When the clock hit zeroes, the Golden Gophers had their eighth win of the season, their eighth straight bowl win (tops in FBS), and their sixth straight bowl win under P.J. Fleck. Let the mayonnaise bath BEGIN.
We predicted a 24-13 Gopher victory – only three points off, not bad. Let’s break it down.
Minnesota Wins The Duke’s Mayo Bowl 24-10
The Golden Gophers Get Going Early
The game started both weirdly and slowly. Minnesota safety Koi Perich muffed a punt after VaTech’s first drive. Three traded punts later, Minnesota led a modest drive into a missed field goal. Virginia Tech finally opened the scoring with an eight-play, 80-yard drive, most of which was accrued on a 67-yard completion from Collin Schlee to Ayden Greene.
The Gophers responded in kind, putting together nine plays and 80 yards of their own. Some red zone trickery led to the capper, a halfback pass from Darius Taylor to Elijah Spencer. In leading receiver Daniel Jackson’s absence, Spencer got some work as a featured pass-catcher. He’d finish the game with six catches for 82 yards and a pair of scores.
Minnesota continued to rumble from there, forcing VaTech to punt twice while adding two more touchdown drives. Quarterback Max Brosmer‘s first touchdown pass was Spencer’s second touchdown reception. Taylor contributed a score on the ground with a 28-yard scamper. That made it 21 straight points from the Gophers. The Hokies showed their youth and couldn’t seem to get out of their own way.
They made up some ground just before the half, however. Pop Watson found Greene for a big gain that brought the Hokies just outside of field goal range. Kicker John Love, veins full of ice and mayonnaise, absolutely demolished a sixty-yard field goal to stem the bleeding and take us to halftime.
21-10 in favor of the Big Ten’s torchbearers.
Cruise Control
The game’s first 30 minutes dragged in start-stop fashion with possessions going back and forth ad nauseam. Minnesota took control in the second half. Fleck’s squad held the ball for nearly 11 minutes in the third quarter alone, and more than two-thirds of the second half in total.
With Virginia Tech going nowhere fast on offense, The Gophers turned on cruise control. Taylor (20 carries for 113 yards) and Jaren Mangham (nine carries for 57 yards) led the way, alongside some well-placed, well-timed Brosmer passes to Spencer and tight end Jameson Geers.
As was noted before the game, the Hokies couldn’t overcome so much missing production. They did have some sparks, though. Schlee and Watson intermittently made plays, and Greene was a bright spot in the receiver corps.
VaTech’s fourth-quarter comeback attempt was brief but spicy. Freshman receiver Keylan Adams took an end-around 47 yards before a turnover on downs in the red zone. Minnesota gave it right back when Dante Lovett picked Brosmer off and returned it to the 15, but the offense stalled out and couldn’t capitalize. By then, all Minnesota needed to do was snag a couple easy first downs. For Fleck, the mayonnaise bath beckoned. Speaking of which…
The Mayonnaise Of It All
We’d be remiss not to discuss the booth highlights, with Matt Barrie and Aaron Murray subjected to a gauntlet of mayonnaise and mayonnaise-adjacent culinary adventures. First up were banana-and-mayonnaise sandwiches. Later on, they shelved the mayonnaise for a brief dalliance with other Duke’s condiments like barbecue sauce, slathered over trademark Hokie turkey legs.
The real kicker, the one that got to Barrie in particular, was the chocolate ice cream bar dipped in mayonnaise. The play-by-play man’s reaction was visceral, immediate, and expulsive. Hard to blame him.
In the end, Fleck took his condiment shower, and we all bore witness to the great Tubby reveal. Tubby, as we all know, is the Duke’s Mayo Bowl mascot, a sentient and human-sized jar of mayonnaise with Eugene Levy’s eyebrows. Who wore this most sacred uniform? None other than Flava Flav. Rejoice for bowl season shenanigans, they make this sport great.
Looking Ahead
In the portal era, no team’s offseason goes without significant roster turnover. Minnesota tends to do a better job than most of building around a core of program-loyal players, but Fleck will still have to replace his quarterback and re-tool his offensive line to remain in the upper end of the Big Ten.
Brent Pry and the Hokies will need to find a permanent defensive coordinator, though Bud Foster’s un-retiring for this game worked out nicely given the circumstances. VaTech’s young players acquitted themselves well, all things considered, but the team will have to replace at least 14 of 22 starters in 2025. It’s going to be an uphill battle, but there’s reason for optimism in Blacksburg.
Happy Bowl Season to us all, and let the mayo be ever in your favor.
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