MINNEAPOLIS — Chris Darkins ran wild against Purdue again Saturday night. This time, though, his record-setting night was enough for a Minnesota victory.
Darkins set a school record with 294 yards, getting 231 and all three of his touchdowns in the second half of Minnesota's 39-38 victory.
But in a virtual replay of the teams' last two high-scoring games, the Golden Gophers, 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten, still needed Cory Sauter's one-yard sneak and his two-point conversion pass to Ryan Thelwell with 1:38 left for the decisive points.
Purdue (2-2-1, 0-1-1) then got a 45-yard kickoff return from Lee Johnson, but Brad Bobich missed a 42-yard field goal attempt with 21 seconds to play, giving Minnesota a victory critical to its hopes of playing in a bowl game for the first time in nine years.
