Now that Dalvin Cook’s feeling healthy again, the Minnesota Vikings have a chance to turn around a season that seemed headed to oblivion.
Cook gained 226 yards from scrimmage and became the first Viking in over four decades to score four touchdowns in a single game as Minnesota defeated the Green Bay Packers 28-22 on Sunday.
Minnesota (2-5) needed this victory to have any realistic hopes of competing for a second straight playoff berth.
Each of the Vikings’ first four possessions ended with Cook touchdowns. He had two 1-yard touchdown bursts plus a touchdown run from 21 yards out. He also caught a third-and-9 pass behind the line of scrimmage and turned it into a 50-yard score that put Minnesota ahead 28-14.
The Packers cut the lead to 28-22 when Adams caught a 7-yard touchdown pass and Jamaal Williams ran in a two-point conversion with 2:42 left. Williams was initially ruled down shy of the goal line before replays determined he had scored.
Green Bay got the ball back and reached Minnesota’s 41-yard line with 12 seconds and no timeouts left, but rookie D.J. Wonnum sacked Aaron Rodgers and knocked the ball loose. Eric Wilson recovered at the 24 as time expired.
The Minnesota Gopher’s Brock Walker sent an extra-point try wide right after the potential tying touchdown, giving Maryland a stunning 45-44 comeback victory Friday night.
After the Terrapins rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa ran for a 2-yard touchdown and Joseph Peterino kicked the extra point to give the Terrapins — who came in as 19-point underdogs — a 45-38 lead.
Minnesota answered with a 2-yard touchdown run by Seth Green before Walker’s extra-point try went awry to end this Big Ten duel and launch a wild celebration by the Terrapins, who jubilantly sprinted across the field, seemingly uncaring that they had no fans with whom they could share the moment.
Never in school history had Maryland won after trailing by 17 points in the fourth quarter.
It was a bitter end for the Golden Gophers (0-2), who had turned a 21-7 deficit into a 38-21 lead late in the third quarter.
Paige Peplinski can be reached at pepl3661@stthomas.edu.