Gophers football comes up just short in 27-24 loss to No. 12 Michigan

ANN ARBOR, MICH. – They trailed by 21 points in the fourth quarter, committed seven penalties, gave up five sacks and rushed for only 38 yards. Yet there the Gophers stood, trailing No. 12 Michigan only 27-24 with 1:37 remaining Saturday at Michigan Stadium.

Gophers kicker Dragan Kesich lined up for the onside kick and let it rip with his left foot. The ball took a few hops, bounced off a teammate’s foot and spun down the sideline. Minnesota linebacker Matt Kingsbury jumped on the ball, recovering it at the Michigan 38-yard line, seemingly setting up his team aa chance to tie the score or win the game.

The crowd of 110,304 gasped as the play sent the Gophers sideline into a celebratory frenzy.

Then came the flag.

Officials ruled Kingsbury was offside, judging that he passed the 35-yard line before Kesich had kicked the ball. Replays and photos seem to suggest otherwise.

Given a do-over, Michigan recovered the second onside kick, then ran out the clock in its 27-24 victory for the Little Brown Jug on a rainy day.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck didn’t criticize officials regarding the play, adding that he hadn’t seen a replay.

“I haven’t seen the last play, nor does one play win or lose you the game,” Fleck said. “Everybody’s gonna focus on that. I’m not going to sit here and get fined [by the Big Ten office]. I have more respect for my boss [athletic director Mark Coyle] and the University of Minnesota and the Big Ten.

“But,” he added, “we got it, and it was executed really well.”

Fleck also said an official told him that Kingsbury “broke the plane” of the 35-yard line before Kesich had kicked the ball.

The outcome spoiled a spirited comeback by the Gophers, who fell behind 24-3 when Michigan’s Dominic Zvada kicked a 53-yard field goal midway through the third quarter. Instead of a comfortable victory by the Wolverines (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten), the Gophers (2-3, 0-2) showed resolve.

Darius Taylor’s 3-yard touchdown run made it 24-10 with 14:01 left in the fourth quarter, capping a 12-play, 76-yard march. Then Koi Perich returned a punt 60 yards to the Michigan 17, Taylor bulled in from 4 yards to trim the lead to 24-17.

“Our poise and understanding that we just had to do our job was the biggest thing [in the second half],” said Taylor, a Detroit native who had 55 friends and family members watch him rush 13 times for 36 yards and catch 10 passes for 52 yards. “We were executing at a high level.”

Michigan used a 14-play drive that consumed 6:32 to stretch the lead to 27-17 on Zvada’s 35-yard field goal with 4:33 to play.

Again, the Gophers answered. Brosmer drove his team 75 yards in 14 plays, capped by Jackson’s spinning, 12-yard TD catch that originally was ruled out of bounds. It was reversed upon video review, and suddenly the Gophers had life with 1:37 left.

“I didn’t realize how athletic of a catch that was,” said Brosmer, who completed 27 of 40 passes for 258 yards. “I got to watch it again on the sideline. … It’s pretty cool.”

Said Fleck: “Our players answered the bell. They just kept fighting.”

The Gophers had to keep fighting because they helped dig themselves a first-half hole.

Michigan took a 7-0 lead on its first possession when Kalel Mullings ran 27 yards untouched after finding a big opening in the Gophers defense.

The Wolverines boosted their lead to 14-0 by forcing a second-quarter turnover and cashing in fully.

Jackson caught a pass from Brosmer at the Gophers 19-yard line and was trying to gain more yards. Michigan defensive back Zeke Berry stripped the ball from Jackson and recovered the fumble. Mullings, who carried 24 times for 111 yards, scored on a 1-yard run with 8:59 left in the second quarter.

The advantage grew to 21-0 on a 1-yard run by Mullings, two plays after Kechaun Bennett blocked Mark Crawford’s punt and Christian Boivin recovered at the Gophers 11.

“The fumble and the blocked punt in the first half told everything,” Fleck said.

The Gophers beat the clock to make it 21-3 on Kesich’s 20-yard field goal to end the half. It came after tight end Nick Kallerup caught Brosmer’s 44-yard Hail Mary pass at the Michigan 2 with 2 seconds left.

That set the stage for the second half, when the Gophers came up just short.

“I told them how proud I am of them,” Fleck said. “We’re way beyond moral victories in this program — way beyond. Every person in that [locker] room thought we were going to win that football game, period.”