Minnesota football survives third straight scare vs. Georgia Southern

After narrow escapes against South Dakota State and Fresno State, Minnesota football played another squeaker against Georgia Southern.

Minnesota entered Week 3 as one of the three remaining undefeated teams in the Big Ten West standings. The Golden Gophers remained undefeated after Saturday action against Georgia Southern, moving to 3-0 at the quarter pole of the 2019 season. But the record posted by P.J. Fleck’s squad is deceptive, as it masquerades the reality that Minnesota could just as easily be 0-3 after two games against Group of Five opponents and an FCS scare.

The Golden Gophers were down in the fourth quarter against South Dakota State, needing a late comeback to beat the Jackrabbits 28-21 in the season opener. It was a similar story a week later against Fresno State, as the Bulldogs had Minnesota in a 35-28 hole in the fourth quarter at home but allowed the Golden Gophers to score 10 late points for a 38-35 escape.

It felt like luck might finally run out on the Golden Gophers when they returned home to face Georgia Southern on Saturday. The Week 3 showdown against the Sun Belt opponent proved far more difficult than Minnesota fans at TCF Bank Stadium would have liked to see, as the Eagles took a late 32-28 lead in the fourth quarter and seemed to snatch momentum at just the right time.

But Minnesota was able to pull out another miracle to get their third win of the season, as Tanner Morgan found Tyler Johnson for the winning two-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds remaining. Georgia Southern futilely tried to push for the win in the waning seconds, but time ran out on the Sun Belt upset bid.

Morgan finished with 289 yards and three touchdowns through the air on 19-of-31 passing. Johnson hauled in 10 of those catches for 140 yards and all three scores. It was an impressive combination performance between the quarterback and receiver.

The Minnesota defense held Georgia Southern to just 198 total yards of offense, yet they still found themselves in danger of losing this contest. On both of their fourth-quarter touchdown drives, the Eagles missed two-point conversions. Had they made both, Minnesota would have needed a two-point conversion of their own on that last-minute score just to force overtime.

In the end, Minnesota is 3-0, but it is a 3-0 that should make none of their fans feel very satisfied by the result. They open up Big Ten play next week at Purdue, where they will hope things do not come down to the final whistle for a fourth straight week.