In a gritty defensive battle from start to finish, P.J. Fleck's Minnesota Golden Gophers extended their nation-leading bowl winning streak to nine straight victories with a hard-fought 20-17 overtime win over New Mexico in the 36
th annual Rate Bowl.
It was business as usual for the 8-5 Gophers, adding another postseason trophy to the collection that defines Fleck's "Row the Boat" era. For 9-4 New Mexico, playing in its first Coca-Cola Bowl Season game since 2016, first-year Head Coach Jason Eck's squad held strong. The Lobos nearly capped their remarkable turnaround season with a dramatic upset in front of 27,439 fans, the highest-attended Rate Bowl since 2019.
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Minnesota's experience showed early, as its bowl-tested defense set the tone from the opening snap. Linebacker Maverick Baranowski forced the Lobos back with a monster 10-yard sack that contributed to an immediate three-and-out on the game's first drive. Baranowski finished the game with 17 tackles, second-most in Rate Bowl history, to complement his early sack.
Eck's Lobos, ending a nine-year bowl drought, matched the Gophers' defensive intensity blow-for-blow as they held Minnesota scoreless until the final minutes of the second quarter.
The breakthrough came just before halftime, when Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey found Jalen Smith for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Gophers a 7-6 lead after New Mexico took the early advantage thanks to two Luke Drzewiecki field goals. In the third quarter, Gophers running back Darius Taylor, who finished with a team-high 116 rushing yards, powered into the end zone from five yards out to extend Minnesota's lead to 14-6.
Then came the play that nearly turned the tide.
In the ensuing play that started the fourth quarter, dynamic return specialist Damon Bankston fielded the kickoff and exploded for a 100-yard return – the longest touchdown in Rate Bowl history – that breathed new life into the Lobos' sideline.
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"Damon's kick return really gave us some momentum," Eck said after the game. "He got us back in the game. Then we had the nice two-point conversion afterwards to tie, because we were struggling. That was a huge play to turn the momentum."
Eck's defense held strong throughout the fourth quarter, forcing the Rate Bowl's first overtime since 2018. In the extra session, the Lobos went up 17-14 on a 36-yard Drzewiecki field goal.
With the pressure squarely on Minnesota's offense, the Gophers responded. Redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey calmly orchestrated the overtime drive that ended with a 12-yard game-winning touchdown to wide receiver Jalen Smith.
After hauling in the walk-off score in overtime, Smith earned the Rate Bowl Offensive Player of the Game honor. He finished the game with 64 yards on six catches and two touchdowns.
"A lot of [the credit] goes to [Lindsey] on offense," Smith said after the game. "There's only so much you can do as a wideout that you have control over. I'm just appreciative of my coaches putting me in a position to go make those plays."
On the defensive side of the ball, Anthony Smith earned Rate Bowl Defensive Player of the Game honors with a dominant performance that included four tackles-for-loss (tying the Rate Bowl record), six tackles and two sacks. As Smith accepted his MVP trophy, he announced a return to Minnesota for his fifth and final season.
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The 20-17 victory marked Minnesota's ninth straight bowl win, an FBS-best streak that stands as a testament to the culture Fleck has built in the Twin Cities.
"I think the future is really, really bright for Gophers football, and it should be," Fleck said. "I've always been that head coach who never runs away from expectations, and we'll continue to let these guys rest a little bit and then set our expectations really high in '26."
For New Mexico, despite the loss, the return to Coca-Cola Bowl Season signals a new chapter. Eck's first Lobos team fought a perennial bowl winner to overtime, capping a resurgent season that began with a projected second-to-last-place conference finish and ended with a share of the Mountain West championship.
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"Coach Fleck knows what he's doing in bowl games. They're a very good opponent," said Eck. "But again…I'm proud of these guys. I don't feel like we left anything in the tank."
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