The Minnesota Gophers put together a strong fourth quarter comeback effort at the Big House on Saturday afternoon but ultimately fell to the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 27-24 to move to 2-3 overall on the season.

The Minnesota offense picked up one first down on its opening drive with three-straight run plays, but was forced to punt after being stopped on 3rd-and-7.

On the defense's first series, the Gophers had a chance to get off the field on a 3rd-and-9, but allowed Michigan quarterback Alex Orji to scramble for a first down to keep the Wolverines' drive alive.

Shortly after a Minnesota personal foul on Jalen Logan-Redding, Wolverines' running back Kalel Mullings found a crease on the left side of the line of scrimmage and scored on a run from 27 yards out to put the Gophers in a 7-0 deficit early.

Minnesota's second drive late in the first quarter had more promise, as the Gophers drove the ball down to the Michigan 34-yard line before getting stopped. There were some signs of the Gophers being able to establish a run game, as Jaren Mangham got loose for a 16-yard run on the series.

However, it ended in Dragan Kesich missing a long 54-yard field goal try as the Gophers weren't able to come away with points despite some positive things happening on offense.

In the first five minutes of the second quarter, Minnesota started another drive on its own 20 that went backwards before quarterback Max Bromer completed a pass to Daniel Jackson for a seven-yard gain on a second-and-long play. However, before Jackson was down, Michigan safety Zeke Berry ripped the ball from him and set up the Wolverines deep in Gophers territory.

From that point, the Wolverines offense needed just three handoffs to Mullings to find the second score of the game to make it 14-0 Michigan with 8:59 remaining until half.

Minnesota's defense would continue to get stops to try to keep the Gophers in it, but the offense could not come up with any answers against the Michigan defense.

After a three-and-out with under five minutes remaining in the half, a Mark Crawford punt was blocked by Michigan to set the Wolverines' offense up deep in Minnesota territory again, this time at the 11-yard line.

From there, it took just one play for Michigan to go up three scores as Orji found Tyler Morris for the game's first passing touchdown to put the Wolverines up 21-0.

Things continued to spiral downward for the Minnesota offense on the very next series when a Brosmer deep pass down the right side was intercepted by Jyaire Hill on what was a great play from the Michigan corner.

The defense would stop Michigan on its next series to limit the bleeding to an extent. The Minnesota offense would take over again at its own 22-yard line in attempt to put together a drive to try to get back into the game. But after getting into Michigan territory, the Wolverines pass rush stepped up with a couple of sacks that looked like it would help keep Minnesota scoreless going into halftime.

However, with 11 seconds remaining, Brosmer connected with Nick Kallerup on a Hail Mary type of play and came down at the Michigan two-yard line. With the clock stopping to move the chains, PJ Fleck ran his field goal team on the field and Kesich connected on a 20-yard kick as time expired to put the Gophers on the board, trailing 21-3 going into the break.

On the stat sheet, Minnesota actually outgained the Wolverines in the first half 130-107, but a turnover, a blocked punt and a fierce Michigan pass rush to set the Gophers offense back at inopportune times led to the three-score deficit.

To start the second half, the Wolverines took the ball down the field and connected on a 53-yard field goal to go up 24-3.

Just when it looked like Michigan might be able to inch closer to putting the game away, the Gophers' defense came up with a big play with four minutes left in the third when Ethan Robinson picked off Orji deep in Minnesota territory to give the Gophers some life.

After the interception, Minnesota's offense would march down the field for a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive capped off by a Darius Taylor three-yard run to make the score 24-10 Michigan early in the fourth.

Then, after another Minnesota defensive stand, the Gophers got a big play on special teams on a 60-yard punt return from Koi Perich. From there, the Gophers were able to punch the ball in from four yards out with another Taylor run to suddenly make it a one possession game at 24-17 with 11:05 left.

The Wolverines, on their next series, took nearly seven minutes off the clock on their next drive that ended in a field goal to make the score 27-17 Wolverines with 4:33 remaining.

Minnesota would respond with a touchdown on a nice drive that ended with a Brosmer two-yard touchdown pass to Jackson with 1:37 left.

The Gophers needed to recover the ensuing onside kick to have a chance to win the game, which, they did initially, but were flagged for an offsides penalty that did not look to be the proper call. On the re-kick, the onside attempt was unsuccessful as the Wolverines held on for the three-point win.

For the game, Minnesota outgained Michigan 296-241.

Brosmer finished the game 27-of-40 passing for 258 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

On the ground, Taylor had 13 carries for 36 yards and two touchdowns.

Next weekend, Minnesota is back at home as the Gophers take on USC under the lights.

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