Darius Taylor had over 200 yards of total offense and the Golden Gophers defense had two fourth quarter interceptions on Saturday night at Huntington Bank Stadium, upsetting No. 11 USC 24-17.
The win is Minnesota's first win over a top-25 opponent since an upset over Penn State in 2019.
A gutsy fourth-and-goal call at the one yard line with under a minute to go in Saturday's game proved to be the right one for P.J. Fleck and the Golden Gophers.
After originally being called short of the endzone, an official's review determined that Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer broke the plane on a quarterback sneak to give the Gophers a 23-17 lead with 47 seconds left in regulation.
It was the second touchdown drive in a row for a Golden Gophers offense that entered the fourth quarter trailing the Trojans 17-10. The Gophers dominated the Trojans in the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball.
Defensively, Corey Hetherman's unit kept the Trojans to just 42 yards of total offense in the final stanza prior to USC's final drive of the game in the closing minute. They also had a pair of interceptions in the quarter with Koi Perich sealing the victory, picking off a Miller Moss pass in the endzone.
Offensively, the Gophers totaled 133 yards of total offense and averaged 6.7 yards per play in the fourth quarter, quarterback Max Brosmer as he has been all season was fantastic under the spotlight, completing 5-of-6 passing attempts in the fourth quarter for 64 yards.
It wasn't the biggest day for the transfer quarterback but it was an efficient one. The senior signal caller completed 15-of-19 passing attempts for 169 yards in the victory.
The star of the Golden Gophers victory, however, was their running back Darius Taylor. The sophomore tailback had his biggest game of the season, totaling 200 yards of total offense. On the ground, he was nearly unstoppable, totaling 144 rushing yards on 25 carries while also totaling five receptions for 56 yards.
Marcus Major was also strong on the ground for the Gophers with seven carries for 37 years and had two receptions for 34 yards of his own. As a team, the Gophers had 193 rushing yards in the game and averaged 4.8 yards per carry.
It was an ominous start on Saturday for the Trojans as on their first drive of the game, they would drive into Minnesota territory but missed a 47-yard field goal. While the Gophers didn't take advantage of the miss, it was one that set the tone for the remainder of the game.
The Gophers opened up the scoring at the end of the first quarter as Dragan Kesich made a 32-yard chip shot field goal, giving the Gophers a 3-0 lead. USC would respond with a 15-play, 75 yard drive to take a 7-3 lead but that lead would not be for long as the Gophers drove right back down the field to take a 10-7 lead on a Max Brosmer touchdown run, his first of three rushing touchdowns on the evening.
The Trojans would tie up the ball game just before halftime as Michael Lantz made a 54-yard field goal after missing his 47-yard attempt earlier in the game.
On their first drive of the third quarter, USC would reclaim the lead, once again with a long, slow moving drive, taking over seven minutes to go 91 yards on 12 plays. Trojans star running back Woody Marks, who had a great day himself with 134 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts, would score the only touchdown of the third quarter, punching it in at the goal line.
The Gophers looking to respond well to USC taking the lead would have a missed opportunity, driving into USC territory but ultimately passed up on 54-yard field goal attempt to punt following a 12-play drive that went 54 yards and took nearly six minutes of time off the clock.
USC, having a chance to potentially put the Gophers away, would find themselves in Minnesota territory but the Minnesota defense had other plans. Gophers defensive end Jah Joyner would hit Miller Moss's arm as he went to get the ball away and it would float perfectly into the hands of linebacker and captain Devon Williams.
The Minnesota offense would seize the opportunity of the extra possession, immediately answering the interception with a six play, 65 yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 17-17. The defense, feeding off the heavy dose of momentum created from the interception and touchdown, would for only the second time in the win, force a USC three-and-out, giving the offense an opportunity to win the game with 6:12 remaining.
The Trojans defense which had just 56 seconds of game time to recover from Minnesota's prior scoring drive would have no answers on the Gophers final drive of the evening. Max Brosmer, Darius Taylor, and the Gophers moved the ball down the field with ease but took their time doing so. For the second time in the third quarter, Minnesota orchestrated a 12-play drive, this time going 75 yards over five minutes. But it wouldn't necessarily be easy.
After finding themselves in the red zone with 2:55 remaining, the Gophers would need to fight for every inch remaining, as it took them four plays to get to the USC one-yard line. On third and one from the one, Max Brosmer would look to push his way into the endzone but would be stuffed by USC's Kobe Pepe and Easton Arnold-Mascarenas.
That would lead to the decision of the game for P.J. Fleck would choose to take the points and the chip shot field goal from the one yard line or go for the touchdown, forcing USC to need to score a touchdown to get the game to overtime.
Fleck and the Gophers, who have been more aggressive in recent weeks with their play calling in crucial moments went for it on fourth and one, to make the call even gutsier, they went back to the well as Max Brosmer once again attempted to force his way into the endzone.
Initially, it appeared to be a heartbreaking finish to the drive, the referees ruling Brosmer to be short of the goalline. But following an official review, the call on the field was overturned, giving the Gopherss a 24-17 lead with 57 seconds remaining.
On the final drive of the game for USC, the Trojans would push the ball into Minnesota territory but Miller Moss looking for young star wide receiver Duce Robinson would be intercepted by the Gophers own young star in safety Koi Perich, sealing the upset victory for the Golden Gophers.
With the win, Minnesota improves to 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in Big Ten play. They'll travel to Los Angeles next weekend to take on the UCLA Bruins.
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