Minnesota 35, Northwestern 24

September 26, 2009 - Ryan Field - Evanston, IL

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NCAAF   FINAL               1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL
                            ---  ---  ---  ---     -----
        MINNESOTA             7    7    7   14      35
        NORTHWESTERN          3    7   14    0      24   FINAL


        SCORING SUMMARY

     
        1ST QTR: MINN - TD, DUANE BENNETT 1 YD RUN (ERIC ELLESTAD KICK), 12:49
                 NORW - FG, STEFAN DEMOS 26 YD, 4:03
        2ND QTR: MINN - TD, DUANE BENNETT 3 YD RUN (ERIC ELLESTAD KICK), 7:44
                 NORW - TD, ARBY FIELDS 2 YD RUN (STEFAN DEMOS KICK), 4:27
        3RD QTR: MINN - TD, ERIC DECKER 16 YD PASS FROM ADAM WEBER (ERIC
                        ELLESTAD KICK), 7:16
                 NORW - ANDREW BREWER 24 YD PASS FROM MIKE KAFKA (STEFAN
                        DEMOS KICK), 4:43
                 NORW - BRENDAN MITCHELL 13 YD PASS FROM MIKE KAFKA
                        (STEFAN DEMOS KICK), :06
        4TH QTR: MINN - TD, DUANE BENNETT 4 YD RUN (ERIC ELLESTAD KICK), 8:35
                 MINN - TD, ERIC DECKER 1 YD PASS FROM ADAM WEBER (ERIC
                        ELLESTAD KICK), 1:43
                                                                                


Extended Box


NCAAF                 1  2  3  4   F 
                      -  -  -  -  -- 
Minnesota             7  7  7 14  35 
Northwestern          3  7 14  0  24  FINAL 


 Minnesota-Bennett 1 run (Ellestad kick)
 Northwestern-FG Demos 26
 Minnesota-Bennett 3 run (Ellestad kick)
 Northwestern-Fields 2 run (Demos kick)
 Minnesota-Decker 16 pass from Weber (Ellestad kick)
 Northwestern-Brewer 24 pass from Kafka (Demos kick)
 Northwestern-Mitchell 13 pass from Kafka (Demos kick)
 Minnesota-Bennett 4 run (Ellestad kick)
 Minnesota-Decker 1 pass from Weber (Ellestad kick)


                      Minnesota   Northwestern 
First downs                  22          23 
Rushed-yards             42-166       29-64 
Passing yards               186         309 
Sacked-yards lost           1-8        4-39 
Return yards                 22           8 
Passes                  15-26-1     32-47-1
Punts                    4-40.2      4-40.8 
Fumbles-lost                0-0         3-2 
Penalties-yards            1-14        3-15 
Time of possession        31:45       28:15 


Individual Statistics 
RUSHING: Minnesota-Bennett 21-89, Gray 5-33, Whaley 5-31, Hoese 2-15, Eskridge 1-2,
Weber 5-(-1). Northwestern-A Fields 9-43, Schmidt 6-20, Matthews 2-14, Kafka 12-(-13).


PASSING: Minnesota-Weber 15-26-1-186. Northwestern-Kafka 32-47-1-309.


RECEIVING: Minnesota-Decker 8-84, N Tow-Arnett 5-65, B Green 2-37.
Northwestern-Markshausen 6-70, Stewart 5-43, D Fields 4-43, B Mitchell 4-38, Dunsmore
4-37, Brewer 3-44, Schmidt 3-10, A Fields 2-12, Ebert 1-12.


Att: 22,901
                                                                        


Game Story


EVANSTON, Illinois (AP) -- Duane Bennett ran for three touchdowns
and Adam Weber passed for two scores to lead Minnesota to a 35-24
victory over Northwestern on Saturday.

The Golden Gophers (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) finally held on against
Northwestern (2-2, 0-1) after losing to the Wildcats in the final
seconds the two previous years.

They trailed briefly, 24-21, after Northwestern's Mike Kafka hit a
leaping Brendan Mitchell with a 13-yard touchdown pass in the closing
seconds of the third quarter.

Minnesota started the fourth with an 83-yard scoring drive, getting a
10-yard pass from Weber to Brandon Green on third down at the
Northwestern 23 before Bennett ran it in from the 4. That made it
28-24 and Minnesota hung on from there.

Any chance Northwestern had at a comeback ended when Cedric
McKinley stripped Mike Kafka as he dropped back to pass with the ball
on the Wildcats 17 and recovered the fumble. That led to a 1-yard TD
from Weber to Eric Decker, making it an 11-point game with 1:43 left.

The Gophers' D.L. Wilhite then stripped Kafka again as he dropped back
and recovered the fumble with 1:26 to play, and this time, Minnesota
escaped with a tense win.

"We finished," said Decker, who caught eight passes, two for touchdowns.
"That comes with the fourth-quarter mentality we've been talking about.
The players, the leadership of this team, we've taken that and run with it.
This is how it's got to be all season long."

Bennett ran for 89 yards and Weber threw for 186. He was intercepted
once and threw both touchdowns to Decker.

Kafka, who set a Big Ten record for a quarterback by rushing for 217 yards
against Minnesota last year, had his moments for Northwestern. He was
32 of 47 with 309 yards after setting school marks by completing his first
16 passes and 83.3 percent in all in a 37-34 loss at Syracuse last week.

"I've got to give Minnesota credit," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said.
"We had the lead going into the fourth quarter. You've got the game at
home, and you've got to put it away. Obviously we didn't do that."

Minnesota picked itself up after falling 35-21 to California in a game that
was tied in the fourth quarter, regrouping against a team that had caused
it plenty of misery.

Northwestern rallied from 21 down to a 49-48 double overtime win in
Evanston in 2007, and last year sent Minnesota into a season-ending
tailspin with a 24-17 last-second victory.