touchdowns and appeared to be on their way to an easy win. Minnesota showed quickly and decisively that they couldn't stop the Falcons' pass-happy spread offense. At the same time, freshman starting QB Adam Weber looked lost in the first half, mixing bad throws with bad reads while the running game lay dormant.
That running game, keyed by Weber and returning starter Amir Pinnix, struggled to make any big dents in the Bowling Green defense in the first half. Pinnix busted off a 58-yard run, but it was followed up on the next play by a Weber fumble inside the BG 20.
With the score 21-0 at halftime, hope seemed lost for Minnesota. Give credit, however, to this team. They drove 80 yards in 11 plays on their first possession of the second half, capped by a Pinnix touchdown run. After a quick defensive stop, the offense went back to work, driving 64 yards and scoring early in the fourth quarter to pull within seven. The Falcons missed a field goal, and Minnesota answered with the tying touchdown, as Weber drove them 75 yards and capped the drive with a toss to Pinnix.
After the Gophers hit a late field goal to take their first lead, Bowling Green went into their two-minute offense. Despite having some success generating pressure on QB Tyler Sheehan, the Gophers went soft, letting Sheehan pick them apart with shorter passes while trying to avoid giving up any big plays. Sheehan matriculated the football down the field to set up the tying field goal with :03 left in regulation.
Pinnix scored on the Gophers' first overtime possession, but Bowling Green needed just two plays to punch it in and make it a 31-30 game. With everyone assuming that a second overtime was on the way, Brandon made the decision to go for two, and Sheehan completed a pass into the end zone to Freddie Barnes, who was the Falcons' opening-day starting QB last year. Brandon told the media after the game that it wasn't a tough decision to go for two:
"We talked about it that if we got to overtime on the road and that decision came up we would go for it. We made this decision long before tonight. In a hostile environment and the way the crowd was into it, we have to go for it."Credit Bowling Green on a number of fronts. Most notably, they went into a Big Ten stadium and won a game that they looked to have let slip away in the second half. Brandon showed a ton of confidence in his team by not even wavering on his decision to go for two after Minnesota called a timeout to set up their defense.
From the Gophers' perspective, it's a tough loss. This was a game they expected to win, and it's probably a game they'll look back on late in the season, as they are chasing a sixth win to be bowl-eligible.
There were some good things for Minnesota. Namely, the Gophers may have found themselves a leader at quarterback. Weber was hardly sharp early in the game, but he showed great character and toughness by leading the Gophers out of that 21-point hole. Yes, he turned the ball over three times, but he also made some very nice throws and appears to be more than capable of taking off and running when necessary.
Pinnix had a good game running, going for 167 yards and an average of 6.0 yards per rush. He's durable, tough, and also looks to have a pretty good grasp of the new offense. Senior Ernie Wheelwright made some tough catches, but needs to keep getting better. With his size (6'6"), he should be Weber's unquestioned favorite target, but that won't happen if he keeps with his trend of playing uneven football.
Defensively, not many good things happened. They toughened up for a time in the second half, but Minnesota allowed over 400 yards passing, couldn't make the stop on the two-point play, and didn't force a turnover all night against a QB who threw four picks in 43 pass attempts last year.
The best thing about last night's game for Minnesota? The announced crowd of almost 50,000 was much larger than I would have guessed they could draw after years of inconsistent play followed by a coaching change. Brewster appears to have succeeded in igniting some passion in this long-apathetic fan base. For them to keep coming back, they're going to need to tighten up the defense and stop waiting until halftime to show up on offense.
Next week: vs. Miami (Ohio) (1-0), 12pm CT, Metrodome (Big Ten Network)
