How Gophers receiver Daniel Jackson made the catch of his life against Michigan

The controversial offsides penalty that wiped out a successful onside kick by the Gophers on Saturday not only doomed Minnesota to a 27-24 loss at Michigan, but it also cost viewers a chance to see if Daniel Jackson would make their jaws drop again.

Jackson, the Gophers senior wide receiver, caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Max Brosmer with 1:37 remaining, pulling Minnesota within three points in a game in which it trailed 24-3 entering the fourth quarter.

That’s the bare-bones version of it. A proper description would need 1,000 words to accurately capture the picture of Jackson’s catch. It probably deserves a name, and he has one for it.

“Oh, that’s by far … my best catch,” Jackson said.

This coming from the man whose lunging, toe-tapping grab sparked the Gophers’ 13-10 comeback win against Nebraska last year and dominated the highlight reels.

“I have no idea how he caught it,” Brosmer said. “To be honest, I’ve never seen a catch like that in my life.”

Jackson’s pass-catching skills will be on display at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium when the Gophers face No. 11 USC. Minnesota (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) has lost back-to-back games to Iowa and Michigan, and beating the Trojans (3-1, 1-1) would be a spark toward turning the season around.

For Jackson, the catch started to take shape when he heard what play was called. It was one that had worked well in practice, so he felt that could translate to the game.

“You get the play call, and you’re like, ‘OK, yeah, this is a great play call,’” he said. “We executed it throughout practice, and nothing’s ever guaranteed, but the chance of you succeeding and executing it skyrockets.”

The play started with Jackson operating out of a “trips” formation to the right, with tight end Nick Kallerup on the line of scrimmage and wideout Elijah Spencer to Kallerup’s left and Jackson to his right, both a step off the line.

Brosmer took the shotgun snap, and Spencer drove ahead before cutting toward the middle of the end zone. Jackson and Kallerup crisscrossed at the 5, the tight end turning toward the corner of the end zone and Jackson moving to the left and cutting in front of Michigan defensive back Zeke Berry.

Brosmer fired the ball, and Jackson was in position to make the catch. Berry, however, caught up to Jackson, and grabbed his right shoulder.

“You don’t expect a DB being draped over your back, so I attacked the ball like I would attack any other balls — go up with two hands,” Jackson said. “Then, out of nowhere, I’m getting pulled.”

Berry’s tug drew a penalty and caused the righthanded Jackson to spin around and briefly lose sight of the ball. But he knew where it was and had his left hand extended to be in position to make the catch.

“I still had a hand up in the air trying to make sure I got the catch down,” Jackson said. “And one way or another, God works in a miracle way.”

Jackson hauled in the ball with one hand while still spinning and finally got his right hand on it to secure the ball. Still, he needed to get one foot in bounds and make sure the ball didn’t come loose when he landed.

“At that point, I wasn’t as conscious about getting the feet in because I knew I had a little bit of room,” said Jackson, who got both feet and his right knee in bounds. He completed the catch by surviving the landing and not letting the ball bobble. “You squeeze it as hard as you can,” he said.

The back judge, though, wasn’t convinced and ruled the pass incomplete. A video replay review overturned his call.

“For the average fan, you don’t know how hard that catch is,” said Gophers coach P.J. Fleck, a former standout receiver at Northern Illinois. “You’re technically separating your lower half from your upper half — fighting off a defender with your upper half and contorting your body.”

Looking back at the catch, Jackson was most surprised about how he controlled the ball with his left hand.

“Sometimes, you catch it with one hand, and you see the ball moving around a bunch, or it’s bouncing off your chest and back to your hand,” he said. “Once it hit my hand, it maybe moved a little bit, but it kind of stuck to it and I reeled it in.”

Jackson’s catch quickly became popular on social media. Spurring it on was the X platform account of the Pop-Tarts Bowl, which named Jackson’s catch its play of the week. He was rewarded, too, with roughly 50 boxes of Pop-Tarts delivered to his locker.

“That’s the coolest thing. I love Pop-Tarts,” said Jackson, who kept boxes of strawberry and blueberry Pop-Tarts but set up a locker with the rest for his teammates to sample.

Jackson, who leads the team with 28 receptions for 326 yards, has seven more collegiate games to show off his skills — eight if the Gophers make it to a bowl game. The Kansas City, Kan., native picked Minnesota over Wisconsin and Iowa State and doesn’t regret his decision.

“We’re already at Week 6. That’s crazy to me, seeing how fast the season goes by,” he said. “We’re almost halfway there. You have to savor every single moment.”

Part of the savoring is putting in the work that delivers the spectacular moments like he did last week.

“It’s more of a mentality,” Jackson said. “Every ball is an elite ball, and when the ball is thrown to you, you are being trusted to receive it. So, however you need to get it done, get it done. It’s your job.”