Minnesota Football: 3 takeaways from huge Outback Bowl win over Auburn

It was a fun one in Tampa as Minnesota football took on the No. 12 Auburn Tigers. Here are three takeaways from the Gophers’ big win.

This game was fun. The No. 18 Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the No. 12 Auburn Tigers in the Outback Bowl 31-24 in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium.

It was the Golden Gophers who controlled the line of scrimmage in this game on their way to 215 yards rushing and 494 yards of total offense. Minnesota’s domination of time of possession led to their victory.

Minnesota had a fantastic scheme offensively to block Auburn’s stars along their defensive line. They twisted and led star defensive end Marlon Davidson and star defensive tackle Derrick Brown away from running lanes and away from Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan.

Despite this, Auburn was never out of this game. They did not have many opportunities to score, but they took advantage of the times they had.

It was the Gophers defense who made the critical plays late in the game to give them the victory. It came down to the wire, and the Minnesota offensive line was more physical on their last drive to keep the football away from Auburn and end the game.