Koi Perich pick-6 seals Gophers’ 27-20 win over Purdue

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota football team is 4-2 overall and 2-1 after a 27-20 win over Purdue on Homecoming at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Gophers’ star safety Koi Perich made the biggest play of his season so far to help seal a Minnesota victory.

Koi Perich’s game-winning pick-6

The big play:

Drake Lindsey had just hit Jameson Geers on a 4-yard touchdown pass to get the Gophers tied with Purdue 20-20 with 7:47 to play. With Perich’s help, the Gophers got the game-winning score on the next play.

Perich intercepted a Ryan Browne pass and took it down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown. It gave the Gophers a 27-20 lead with 7:40 to play. It was the game-winner.

"I told him today in the locker room you’re going to get a pick-6. It finally came true," Gophers’ quarterback Drake Lindsey said.

"It’s a great moment for our defense. Reading the QBs eyes, ultimately he threw it to me and just go make a play," Perich said.

It couldn’t have come at a better time for the sophomore standout. He hasn’t had the start to the season he wanted, muffing a punt at California that led to the Golden Bears’ winning touchdown. He dropped an interception at Ohio State, and has missed more plays than he’s made this season.

But his pick-six Saturday was one of four Gophers’ takeaways against the Boilermakers.

"We live in that world, Spiderman is going to come save the day, Batman is going to come save the day. That’s America, we live in a comic book world sometimes where good always wins out," Gophers’ coach P.J. Fleck said after the win. "Koi more than anybody was disappointed after Cal, but he made the biggest step of his career after that football game when he could’ve taken the biggest step backwards. You just knew somebody at some moment, some way, somehow was going to make a play. Koi was Koi."

Drake Lindsey, Jameson Geers score game-tying TD

How it happened:

The Gophers’ offense had largely sputtered Saturday, struggling to find a rhythm for most of the game. Lindsey finished 21-of-45 for 232 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. They struggled to put scoring drives together all night, but when the Gophers needed Lindsey the most, he delivered.

Lindsey hit Geers for a 4-yard touchdown to tie the game in the fourth quarter, capping a 14-play, 70-yard drive.

"That fourth quarter, that’s where you find out who you are as a team. Those are the ones that you gotta go get," Lindsey said.

"Putting it in 5s hands, that’s when the plays are made. It’s just going out there and making plays when it matters," Geers said.

"I almost did a backflip I was so happy," Gophers' defensive lineman Anthony Smith said.

‘Gophers won, right?’

What they're saying:

One look at the stat sheet, and you would think it was a game the Gophers lost by at least 10 points. Purdue ran for 256 yards, had 456 total yards and 25 first downs. The Gophers ran for just 30 yards against the worst rushing defense in the Big Ten.

The Gophers were 5-of-15 on third down, and Purdue had the ball nearly 10 more minutes. Turnovers were the difference, with Minnesota getting three interceptions and a recovering a fumble that ended the game.

Fleck didn’t want to hear about all the mistakes the Gophers made after the win. That’s after Iowa shut out Wisconsin 37-0, Indiana beat Oregon 30-20, USC beat Michigan 31-13, Nebraska rallied to beat Maryland 34-31 and Penn State suffered a stunning 22-21 loss to Northwestern. It resulted in James Franklin being fired on Saturday.

Other ranked teams to lose Saturday included Illinois, Oklahoma and Iowa State. While it may not always be pretty with Fleck, it’s a win.

"Check the scores today? Gophers won today, right? That’s all I care about," Fleck said.

The Gophers host Nebraska Friday night at Huntington Bank Stadium.