Golden Gophers suffocate Huskers to remain unbeaten at home
Minnesota defensive lineman Jaxon Howard (1) sacks Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) Friday October 17, 2025 at Huntington Bank Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
MINNEAPOLIS — Operating on a short week, and going up against at team in the AP Top-25, didn’t stop the Golden Gophers from making a statement against the Huskers Friday night.
Minneota set the tone right after kickoff and dominated in the trenches to beat Nebraska 24-6 in front a crowd of 48,549 at Huntington Bank Stadium. It was the Golden Gophers’ sixth-straight victory over the Huskers, and they’re still unbeaten at home this season. Coach P.J. Fleck was proud of the performance by his team, and he thought they followed the game plan to perfection.
Minnesota’s jaw-dropping, nine sacks on defense set a program-record, and Nebraska couldn’t do anything to contain the pass rush. Karter Menz, Anthony Smith and Jaxon Howard tallied two sacks apiece. Not to mention Devon Eastern, and Matt Kingsbury each put Husker quarterback Dylan Raiola to the turf.
Running back Darius Taylor stampeded the Blackshirts all evening, and quarterback Drake Lindsey completed 16 of his 20 passes, which was a testament to all of their hard work in practice to Fleck. He really enjoyed that his squad played complimentary football.
“Our players were relentless, they set the tone from the beginning, and that’s the kind of game when you look at it as a head football coach, and there are a lot of decisions that you have to make,” Fleck said. “You can’t look at them for now, you have to look at them three to four quarters down the road, and it’s really fun though when you trust your offense, defense and special teams all within the same game, and they’re all playing at a high level.”
After getting shutout in the first quarter, Minnesota (5-2) was able to get on the scoreboard after a 71-yard run by Taylor, which Lindsey later punched into the endzone. Although the Golden Gophers only led 7-6 at halftime, Fleck made the right adjustments, and they dominated the second half.
Minnesota shutout Nebraska (5-2) for the final two quarters, outscoring the opposition 17-0. The Huskers couldn’t run the ball, or pass protect on offense due to the tenacity by the Golden Gophers’ defense. Not being able to run the ball, or protect the quarterback turned into a disaster for Nebraska, and Fleck took advantage of its’ glaring weaknesses.
“Nine sacks, that’s what I loved about it, the fundamentals and technique,” he said. “If you want to get pressure on the quarterback at Nebraska, you gotta contain, you gotta shrink the pocket, and you gotta do all of the small things well.”
Fleck wanted to limit the Huskers’ possessions on offense, because he knew they were explosive and capable of scoring at any given moment. The straw that broke the camel’s back happened towards the end of the third quarter. That’s when Lindsey orchestrated a 14-play, 98-yard touchdown drive that took nearly nine minutes off the clock. It was deflating for the Blackshirts, and at that point Fleck smelled blood in the water.
“I thought that was a huge drive for us, and we needed everybody,” the 44-year old said. “We needed the run, we needed the pass where guys made some really good plays and that was the biggest drive that we had.”
Once the smoke cleared, Minnesota led Nebraska in total offense, yards per play, first downs, plays, third down efficiency and time of possession. On top of that, the Huskers had silly penalties, including targeting by offensive lineman Elijah Pritchett that got him ejected.
Lindsey threw for 153 yards and a touchdown. He also had great protection throughout the night, and was only sacked once. Taylor rushed for 148 yards and a score. The six-foot, 215-pounder also averaged 6.2 yards per carry, and led Minnesota in receptions.
Defensively, Minnesota held Nebraska to a season-low, 213 yards of total offense, including 36 on the ground. Za’Quan Bryan finished with a team-high, eight tackles, including five solo. Mentz added seven stops, including 2.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. Maverick Baranowski and and Devon Williams each tallied six tackles. Kicker Brady Denaburg nailed his only attempt of the game, which was a 30-yard field to put the finishing touches on Nebraska.
Fleck couldn’t believe the atmosphere, and is very thankful that the crowd played a factor in the win. Now he wants to keep the momentum going, after taking down a ranked team at home.
“I can’t thank our crowd enough, I mean what an atmosphere we created again, and we continued to do it, so it was really, really special.”
