Everything about Saturday’s game in West Lafayette was sloppy. From the weather to the play on the field, nothing went quite as well as either Minnesota or Purdue had expected.

The Gophers feel quite a bit better about it than the Boilermakers, though.

Rainy conditions turned Ross-Ade Stadium into a natatorium, but Minnesota was able to swim to safety for a 20-13 victory over Purdue. It was a much-needed bounce-back win for the Golden Gophers, coming just one week after a devastating loss to Bowling Green on homecoming.

Minnesota’s offense totaled just 294 yards and picked up just 13 1st downs but it was enough to secure a victory. A big reason was the play of quarterback Tanner Morgan, who had far from his best performance but was able to stretch the field enough to open things up offensively.

Morgan hit Mike Brown-Stephens on two 50-yard passes down the field, allowing the Gophers to breathe a little bit on the offensive side. That opened the playbook a little more than last week, even if Minnesota wasn’t able to capitalize as much as it would’ve liked.

At the end of the day, Morgan completed 9-of-18 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown. Most importantly, he didn’t throw an interception.

Purdue’s defense wasn’t completely eviscerated by Trey Potts, limiting him to just 78 yards on 15 carries. The Gophers totaled 125 yards on the ground on 3.9 yards per carry.

Brown-Stephens ended the afternoon with 105 yards on 2 catches and Chris Autman-Bell had 40 yards and a touchdown on 2 catches, as well.

A pair of turnovers proved to be costly for the Boilermakers on Saturday. Purdue opened the game with a fumble that set up an early Minnesota touchdown. Then, on the final drive of the game, Aidan O’Connell threw an interception, ending Purdue’s hopes of sending the game to overtime.

O’Connell, making his first start of the season, completed 33-of-51 passes for 357 yards with 1 touchdown an 1 pick. David Bell had 120 yards on 6 catches and Milton Wright totaled 91 yards on 6 catches. He scored Purdue’s lone touchdown.

King Doerue was a bright spot for the Boilers on the ground, rushing for 95 yards on 21 carries.

Minnesota still has some sloppiness to clean up on the offensive side, but the positive coming out of West Lafayette for the Golden Gophers was their ability come back after a heartbreaking loss to Bowling Green. P.J. Fleck’s team showed resiliency on an ugly afternoon on the road.

The question facing the Gophers now? Can they find more consistency on a week-to-week basis?