NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Game Information

Week: 6

Date: Saturday, October 10, 2026

Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Time: TBA

TV: TBA

Head Coach – P.J. Fleck

Seasons at School (as head coach): 10

Overall Coaching Record: 96-66

Western Michigan (30-22)

Minnesota (66-44)

2025 Results

Overall Record: 8-5

Conference Record: 5-4

Buffalo: W- 23-10

Northwestern State: W- 66-0

California: L – 14-27

Rutgers: W – 31-28

(1) Ohio State: L – 3-42

Purdue: W – 27-20

(25) Nebraska: W – 24-6

Iowa: L – 3-41

Michigan State: W – 23-20

(8) Oregon: L – 13-42

Northwestern: L – 35-38

Wisconsin: W – 17-7

Bowl Game – New Mexico: W – 20-17

2025 Stat Leaders

Offense

Passing Yards: Drake Lindsey – 2382 (Returning)

Touchdown Passes: Drake Lindsey – 18

Rushing Yards: Darius Taylor – 670 (Returning)

Rushing Touchdowns: Darius Taylor, Drake Lindsey (4)

Receiving Yards: Lemeke Brockington – 484 (NFL)

Receiving Touchdowns: Javon Tracy – 6 (Returning)

Total Touchdowns: Javon Tracy – 6

Defense

Tackles: Maverick Baranowski – 103 (Returning)

Sacks: Anthony Smith – 12.5 (Returning)

Tackles for Loss: Anthony Smith – 17.5

Interceptions: John Nestor – 6 (Returning)

2026 Key Players

Offense

Quarterback: Drake Lindsey

Offensive line: Greg Johnson

Running back: Darius Taylor

Wide Receiver / Tight End: Jalen Smith

Defense

Defensive Line: Anthony Smith

Linebacker: Maverick Baranowski

Secondary: John Nestor

2026 Media Predictions

10th out of 18 Big 10 Teams

My Thoughts

In a way, Minnesota’s 2025 season perfectly defined the Big 10. The Gophers played a bunch of close games (other than Iowa) against other perfectly OK Big 10 teams and got slaughtered by Ohio State and Oregon. They were one of Purdue’s big “what if” games last season that also defined Purdue’s 2025 season. The Boilermakers took a 20-13 lead into the 4th quarter only to collapse in spectacular fashion. I’ve watched enough college football for several lifetimes, however, Purdue missing a field goal, giving up a subsequent 14-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, followed by Ryan Browne throwing the ball directly to Minnesota’s best player for a pick-6, shaking that off, driving the ball all the way down to the Minnesota 5 before turning it over on downs, forcing a Minnesota 3-and-out, getting the ball back, and then sealing the game with a meaningless, but predictable Corey Smith fumble after a first down catch was a new experience for my veteran college football brain. I’ve never seen a team try so hard and at the same time fail so miserably in one quarter of football.

If Purdue knocks off Minnesota on the road, evening their overall record at 3-3, at the very least, I don’t think the Boilermakers drop an absolute turd of a game in Evanston the following week. In my humble opinion, the offense was still in shock. That game was an anomaly: a 0-19 loss against a bad Northwestern team, sandwiched between the 20-27 loss to the Gophers and an equally frustrating 24-27 loss to Rutgers. I’m not saying Purdue makes a bowl if they finish the Minnesota game, but maybe they build a little confidence and don’t start the 2026 season in the midst of a brutal conference losing streak.

Minnesota sits at a crucial juncture in Purdue’s 2026 season as well. Let’s pretend for a moment that Purdue wins their first two games, and then drops the next 3 (at UCLA, vs Notre Dame, at Illinois). That puts the Boilermakers at home in week 5 vs Minnesota, sitting on a 2-3 record, and in desperate need of a win heading into the back half of the schedule. If Purdue wins, breaks their conference losing streak, and pushes their record to 3-3, I like their chances at home against Washington the following Friday. If they lose, the Huskies clean their clock on national T.V. and things get dark in a hurry.

