Mistakes doom Gophers on the road

Minnesota rushed for 269 yards but lost 28-13 at Northwestern.


Published: 2011-11-21

Adam Richard arichard@mndaily.com


EVANSTON, Ill. — Minnesota fell to 1-6 in conference play Saturday with a 28-13 road loss to Northwestern. The Gophers had numerous opportunities but costly turnovers in the second half led to their defeat.

Minnesota’s defense played well and created a lot of pressure on Wildcats’ quarterback Dan Persa, including two sacks and two turnovers. But Minnesota’s offense wasn’t able to take advantage of the fortune.

“We played well enough to win the game — we just didn’t make enough plays offensively,” head coach Jerry Kill said. “We moved the ball but didn’t make a few critical plays.”

Senior Duane Bennett, playing in his final road game for the Gophers, fumbled deep in Northwestern territory in the third quarter. MarQueis Gray threw an interception on a tipped ball in the end zone on a long third-quarter drive, too, and Minnesota wasn’t able to recover.

“We did some good things, but we also dropped some balls in critical moments and turned it over in critical moments,” Kill said. “You can’t do that and win.”

Persa threw for 216 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He led Northwestern, in front of a half-full stadium, to its fourth straight victory. The win made the Wildcats bowl-eligible.

By the fourth quarter, Northwestern’s no-huddle offense proved to be too quick for Minnesota’s defense. The Gophers couldn’t substitute lineman quick enough to defend and Northwestern added a touchdown to their lead in the final quarter while running out the clock.

Gray finished the day with 124 yards passing, no touchdowns and one interception. He did have success running, with 147 yards and a touchdown.

“It was a take-what-they-give-us [performance],” Gray said. “They gave us the run.”

Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said he was impressed with Gray’s running abilities.

“We gave up over 100 yards on broken plays. I’m not going to lose sleep over that. I’d like guys to tackle obviously, but he’s 6’4” and 250 pounds. The kid’s a great football player,” Fitzgerald said.

Gray (147) and Bennett (127) each had more than 100 yards rushing — the first time Minnesota had two rushers break the century mark since 2006.

Bennett reached 2,000 rush yards for his Gophers career, the first to do so since Amir Pinnix in 2007.

“It’s definitely a milestone. It’s something I’m proud to accomplish. I would’ve taken the win any day,” Bennett said. “The record in general I give to my front five, my receivers, my quarterback, my coaches.”

The Gophers gained 269 yards on the ground, but that didn’t amount to many points, as Minnesota committed mistake after mistake late in its drives.

“You rush for over 200 yards and you should win the football game,” Kill said.

Malcolm Moulton dropped two potential touchdown catches on routes up the seam, and Da’Jon McKnight dropped a would-be touchdown catch in the end zone.

The Gophers had only 10 men on the field for two consecutive plays when Northwestern scored its second touchdown on a 28-yard fade from Persa to Demetrius Fields. Kill said that there was an injured player, some miscommunication and he couldn’t get the timeout called in time against the Wildcat hurry-up offense.

Senior Kim Royston racked up 17 tackles on defense and also nabbed an interception.

“Our [defensive] line played a hell of a game. I greatly appreciate that. Anytime they get pressure on the quarterback, a lot of good things happen on the back end,” Royston said.

Northwestern started the game with a 44-yard kickoff return by Venric Mark that jump-started the Wildcats’ offense. The Wildcats finished with a touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead.

Northwestern continued its success on special teams by starting the next two drives in Minnesota territory and both ended with touchdowns. Northwestern led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter before the Gophers steadied the ship — they surrendered just seven more points the final three quarters.

The Gophers were only able to score one touchdown despite 393 yards of total offense, Northwestern’s 28 points came off 368 yards of offense.

“I feel like our offense did great in the stats, but stats don’t matter if you don’t finish,” Gray said. “That’s something we should’ve done. If we would’ve done that, we would’ve had a different outcome.”



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