Penn State football (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten) handled Minnesota (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten) 42-14 on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium.

The Nittany Lions jumped out to an early 14-0 lead just 10 minutes into the first quarter after their defense recovered a fumble and their special teams partially blocked a punt.

The complementary football continued throughout the next quarter. Their defense shut out Minnesota in the first half, while the blue-and-white offense churned out two more touchdowns to put the game mostly out of reach in just 30 minutes.

The Golden Gophers scored twice in the third quarter, but never truly threatened to come back.

How It Happened

Penn State won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. A touchback from Lucas Tenbrock set the Minnesota offense up at the 25.

Quarterback Drake Lindsey’s first pass of the night was a quick screen to Javon Tracy, but Yvan Kemajou hustled to the flat to bring Tracy down for a loss.

On third-and-13, Tony Rojas sacked Lindsey, but defensive holding was called on Zion Tracy, resetting the chains for the Golden Gophers.

In a somewhat ball-don’t-lie moment, Lindsey coughed up the snap three plays later, and linebacker Kooper Ebel fell on it to give Penn State the ball at Minnesota’s 44.

Carson Hansen took four consecutive carries for 2, 34, 7, and zero yards before Rocco Becht plunged into the end zone from a yard out, giving Penn State first blood. Ryan Barker nailed the extra point to make it 7-0.

Minnesota ain't the only thing touching down in State College today. pic.twitter.com/cUbuso8ZKy

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 15, 2026

Minnesota went three-and-out on its second drive of the night, but Tyrell Chatman partially blocked the punt, sending the ball wobbling out of bounds at Minnesota’s 33.

After a pair of carries and a catch from Hansen, Becht found Benjamin Brahmer in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown strike. Barker made the extra point to extend it to 14-0.

Benjamin Brahmer takes flight in the end zone pic.twitter.com/RnyMvBvECh

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 15, 2026

On their next possession, the Golden Gophers moved the chains twice with a 9-yard catch by Tracy and a 14-yard rush by Darius Taylor. But the drive was derailed by a second-and-10 fumble by Taylor in the wildcat for a 10-yard loss. Lindsey found Noah Jennings for 7 yards on third down, but it wasn’t enough to move the chains. Tom Weston sent a 32-yard punt to Penn State’s 15.

Cam Wallace trotted four straight times for gains of 3, 12, 3, and 2 yards. On third-and-5, Becht aired it out to Chase Sowell downfield, but Penn State’s top target dropped it, resulting in a 45-yard punt by Nathan Tiyce.

After Minnesota went three-and-out, Zay Robinson returned Weston’s punt 19 yards to the 47.

On third-and-3, Hansen fought through not one, not two, not three, but four defenders and broke free down the sideline for a 46-yard touchdown. Barker nailed the extra point to make it 21-0.

Carson Hansen with a direct flight TO THE END ZONE pic.twitter.com/C9blQmO3Mv

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 15, 2026

After the blue-and-white’s score, Minnesota again failed to sustain an offensive drive, punting back to Penn State’s 6-yard line after six plays.

On the first play of the drive, Becht checked into a speed option, rounding the corner for a 13-yard rush. Then, Becht felt the pressure and rolled to his right to find Brett Eskildsen for a 9-yard grab near the sideline. But the drive stalled after Becht sandwiched a 2-yard rush between two incompletions.

The Golden Gophers set up at their own 22, but Dallas Vakalahi sacked Lindsey on first down for an 11-yard loss. On third-and-21, Lindsey’s throw to Taylor fell incomplete, giving the ball back to the Nittany Lions.

Becht kept it again for 9 yards, then handed it to Hansen for another 22 yards. At the 1-yard line, Becht hit Brahmer in the back of the end zone, who stopped the ball with his hand and caught the bobble for a touchdown, but after further review, officials ruled he did not maintain possession.

It didn’t matter, as offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser dialed up an excellent man-beater on the next play that motioned Sowell across the formation and let Becht hit Wallace in the flat for an easy score. Barker nailed the extra point to make it 28-0 with 33 seconds left in the half.

Minnesota bled the clock to go into the locker room down 28-0.

Penn State’s offense kicked off the second half with nine yards on three plays, setting up a fourth-and-1 at its own 30. Campbell kept his offense on the field, as Becht handed it off to Wallace up the gut, who, after further review, reached the line to gain.

Wallace dashed for 23 yards on the next play, then Becht found a wide-open Andrew Rappleyea for another 32.

Inside the 5-yard line, Wallace trudged forward for two yards, but a delay-of-game penalty pushed Penn State back 5 yards. Bizarrely, Campbell burned a timeout on the next play to correct his offense.

On third-and-4, Becht found Brahmer for his second touchdown grab of the night to go up 35-0 after Barker’s kick.

The Golden Gophers responded for the first time all night with a 58-yard catch-and-run by Taylor and a 10-yard touchdown pass from Lindsey to Tracy, driving 74 yards in just 2:14.

Penn State went three-and-out on its next possession after Becht was sacked on third down.

After Xavier Ford fell on his own fumble and Lindsey threw an incompletion, the Golden Gophers stayed on the field on fourth-and-7. Lindsey rolled away to pressure and found a wide Taylor, whose defender, Marcus Neal Jr., slipped. Two plays later, Lindsey found Tracy up the seam for another touchdown. Minnesota trailed 35-14 with 1:40 left in the third.

The blue-and-white offense came up empty again with a three-and-out.

Meanwhile, Minnesota sparked another long drive fueled by a pass interference on Ibn McDaniels and a 26-yard completion to Jennings down the sideline. But Lindsey was called for intentional grounding, which put the Golden Gophers behind the sticks.

McDaniels redeemed himself with a pass breakup over the middle on third down.

Lindsey’s heave on fourth-and-26 fell incomplete, giving Penn State the ball at midfield.

Becht was shaken up after being corralled down by Maverick Baranowski for a loss of 11 yards. He was sacked again, making it third-and-24. Wallace got 15 of it back, but Penn State still punted.

Minnesota turned the ball over on downs in four plays.

Backup quarterback Alex Manske checked in for Penn State with 6:56 left and, five plays later, threw his first career passing touchdown on a 16-yard floater to James Peoples out of the backfield. Penn State went up 42-14 after the extra point.

Minnesota ran down the clock on its final possession to lose 42-14.

Takeaways

• It was ugly weather all night over Beaver Stadium, with swirling winds and sheets of rain, so the Nittany Lion offense leaned on its rushing attack to move the ball. Much of their offensive success came from Carson Hansen, who carried 12 times for 126 yards and a touchdown. Cam Wallace tacked on 82 yards and a receiving touchdown.
• The blue-and-white defense shut out the Golden Gophers in the first half, surrendering just 60 yards on 31 plays. The visiting team converted one of its seven third downs and logged an abysmal 1.9 yards per play in that span, too.
• After almost blowing a 28-6 lead against Washington just a week ago, Penn State demonstrated better situational football out of the locker room with a 10-play touchdown drive capped off by a touchdown from Rocco Becht to Benjamin Brahmer. Still, Minnesota scored two touchdowns in the second half, raising similar concerns regarding complacency.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions play their final Beaver Stadium game of 2026 against Rutgers on Saturday, November 21, at 3:30 p.m.

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