The Minnesota Gophers will look to go 5-0 on the season when they host the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday afternoon but it appears they’ll have to go through Aidan McConnell to make that happen.
The Purdue quarterback is dealing with a rib injury and missed last week’s victory over Florida Atlantic, but according to Gopher Hole’s Tony Liebert he is expected to play against the Gophers.
O’Connell was fifth in the nation with 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception before missing last week’s game against the Owls. He also helped the Boilermakers nearly pull off a season-opening upset of No. Penn State on Sept. 1, throwing for 365 yards and a touchdown in a 35-31 loss.
Purdue’s biggest advantage to having O’Connell is his connection with top wide receiver Charlie Jones. The Iowa transfer racked up 32 catches for 474 yards and five touchdowns in three first three games with O’Connell but was “limited” to nine catches, 59 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Florida Atlantic.
The Gophers come into Saturday’s game with the nation’s second-leading pass defense, allowing just 126 yards per game, but their toughest challenge to date was Michigan State, who ranks 68th with 248.5 passing yards per game.
Although they held Payton Thorne to 132 yards passing and two interceptions, O’Connell is a different beast and will challenge the Gopher secondary on Saturday afternoon.