If Barry Odom and company are interested in pulling the upset, they’re going to need to contain the Gophers’ 1-2 punch of quarterback Drake Lindsey and running back Darius Taylor. Lindsey took over PJ Fleck’s offense as a redshirt freshman in 2025 and acquitted himself nicely. He’s a big dude at 6’5”, 230, but doesn’t necessarily have the strongest arm, or at least it seemed that way last season. He made his living getting the ball out of his hands on time and drilling intermediate routes and should enter 2026 brimming with confidence. The Boilermakers will need their secondary to tighten up and force Lindsey away from his comfortable short and intermediate throws and give their theoretical pass rush a chance to get home. He wants to keep the Gophers on schedule and in possession. Purdue’s defense needs to force him to be a playmaker instead of a very good game manager who completes upwards of 70% of his passes.

Part of that will depend on their ability to stop Darius Taylor. He looked like a budding star when he turned 6 games of action into 800 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2023 and established himself as one of the Big 10’s best in 2024 when he rushed for 986 yards and 10 touchdowns and caught 54 passes for 350 yards and 2 touchdowns. He started 2025 with a bang, running for 141 yards on 30 carries and catching 3 passes for 36 yards in the Gophers 23-10 win over UConn. Then he pulled a hamstring on his third carry of the game against Northwestern State and didn’t really return to full strength until the very end of the season, when he racked up 100 yards in 19 carries against Wisconsin and ran for 116 yards on 24 carries against New Mexico in their bowl game. When he’s healthy, Taylor is a tough runner at 6’0”, 215 and is one of the best receiving backs in the country, which is a bit of a weird combination. The thing is, when Taylor gets the ball on the outside, he’s tough for corners and safeties to get on the ground. He doesn’t use speed; he uses power as a receiver out of the backfield. Purdue’s defense will need to keep Taylor under control, because if Fleck can win the game by handing (and throwing) him the ball, that’s exactly what he’ll do. Minnesota got away from that last season with Taylor nursing his hamstring, but in an ideal Minnesota world, this offense is built on Taylor moving the ball between the tackles and play-action passes that give Lindsey wide-open intermediate windows for easy completions. If Taylor rushes for over 100 against the Boilermakers, this will be a tough game to win.

The Gophers’ defense should be stout this season. Anthony Smith returns to the defensive line after establishing himself as one of the best defensive linemen in the nation in 2025. The 6’6”, 285-pound defensive lineman lived in the opposing backfield last season, finishing second in the Big 10 and 5th nationally with 17.5 tackles for loss and leading the Big 10 with 12.5 sacks. He can play both inside at defensive tackle and outside as a defensive end. If there is a weak link in your offensive line, expect Smith to be lined up across from him. Purdue’s offensive game plan has to start with controlling Smith, because he’s the type of player who can ruin a game on his own.

At linebacker, 2025 leading tackler Maverick Baranowski returns after back-to-back honorable mention All-Big 10 seasons in 2024 and 2025. While Anthony Smith is the star of the defense, Baranowski is the heartbeat. He’s a typical downhill, box linebacker who can shed blockers and thump running backs in the hole. If Purdue wants to pass the ball, they’ll have to find a way to block Smith; if they want to run the ball, they’ll have to find a way to not only block Baranowski, but keep him blocked.

The back end of the defense suffered a blow when Oregon waddled into Minneapolis and absconded with star safety Koi Perich. For those of you who haven’t erased last season from your memory, you’ll remember Koi from his 4th-quarter pick-6 of Ryan Browne. While Koi is swimming in a different pond this season, cornerback John Nestor returns. The Iowa transfer’s 6 interceptions were good for second in 2025. He’s a physical corner who uses his strength to bully receivers and doesn’t hesitate to break on a pass he thinks might be up for grabs. A couple of his interceptions last season came on decent throws where he outworked the wide receiver for the ball. Ryan Browne will need to know where he’s lined up at all times, especially when he drops back into zone coverage and can keep his eyes on the ball and the receiver at the same time.

All in all, this is a good Minnesota team with a couple of stars on both sides of the ball. That’s sort of how it goes in the Big 10 these days. Odds are, they’ll be a road favorite heading into Ross Ade, but this is a winnable game for the Boilermakers, and as I mentioned above, might be the second “must-win” game on the schedule after Wake Forest.

If you’re planning your fall schedule, this might be one worth seeing in person. Purdue’s going to need all the help they can get to pull this upset.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos