PHOENIX — The bowl spirit was alive and well at the Rate Bowl contested at Phoenix’s Chase Field, as Minnesota prevailed in overtime 20-17 over New Mexico on Friday night.
Following a field goal by New Mexico, which had the first possession of OT, Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey delivered a strike to receiver Jalen Smith as he laid out his body from 12 yards out.
The catch was reviewed, but it was determined that Smith didn’t bobble the ball as he cradled it to the ground.
THE GAMEWINNER ? @jalen3smith #RTB #SkiUMah #Gophers pic.twitter.com/MBDeSXw62r
— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) December 27, 2025
Smith was named the game’s offensive MVP for his two touchdowns on six catches and 64 yards.
“It was just us as a collective being ready for the game,” Smith said, who doubled his season’s touchdown total on Friday.
Lindsey threw for two touchdowns and 147 yards on 18 for 28 passing. He is the program’s first freshman quarterback to rack up at least seven wins in a season.
With the win, the Gophers (8-5) extended their bowl game winning streak to nine and head coach P.J. Fleck has now won seven straight.
In his opening postgame comments, Fleck made a concerted effort to thank the Fiesta Sports Foundation for “knocking (the game) out of the park.” For what it’s worth, the roof was closed at Chase Field for the fourth straight year.
“Found a way to be 1-0. That was the whole mission. These guys, we don’t believe in momentum,” Fleck said. “These guys just kept rowing the boat. … The cardiac Gophers, whatever people want to call us, it’s about these players.”
Fleck said the winning play was no different from any other play call made previously, as New Mexico was forcing Minnesota to “double-call” themselves all game long. Though Fleck called Lindsey’s first touchdown pass to Smith his best throw, he credited his QB with his ability to throw people open.
After the scoring festivities were held in check 7-6 through three quarters, the Gophers and Lobos found the end zone on consecutive plays.
Darius Taylor, Minnesota’s leading rusher entering the game, capped off a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a five-yard run. He more than made up for a botched snap and lost fumble in the second quarter that ended in New Mexico’s second made field goal.
Taylor also broke off a 38-yard run on the marching drive.
The Gophers’ 14-6 edge, earned by a drive that consumed nearly seven minutes off the clock, didn’t last long. At all.
On the proceeding kickoff with 13:30 left in the fourth, New Mexico’s leading rusher in Damon Bankston went untouched and returned the ball 100 yards for a touchdown.
HE COULD GO ALL THE WAY.
Damon takes it 100 yards for the TD. ?ESPN#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/uWZGDS1VDS
— New Mexico Football (@UNMLoboFB) December 27, 2025
Following the longest kickoff return in Rate Bowl history, the Lobos went for two points with first-year head coach Jason Eck pulling a trick play off of his play sheet. Quarterback Jack Layne was involved in a hot-potato exchange before the ball found a home in the hands of senior wide receiver Keagan Johnson.
Eck had no shortage of gratitude for his players after the game, pointing out a few walk-ons in particular, as he was once a walk-on offensive lineman at Wisconsin (1995-98).
Neither team could add to their 14-point totals in the rest of regulation. Minnesota had the best chance to break the deadlock after stuffing New Mexico on a fake punt attempt and grabbing prime field position on the Lobo’s 40-yard line.
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Shawn Miller, one of six New Mexico players who attended an Arizona high school, caught one pass for six yards. The junior prepped at Phoenix Saguaro High School.
The Lobos (9-4) haven’t won a bowl game since 2016 and haven’t won such a game outside of their home state since 1961.
They certainly proved Mountain West media wrong, however, winning nine games and finishing in a four-way tie for first after the regular season.
The 36th edition of the game at the Arizona Diamondbacks home was supposed to pit the Iowa State Cyclones against the Gophers until the former opted out.
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