Drake Lindsey, Minnesota Football News: Draft Scout Player News

Draft Scout College Football Player News

11/29/25 - QB Drake Lindsey, rFr/2029, Minnesota, (DS#18 QB)

P.J. Fleck celebrated his 45th birthday by crowd-surfing through the Minnesota locker room as players tossed him the air, finishing his ninth regular season with the program in jubilant fashion. The second-longest tenured coach in the Big Ten, Fleck has helped infuse the Gophers with some welcomed stability, a model of consistency that now includes partying with Paul Bunyan's Axe. Drake Lindsey threw a touchdown pass to Jameson Geers for the only second-half score in snow-globe conditions, and John Nestor had two interceptions and a fumble recovery for Minnesota in a 17-7 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday to keep possession of the axe and overtake the all-time series lead at 64-63-8. Darius Taylor had a 49-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter to get the Gophers going, and their defense rebounded from a rough month to limit the Badgers to one score for the second straight year in the 135th edition of the most-played rivalry in major college football history. Minnesota (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten) has won five of the last eight matchups with Wisconsin (4-8, 2-7) after a 14-game losing streak that was the longest for either side. The Badgers, who missed a second straight bowl season after making 22 in a row, finished with their most losses since a 1-10 record in 1990.

With snow whitening the field and wind whipping through the air all afternoon, Lindsey completed 18 of 24 passes in a safe diet of screen plays and out routes for 90 yards. The redshirt freshman nailed his most important throw on third-and-7 from the 13 in the third quarter, floating a perfectly placed ball over the line so his trusty senior tight end could secure a jumping catch in traffic as he tumbled to the turf for a 10-point lead that might as well have been double that on this wintry day for a Badgers offense that entered the game with the second-fewest yards and points in the FBS. Carter Smith threw a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass to Jackson Acker with 21 seconds left in the first half, after Hunter Simmons set up the score with a 67-yard completion to Vinny Anthony. The Badgers despite the conditions broke their streak of six straight games under 100 passing yards. But for the ninth time this season, they were held under 300 total yards. - Minnesota/AP College Football

(DS#18 QB) rFr/2029