Stay the Course: Drake Lindsey reflects on the lessons learned ahead of the Rate Bowl
Earlier this week, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers prepared for their December 26 Rate Bowl game against the New Mexico Lobos, starting quarterback Drake Lindsey met with the media for the last time as a redshirt freshman.
Lindsey reflected on his first season as the program’s starting quarterback and the lessons learned from the 12-game regular season.
“I think understanding that football is really, really challenging at this level. It didn’t really set in for me, even after Buffalo, how much harder it is than in high school,” Lindsey said about the biggest lessons he learned this fall.
“You kind of think you’re really good, and you are going to go out there and throw four touchdowns every game, and then you realize how good every defense is that you play in the Big Ten and even G5 schools,” Lindsey explained. “I think just continuing to build on my preparation every single week, and I think that’ll be a huge part of my development. Reflecting on my preparation that I went into every single week and seeing what I can critique, and then you know, getting better in the off-season.”
For Lindsey, a two-game stretch stood out as a steppingstone for the first-year starter: the Gophers’ 41-3 loss to rival Iowa, in which Lindsey threw a season-high three interceptions, and a come-from-behind 23-20 victory over Michigan State one week later at Huntington Bank Stadium.
“I think that was a huge steppingstone for me,” Lindsey said about the pair of games. For Lindsey, the blowout loss to Iowa was a rather new experience. “I hadn’t really experienced that, where you’re going to a game and you always think you’re gonna win and then you just get, you know, stomped on right from the beginning. That was a first for me.”
“I’ve said I didn’t play well, and then when you get to reflect on that, I think going into Michigan State it kind of affected me a little bit—how I go into games,” he continued.
Lindsey admitted that heading into the Michigan State game, he was still overcoming some doubt following his rough performance against Iowa. “Coming off of three picks, you can be a little doubtful,” he said.
But with the Gophers needing a tying score with under two minutes to go, Lindsey was able to flip the proverbial switch. “That two-minute drive where you have to go get it, that’s where the mindset flips back to who I am as a person, who I am as a leader… you got to go get it, and I feel like that’s how I am every single drive.”
“Iowa, I’m a young player. It affected me a little bit, and then you know, responding to that, and responding to Michigan State with the final drive and then overtime. Then the last three games, playing as who I am as a player: playing relaxed, playing free, and getting back to who I am.”
Lindsey’s “relaxed, free” playing style showed in the stat sheet as well. In the Gophers’ last four games following the Iowa loss, Lindsey completed 66.4% of his passes (83-for-125) for 689 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions. He also added two touchdowns on the ground.
Going forward, Lindsey will look to avoid the “roller coaster” mentality of a long season.
“I think reflecting on that, there’s gonna be ups and downs on the ride; you can’t ride the roller coaster,” he said. “Maybe I got caught up in that for a minute. I won’t allow myself to do that again because I’m going to have a negative play and a negative game again. I just have to stay the course and be the leader I am the whole time.”
