The Gophers picked Noah Jennings' 31-yard run as their highlight from the Michigan win, and it's a good choice. The run was the longest of Jennings' career, and it came in a game where Minnesota beat Michigan 20-14 on October 3 at Huntington Bank Stadium to claim the Little Brown Jug. The 11 a.m. home game had been on the calendar since the schedule came out, and it turned into the best afternoon of the season so far.
Most of Jennings' work is usually as a receiver, and he did plenty of that. He caught 7 passes for 70 yards, which tied the most catches by a Gopher this season. It was also his 5th straight game with 55 or more receiving yards. Against Michigan he added career highs with 2 rushing attempts and 32 rushing yards, which gave him 102 all-purpose yards. The 31-yard run beat his previous long of 29 yards against Southeast Missouri State on Oct. 10, 2024.
Jennings also went over 1,500 career receiving yards in the game, and the program says he now has 1,553. He had 885 of those at Charleston Southern and 323 at Cincinnati before he got to Minnesota.
Minnesota leaned on the run all day. The Gophers ran 40 times, a season high and their most since they carried it 46 times against Northwestern on Nov. 6, 2025. They held the ball for 37:36 to Michigan's 22:24, including 14:13 of the 3rd quarter. Darius Taylor ran 18 times for 32 yards and a touchdown and also caught a touchdown pass. Drake Lindsey went 17-of-25 for 136 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Luke Drzewiecki made field goals from 31 and 26 yards, and he has now made 23 in a row going back to last season.
The defense may have been the bigger story. Minnesota held Michigan to 180 total yards and 79 rushing yards and forced 3 turnovers, a season high. Aydan West and Zack Harden each made the first interception of their careers, on back-to-back Michigan possessions. TJ Bush Jr. had 2 sacks.
The program's postgame notes are full of history. Minnesota moved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten. The win ended a 5-game losing streak to Michigan and an 18-game home losing streak to the Wolverines, and it was Minnesota's first home win over Michigan since 1977. Michigan came in ranked 24th in the Coaches Poll, and the Gophers had beaten 23rd-ranked Washington the week before. The last time Minnesota beat ranked teams in back-to-back weeks was 1968. P.J. Fleck reached 100 career wins as a head coach. He also joined Glen Mason as the only Minnesota coaches to win all 4 rivalry trophies. A sellout crowd of 51,102 was there to see it.
