The Golden Gophers overcame a rough start and turned a halftime deficit into a 35-24 win over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn’t pretty at the outset as the Gophers’ defense, which was shredded and allowed 21 points in the fourth quarter of last week’s overtime loss to Northwestern, gave up a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive for an early 7-0 deficit.
Minnesota trailed 17-14 at the half and then responded by outscoring Louisiana 21-7 the rest of the way, highlighted by a defense that intercepted Zeon Chriss twice and a rushing attack that went for 201 yards on the day.
“I was really proud of the resolve and the resilience right out of halftime,” Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said on Big Ten Network after the game. “I really liked how our offense responded.”
The Gophers didn’t have star freshman running back Darius Taylor due to injury, so the ground attack featured redshirt freshman Zach Evans (15 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD), Bryce Williams (15 carries, 53 yards, 1 TD) and Sean Tyler (10 carries, 47 yards).
Evans and Williams each scored in the second half.
The Gophers’ passing attack wasn’t explosive but Athan Kaliakmanis completed 12 of 14 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns to Daniel Jackson, who led Minnesota with five catches for 89 yards.
The victory gets the Gophers (3-2) back in the win column after back-to-back losses ahead of next week’s primetime showdown against No. 2 Michigan.
