Max Brosmer's 271 yards, 2 TDs lead Gophers to 48-0 win over Rhode Island

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - What a difference a week makes for the University of Minnesota football team.

The Gophers bounced back from an opening night loss to North Carolina with a 48-0 win over Rhode Island on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium to get their first victory of the season. P.J. Fleck is now 22-3 in non-conference play with the Gophers. It’s Minnesota’s first shutout win since beating Rutgers 31-0 on Oct. 29, 2022. They played like they had more than a week to sit on their first loss.

"I knew that festered in them. It festered in the right way, it was more like fertilizer. It just grew and grew and grew, everyday they came out with the right mindset and positive attitude to get better and grow," Fleck said after the win. "I made a promise to them last week, I said we’re going to play 60 minutes."

Running back Darius Taylor made his 2024 debut, but the day was largely about quarterback Max Brosmer.

The big play

For the second straight week, the Gophers’ offense was sparked by a defensive takeaway. Rhode Island appeared to complete a deep pass in the second quarter, but Aidan Gousby ripped the ball away for his first career interception.

The drive

The Gophers turned it into seven points and a 10-0 lead on a 14-play, 85-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes. Marcus Major capped it with a 1-yard touchdown, his second of the season, to give Minnesota a 17-0 lead.

Brosmer looks sharp

After going 13-of-21 for 166 yards against North Carolina, Brosmer looked much sharper against the Rams. He was 15-of-20 for 155 yards in the first half, and had three drops. Brosmer finished 24-of-30 for 271 yards and two touchdowns. His first score went to Christian Driver from six yards out, and it gave the Gophers a 24-0 lead in the third quarter. His second was a perfect throw to Le’Meke Brockington from 29 yards out for a 31-0 lead.

Drake Lindsey played the fourth quarter and hit Tyler Williams for an 8-yard touchdown.

"Ultimate big brother moment. Me and Drake both had our first touchdown passes today, that was pretty cool. Cool moment to share together," Brosmer said. "It goes back to everyone working and doing their own job individually, and it all unfolding and showing what it’s like on the field when everyone works together."

Brosmer looked like the quarterback Fleck knew he was getting out of the transfer portal.

"He’s just got incredible poise. Way better leadership, way more command of the team. I just felt him in a different way today. That’s what he does well, that’s who he is," Fleck said.

Taylor makes 2024 debut

Taylor missed last week’s loss with a leg injury, but had 10 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown in the first half Saturday. His score came after Brosmer attempted eight straight passes on the drive, completing six of them for 58 yards. Taylor finished with 18 total touches for 112 yards and a score.

Fleck said after their goal was to get Taylor the ball 15-20 times.

Big defensive plays

In addition to Gousby’s interception, Deven Eastern got a strip sack late in the second quarter that Jack Henderson recovered. It was deep in Rhode Island territory, but the Gophers didn’t capitalize. Dragan Kesich, who made a kick from 53 yards out in the first quarter, missed wide right from 55 yards out to close out the first half.

True freshman Koi Perich got his first career interception at safety on the first play of the fourth quarter, getting it off a Cody Lindenberg deflection. Henderson returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown to give Minnesota a 41-0 lead in the fourth quarter.

"At first I had to blink for a second like is this real life? They always say catch the ones that they throw you, kind of a routine catch there and then once the ball is in my hands all I’m thinking is go, go, go," Henderson said.

Defensive lineman Anthony Smith had the pressures on both interceptions. The Gophers limited the Rams to 135 total yards, just 18 on the ground, forced four turnovers and Rhode Island was only 3-of-12 on third down.

"It was fun today. There wasn’t one person on the defense that wasn’t smiling," Smith said.

What’s next

The Gophers host Nevada for their final non-conference game next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.