Minnesota Golden Gophers can’t topple highly ranked Ohio State

Sometimes you just play a really good team that’s better than you and you can play a solid game and you still lose. That’s pretty much the narrative to the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday night. The Gophers lost in Columbus by a score of 28-14.

The Gophers defense found it’s grove again in limiting the usually quite productive Buckeyes offense. It’s only the second time all season that Ohio State did not score over 30 points, the first time being on September 19 against Northern Illinois. Ohio State barely got to 28 with Cardale Jones running for their last score in the closing minutes to put the game out of reach of the Gophers.

Minnesota’s offense didn’t find themselves on the board until the fourth quarter, but once they scored it started to get interesting. The Gophers were down 21-0 going into the fourth, but struck first in the final fr;6ame with a TD pass from Mitch Leidner to KJ Maye. With just over two minutes left, Leidner hit Rashad Still for a TD. The Gophers tried an onside kick, but failed and couldn’t stop Ohio State to try to make it real interesting.

More from Minnesota Golden Gophers

• Former Minnesota Gopher Stoudermire finds home in the CFL
• Lindsay Whalen takes Gophers coaching job, statue sure to follow
• Can Motzko lead the Gophers back to prominence?
• What to watch for: Golden Gopher spring football
• Golden Gopher Women’s basketball faces UW-Green Bay in NCAA

Leidner finished the day going for 27/44 for 281 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Leidner threw only one interception, but it was a big one that the Buckeyes returned for a TD to start the scoring in the second quarter.

Maye, to no one’s surprise, was the big receiver for the Gophers on Saturday night. Maye had 10 catches for 116 yards. Still followed with six catches for 41 yards and Brandon Lingen had four grabs for 50 yards.

The Golden Gophers couldn’t get the running game going though. Shannon Brooks was the leading rusher, but only gathered 27 yards on 11 carries.

Cardale Jones went 12/22 for 187 yards and a touchdown in the start for the Buckeyes.

More from Sporting Sota

• Minnesota Twins bullpen will be their downfall
• Top 5 Minnesota Twins Pitching Prospects
• Kyle Rudolph signing gives stability to Minnesota Vikings offense
• Jake Odorizzi’s emergence fueling Twins starting staff
• Former Minnesota Twins player David Ortiz shot

It will go down as a loss in the record books, but the fact of the matter is that the Gophers fought for the second week in a row against a ranked Big Ten opponent. The Gophers now fall to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten. Ohio State improves to 9-0 and 5-0 in conference.

Next Saturday, Ohio State will be taking on Illinois in Champagne. The Gophers are on the road for another primetime game against a highly ranked opponent in the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Next: Previewing and predicting the Vikings/Rams game!

Sporting Sota is your home for the best Minnesota sports coverage anyway in this world!