Star high school football recruit Koi Perich was reminded of his commitment to the Gophers in a unique way on Saturday afternoon.

A “Row The Boat” banner flew behind an airplane during the Class 3A state quarterfinal between Perich’s Esko team and Annandale in Brainerd, Minn.

Jamie Broman, the sports director at KRWC Radio, posted two tweets about the message before the broadcast of the game.

Perich gave a verbal commitment to the Gophers in April, but received a scholarship offer from Ohio State on Monday. Florida State and USC offered rides in October.

Perich told WDIO-TV in Duluth this week that he is still committed to the Gophers. “All the schools can offer a lot,” he said. “So just being able to pick up and just choose what I want the best is the hardest opportunity, hardest choice that I’ve had to make.”

Esko lost 14-7 to Annandale, ending their season and meaning Perich will have extra time to go on visits to those schools before signing day on Dec. 20.

The creative message is clear: Minnesota and its backers want the four-star safety recruit from northern Minnesota to remain home and be saying head coach P.J. Fleck’s mantra for years to come.

In 2017, Fleck turned heads in recruiting by having a helicopter take him and receivers coach Matt Simon from Dinkytown to Apple Valley to watch Edina offensive lineman Quinn Carroll vs. Eastview in 2017. Fleck wore a Carroll jersey to the high school game.

Carroll originally went to Notre Dame before returning to the Gophers before the 2022 season.

Linebacking loss

The loss of two Gophers linebackers contributed to the 49-30 loss to Purdue.

Leader Cody Lindenberg was listed as questionable but didn’t play next to Devon Williams. Then during the first quarter, Maverick Baranowski suffered a right shoulder injury and he didn’t return.

This brought the U down to true freshman linebacker Matt Kingsbury, who had climbed up the depth chart during practice this week, but was overwhelmed. He was soon replaced by Tyler Stolsky and Ryan Selig.

Without Lindenberg and Baranowski in the middle of the defense, Purdue put up 604 yards of total offense.

Lindenberg showed what the Gophers were missing last week when he produced a team-high 11 tackles and a forced a fumble in the 27-26 loss to Illinois.

Autman-Bell scores

Chris Autman-Bell had two catches for 66 yards and one TD Saturday, his best receiving game of the season. The seventh-year wideout dropped a touchdown pass in the second quarter but came back just before halftime to catch his first TD of the season.

“I told him: ‘I’m going to come back to you, so be ready,’” quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis said. “Then he responded with that catch. That catch was insane.”

Briefly

>> The Gophers were without safety Aidan Gousby, and RB Darius Taylor missed his third straight game. Starting guard Tyler Cooper started after a two-game absence.