Northwestern 27, Minnesota 0 October 3, 2015 - Ryan Field - Evanston, IL

NCAAF   FINAL               1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL
                            ---  ---  ---  ---     -----
        MINNESOTA             0    0    0    0       0
        NORTHWESTERN (16)     3    7   10    7      27   FINAL

        SCORING SUMMARY

        1ST QTR: NORW - FG, JACK MITCHELL 25 YD, 7:27
        2ND QTR: NORW - TD, CLAYTON THORSON 5 YD RUN (JACK MITCHELL KICK), 1:36
        3RD QTR: NORW - FG, JACK MITCHELL 23 YD, 6:13
                 NORW - TD, CLAYTON THORSON 1 YD RUN (JACK MITCHELL KICK), 1:25
        4TH QTR: NORW - TD, ANTHONY WALKER 13 YD FUMBLE RETURN (JACK MITCHELL
                            KICK), 11:41

                                                                        

Extended Box

NCAAF                 1  2  3  4   F 
                      -  -  -  -  -- 
Minnesota             0  0  0  0   0 
Northwestern          3  7 10  7  27  FINAL 

 Northwestern-FG Mitchell 25
 Northwestern-Thorson 5 run (Mitchell kick)
 Northwestern-FG Mitchell 23
 Northwestern-Thorson 1 run (Mitchell kick)
 Northwestern-A Walker 13 fumble return (Mitchell kick)

                      Minnesota Northwestern 
First downs                  11          16 
Rushed-yards              33-74      51-184 
Passing yards                99         128 
Sacked-yards lost          3-17         1-3 
Return yards                  0          55 
Passes                  15-32-1     14-19-0 
Punts                    7-42.7      6-39.2 
Fumbles-lost                1-1         3-0 
Penalties-yards            2-10        3-20 
Time of possession        25:58       34:02 


Individual Statistics 
RUSHING: Minnesota-S Brooks 10-33, R Smith 11-32, Maye 1-4,
Croft 6-4, Leidner 5-1. Northwestern-J Jackson 20-120, Vault 8-28,
Thorson 11-24, W Long 7-17, A Anderson 3-0.

PASSING: Minnesota-Leidner 10-21-1-72, Croft 5-11-0-27.
Northwestern-Thorson 14-19-0-128.

RECEIVING: Minnesota-Maye 4-39, E Carter 3-37, Hart 2-9, Lingen 2-8,
Holland 1-5, Wolitarsky 3-1. Northwestern-C Jones 3-38, Vitale 3-20,
Nagel 2-18, J Jackson 2-14, Carr 1-14, McHugh 1-11, W Long 1-9,
Vault 1-4.

Att: 30,044
                                                                        

Game Story

EVANSTON, Illinois -- Clayton Thorson scored two touchdowns, Justin
Jackson ran for 120 yards and the Northwestern defense turned in
another dominant performance as the No. 16 Wildcats shut out
Minnesota 27-0 on Saturday. 

Thorson, a freshman quarterback, scored on runs of 5 and 1 yards to
spark the offense for Northwestern (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten). The Wildcats
defense, which has allowed only three touchdowns in five games, did
the rest.

Thorson's 5-yard touchdown run gave the Wildcats a 20-0 lead after
Minnesota failed on fourth down deep in Northwestern territory. A
31-yard run by Jackson helped set up the short scoring run.
 
Northwestern defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster forced a fumble by
Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner that linebacker Anthony Walker
returned 13 yards for a touchdown that gave the Wildcats a 27-0
lead early in the fourth quarter.  

"I think it was a pretty darn good complete performance in all three
phases today," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "Explosive play
in the punt return, took care of the ball, no turnovers offensively,
and then you see the way that our defense was really able to make
them one-dimensional and stop the run.

"I thought was a pretty solid performance across the board."

Minnesota (3-2, 0-1) turned the ball over twice and finished with
only 173 yards. The Golden Gophers also failed to convert on all
three of its fourth down conversion attempts.

“We’ve got a group that’s lost some confidence,” Gophers coach
Jerry Kill said. “I take full responsibility. I wish I could click
my fingers and have that answer. I’ve got a lot of sleepless nights.”

With 11 minutes, 41 seconds remaining, Kill inserted true freshman
Demry Croft for his college debut. The results did not improve.

Croft, who hails from Rockford, Ill., looked nimble enough, taking
off for runs of 11 and 7 yards. He showed a quick release and a
tight spiral but finished just 5-for-11 for 27 yards. He also took
three sacks and was nearly intercepted at least two times.

Kill declined to say which quarterback would start moving forward.

Jack Mitchell gave Northwestern a 13-0 lead with a 23-yard field
goal with 6:13 remaining in the third quarter. The kick came after
a 32-yard, one-handed diving touchdown catch by Solomon Vault
was overturned on review. Officials determined the ball hit the
ground while Vault was tumbling to the ground.

Instead, Mitchell's field goal finished off a 19-play, 69-yard drive
that ate up the first 8:47 of the second half. 

Northwestern led 10-0 at halftime. Thorson scored on a 5-yard
touchdown run with 1:36 remaining in the half. Miles Schuler
set up the score with a 55-yard punt return, giving the Wildcats
the ball at the Minnesota 5. 

The shutout was the first for Northwestern against the Gophers
since 1959.