Quick Lane Bowl: Mitch Leidner leads Minnesota to win over Central Michigan

The Minnesota Golden Gophers got a late touchdown run from Mitch Leidner to get a win in the Quick Lane Bowl over Central Michigan and snapped their seven-game bowl losing streak.

It’s been a tumultuous year for Minnesota who saw head coach Jerry Kill forced to resign midseason due his epilepsy and the Golden Gophers went 5-7 in the regular season.

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But they had a chance to close the season on a high note by being invited to the Quick Lane Bowl because of a lack of bowl-eligible teams and they did just that with a clutch touchdown from quarterback Mitch Leidner to secure a 21-14 win over Central Michigan.

Minnesota lost their lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when the Chippewas took a 14-13 lead when Romello Ross ran in from 13 yards out.

But it was short-lived as Minnesota would use a 13-play drive covering 74 yards and took 6:42 off the clock to retake the lead when Leidner ran in from 13 yards out to give Minnesota a 21-14 lead after the two-point conversion was successful.

From there the defense held serve as they had most of the game and preserved the win for Minnesota and head coach Tracy Claeys who was the interim head coach after Kill’s resignation before having his interim tag removed.

Kill was on hand as an honorary captain and that had to serve as an emotional lift for the Gophers who got to give their old head coach a nice belated Christmas present with a bowl win that has eluded the program the last seven tries.

Leidner was 24 of 30 passing for 223 yards and one touchdown and one interception. Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks carried 15 times apiece for 74 and 65 yards, respectively, and KJ Maye led the team with eight catches for 67 yards and a touchdown and two-point conversion.

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Central Michigan ends their year with a 7-6 record while Minnesota finishes 6-7.