Minnesota vs. Central Michigan, 2015 Quick Lane Bowl results: Gophers improve to 6-7

The Keenan Reynolds revolution was televised. On Oct. 12, 2012, the true freshman quarterback from Antioch, Tenn., was featured for the first time at Central Michigan on ESPN2 on Friday night.

Navy’s offense was struggling in its second year after star Ricky Dobbs had left. In their first three games against FBS competition, the Midshipmen had lost to Notre Dame, Penn State and San Jose State by a combined 96-17.

Mitch Leidner completed 24 of 30 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown as the Golden Gophers picked up their first bowl victory since 2004 under newly minted head coach Tracy Claeys. Leider sprinted 13 yards for the game-winning touchdown on a zone-read play with 4:24 to go in the fourth quarter, capping a 13-play, 74-yard drive.

The Chippewas responded with a six-play drive into Minnesota territory, but Cooper Rush was intercepted under pressure, allowing the Gophers to run out the final two minutes.

The Quick Lane Bowl hasn’t been the most thrilling bowl game of all time ... and apparently the referee knows it:

Honestly, I’m not sure why the referee said this.

The Quick Lane Bowl features two teams that used football as a distraction this year. Minnesota had to deal with the health-related retirement of head coach Jerry Kill, and in his first year on the job, Central Michigan head coach John Bonamego had to fight a battle with cancer in his left tonsil. That the Chippewas made a bowl was a fine achievement, but the best moment of CMU’s season was this:

And now let’s talk about this Detroit distraction.

There are now 40 bowl games, plus the National Championship. That’s a lot of football.

This overflow of football has meant the usual group of 6-6 teams aren’t the worst teams to go bowling this year. This time, all of the 6-6 teams are in, plus some 5-7 teams. The idea of giving a trophy to a team that finishes 6-7 is a funny one, but everything about this sport is funny, so whatever.

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The first-ever Quick Lane Bowl went well for the Big Ten, as the Rutgers Scarlet Knights dominated North Carolina in the inaugural edition of the game. Now, the Big Ten will attempt to stay on top of the ACC again in the 2015 Quick Lane Bowl.

The Quick Lane Bowl is the de facto replacement of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at Ford Field after the latter folded following the announcement of a new bowl game in Detroit. The Detroit Lions and Ford Motor Family back the Quick Lane Bowl and serve as the primary sponsors of Michigan’s only college bowl game.