It was rainy, sloppy, and messy in West Lafayette and Minnesota showed a lot of grit in their 20-13 win over Purdue on Saturday.

The Gophers defense bent, but didn't break. Holding Purdue scoreless in the second half despite giving up 434 total yards to the Boilermakers.

Minnesota's offense came out aggressive in the second half, taking their opening possession 75 yards on just three plays that was capped off with a Trey Potts four-yard touchdown run.

That drive gave them a 17-13 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

The Gopher Report recaps all the action below.

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Boye Mafe's forced fumble on Aidan O'Connell and recovery by Val Martin set the Gophers up on Purdue's 44-yard line. Gophers quickly cashed in, capping off a 4-play, 44-yard drive with a 32-yard touchdown pass-and-catch from Tanner Morgan to Chris Autman-Bell.

Despite a 10-play, 56-yard drive by Purdue that resulted in a Mitchell Fineran 36-yard field goal, Thomas Rush and Micah Dew-Treadway came up big by combining to sack O'Connell on 3rd-and-8.

Minnesota linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin appeared to get dinged up on Purdue's scoring drive and didn't return.

Purdue amassed 126 total yards (88 pass, 38 rush) while converting 4-of-6 (67%) on third down. Compared to 53 total yards for the Gophers.

A King Doerue plunge up the middle for two yards on 4th-and-1 to start the second quarter kept Purdue's drive alive in the red zone and resulted in a 7-yard touchdown catch by Milton Wright to put the Boilermakers up 10-7 with 13:40 remaining.

Gophers response with a 6-play, 59-yard drive that resulted in a 44-yard field goal by Matthew Trickett to tie it at 10 with 4:49 remaining.

After a 51-yard completion from Morgan to Michael Brown-Stephens down the seam, the Gophers' drive stalled a bit after a Daniel Jackson personal foul penalty on a crack-back block (which was questionable in my opinion). Morgan also zipped a pass to Chris Autman-Bell that went through his hands on 2nd-and-17 for what would have been a sure-fire first down and possibly a score.

Purdue answers to end the half, navigating an 11-play, 68-yard drive that resulted in a Mitchell Fineran 24-yard field goal.

Minnesota's defense was able to contain Purdue better on third downs in the second quarter, Boilermakers converted just 1-of-5 in the stanza.

However, Purdue dominated time of possession in the first half, 19:45 compared to 10:15 for the Gophers.

Boilermakers have ran 48 plays, compared to 19 for Minnesota.

Minnesota has tallied just 24 yards rushing in the first half.

Tanner Morgan is 5-of-9 for 104 yards and one touchdown. That includes a 32-yard touchdown pass to Chris Autman-Bell and a 51-yard completion to Michael Brown-Stephens.

Gophers caught a break on the 32-yard touchdown catch by Chris Autman-Bell, which upon further review, shouldn't have been a touchdown. However, referees never reviewed the play.

Autman-Bell has also had a couple of pass plays that have went through his hands that would have been big-yardage pickups for the Gophers.

Gophers go deep off of play-action on the first play of the third quarter as Tanner Morgan connected with Michael Brown-Stephens for a 54-yard gain. Then, Trey Potts finishes off the drive with a 17-yard scamper and a 4-yard touchdown plunge that put the Gophers up 17-13 with 13:50 remaining in the quarter.

On Purdue's ensuing possession, the Boilermakers put together a 10-play drive and found themselves on the Minnesota 33-yard line. However, Nyles Pinckney and Coney Durr combined to sack a scrambling Aidan O'Connell for a 12-yard loss, forcing a punt.

Minnesota out-gained Purdue 103 to 46 in the third quarter, with a majority of those yards (75) coming on the Gophers opening scoring drive that went for 3 plays and 75-yards.

Purdue put together a long 11-play, 58-yard drive that included a beauty of a 12-yard sideline pass completion to Garrett Miller on a 4th-and-2 catch from O'Connell. However, the Boilers drive stalled on the Minnesota 20-yard line and Mitchell Fineran sailed a 37-yard field goal attempt wide right.

Purdue's second possession of the quarter ended when Aidan O'Connell's pass to Broc Thompson covered just three yards on 4th-and-5 and the Boilers turned it over on downs with 6:23 remaining.

The Gophers put together a 10-play, 40-yard drive that included a couple of 3rd-and-3 conversions from Cole Kramer (14-yard run up the middle) and Trey Potts (a 6-yard run) that set Matthew Trickett up with a 38-yard field goal to put the Gophers up 20-13 with 1:46 remaining.

Purdue had a final chance and didn't waste any time, marching 48-yards down the field in four plays. However, Tyler Nubin jumped in front of Aidan O'Connell's pass intended for Broc Thompson for a game-sealing interception for the Gophers

Michael Brown-Stephens was able to slip past Purdue's secondary for two big-play catches of 51 and 54-yards. His second catch (54) came on the Gophers' first play of the third quarter and helped spark Minnesota to score the go-ahead four-yard touchdown from Trey Potts two plays later.

With Mariano Sori-Marin exiting the game in the first quarter, Jack Gibbens stepped up and led Minnesota with eight tackles and three pass deflections. Two of those deflections came on passes across the middle of the field that nearly led to interceptions for the Gophers' defense.

- Tanner Morgan threw his 50th career touchdown pass as a Gopher with his 32-yards strike to Chris Autman-Bell in the first quarter.

- Redshirt freshman linebacker Jaqwondis Burns recorded the first sack of his career in the third quarter.

- Minnesota is now 1-17 when trailing at halftime under head coach P.J. Fleck's tenure after today's win over Purdue.

- Minnesota tallied seven tackles for loss on the day, including four sacks

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