Gophers score walk-off win in Rate Bowl, 20-17 over New Mexico
PHOENIX — When two passes soared out of Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey’s right hand, completions looked doubtful. And given how much Minnesota’s offense struggled Friday against New Mexico, that would have fit right in with an eyesore of a Rate Bowl.
But both times, wideout Jalen Smith raced underneath them and then left his feet to make improbable touchdown catches and propel Minnesota to a 20-17 win at Chase Field.
The first connection between the redshirt freshmen was a rainbow that traveled 10 yards and gave Minnesota a 7-6 halftime lead; the second was lofted 12 yards on third-and-8 and won it in overtime.
“My angle looked like there was a Lobo in front of it,” head coach P.J. Fleck said postgame. “Then all of a sudden, Jalen cuts him off and dives. One thing about Drake is what makes elite quarterbacks elite quarterbacks is they throw people open, and they trust people to be where they are going to be. That is a very rare trait to have.”
With the last-play victory, the Gophers extended their bowl winning streak to nine straight games since 2015, including 7-0 under Fleck.
Lindsey was not his finest on Friday, but he stepped up big when Minnesota needed him most, similar to how he did in comeback wins over Purdue, Rutgers and Michigan State during the regular season.
Lindsey was 18 for 28 for 147 yards and two TDs; Smith had six catches for 63 yards, two scores and the bowl’s offensive Most Valuable Player award.
“The best throw of the day was the first touchdown to Jalen,” Fleck said. “We talk all the time about shaping the football and the appropriate throw … the advance-able ball. But to throw the ball as high as he did before Jalen is even close to being out of his breakpoint. …. Those are big-time throws.”
The Gophers (8-5) were a 2.5-point favorite against New Mexico (9-4), a Mountain West Conference school in a bowl game for the first time since 2015.
The Lobos, who beat UCLA in September, were a handful for another Big Ten team on Friday. New Mexico held the Gophers to 227 yards of offense in regulation. The Gophers had nine total penalties, half on the offensive line, setting back many drives. They punted six times.
“We didn’t execute for a lot of different reasons — partially them, partially us,” Fleck said. “Didn’t play our best football game, didn’t play as complementary as we wanted to play going into the game. However, we found a way to be 1-0.”
The Gophers took a 14-6 lead with Darius Taylor’s 5-yard touchdown run to start the fourth quarter; the junior tailback finished with 116 yards on 24 carries. But the lead was short-lived as New Mexico’s kick returner Damon Bankston returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.
Bankston, who returned a kick for a TD against Boise State in October, said he was surprised the Gophers kicked it into the middle of the field.
One of the Gophers’ cover guys, in particular, got blocked, and the kick should have gone closer to the sideline, but Bankston didn’t have to make much of a cut nor break a single tackle on the return.
An absolute stroll into the end zone. With a two-point conversion, the Rate Bowl was tied 14-14.
Minnesota bounced back on special teams by keeping its starting defense on the field when New Mexico lined up for a punt on fourth-and-2. Fleck was yelling “fake” on the sideline as the Lobos’ run play was stopped by Anthony Smith for lost yards.
Smith won the defensive MVP award with six tackles, two sacks, two tackles for lost yards and two pass break-ups. After the game, the redshirt junior announced on ESPN he will return to Minnesota for the 2026 season.
To start the game, the Gophers’ offense was out of whack, with punts on their opening two drives and a turnover on their third possession. On fourth-and-1, Minnesota attempted a gadget play. The Gophers lined up for a tush-push formation, but the snap intentionally went under Lindsey’s legs. It unintentionally hit fullback Frank Bierman’s arm on its way to Taylor.
The ball bounced awkwardly, and Taylor couldn’t fall on it. New Mexico took over at Minnesota’s 46-yard line and added a field goal for a 6-0 lead.
The Lobos had taken a 3-0 lead after a 15-play, 66-yard drive in the first quarter.
After the Gophers’ cover-your-eyes offense well into the second quarter, Minnesota put together a 75-yard touchdown drive to end the half. Taylor started it off with a spin move and burst around the left end for a 38-yard run; Lindsey and Smith capped it off with their first touchdown connection.
“We battle all day, and I think this is just a show of how 2025 went,” Lindsey said. “There were times that it looked like we weren’t in it. … This whole season we battled back and finished games.”
