WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — P.J. Fleck’s Gophers have done it again.

Every other year, Minnesota strings together a couple rousing wins to make diehards start to believe in the potential for a special season and generate broader interest from casual fans. Then they lose the next game.

The latest example: a 41-13 loss to Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday night.

The Gophers’ ability to win the Little Brown Jug from Michigan at home last week — a first since 1977 — on top of a road win at Washington two weeks ago put Minnesota at 2-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since Fleck’s best year in 2019.

The Gophers were a two-point road favorite, but were blown out by a Boilermakers program that has just won consecutive conference games for the first time since 2022.

In 2024, Minnesota rattled off four straight Big Ten wins and then lost 26-19 at Rutgers. In 2022, Minnesota started the season 4-0 and were ranked No. 21 before a 20-10 home loss to Purdue.

The tantalizing prospect of staying undefeated this October had athletics director Mark Coyle entertaining heightened stakes that would have come with it later this month.

“With this game, you can put yourself in a really good spot,” Coyle said on the KFXN-FM pregame show, looking ahead to the bye week and a home rivalry game against Iowa (5-1, 2-1) on Oct. 24.

That buzz is zapped for Minnesota (4-2, 2-1).

Fleck did not think the highs of the previous two weeks bled into the Purdue loss. “Not one thing,” he said. But on Saturday, the breakdowns were in every thing.

“In every single aspect, offensively, defensively, special teams, we beat ourselves,” Fleck said postgame. “And in every aspect, we got beat. When those two go like this (Fleck separated his arms widely), that is what the score looks like.”

Purdue (3-3, 2-1) snapped a 19-game Big Ten losing streak with a win over Illinois last weekend, but its defense had struggled in previous losses to Wake Forest, UCLA and Notre Dame.

The Boilermakers were allowing 183 rushing yards per game — 17th in Big Ten — but Minnesota managed only 27 on the ground. Drake Lindsey threw one touchdown and one interception.

“We got to look ourselves in the mirror and get better,” Lindsey said. “Just keep staying together and keep changing our best and just learn from it. These moments happen.”

Purdue was averaging 99 rushing yards per contest — 18th in the conference — but racked up 305 on the Gophers.

“Just a really poor head coaching performance,” Fleck said, adding in the seven penalties for 77 yards.

Former Minnesota back Fame Ijeboi rushed 31 times for 195 yards and three touchdowns. When it wasn’t Ijeboi, it was quarterback Ryan Browne scampering seven times for 81 yards. The Gophers defense got burned on blitzes and missed a ton of tackles.

“We would get out of (zone blitzes) and play man coverage and the quarterback would scramble and make a big play,” Fleck said. “He’s a really good runner. He keeps his eyes down the field. Our plaster technique wasn’t great downfield and we didn’t hang with them in man coverage. You are going back and forth seeing if you can find some things that stick.”

Source: Yahoo Sports