Minnesota Golden Gophers Top Northwestern Wildcats 35-24

Duane Bennett had a response to the critics who doubted Minnesota's rushing attack. He had a stellar day behind Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber. Bennett led the team in a day of tension and risk of high scoring at every turn.

Bennett got the offense rolling with 86 rushing yards, the most of the year, and three touchdowns. Freshmen Kevin Whaley and MarQuies Gray followed with 31 and 33-yard rushing days respectively on five carries apiece.

Eric Decker also did what Eric Decker does best, with an 83-yard day and two touchdowns.

However, for the Gophers, much was to be desired in a tense win in Evanston, Illinois. In the first half, Weber threw the ball to no one other then Eric Decker and tight end Nick Tow-Arnett. One thing that the Minnesota needs to address is spreading the ball around in the spread version of their pro-style offense. Weber would only hit one other receiver in the second half, Brandon Green.

The 309 passing yards the Gophers allowed was also a disapproving look. However, where they needed to control the game, they surprisingly did.

The Gophers came out rolling on offense in the rushing game by netting 166 rush yards, destroying Northwestern's 64 net rush yards and showing an excellent display of rush defense.

The Gophers defense also tacked up three turnovers (to Northwestern's one) with two fumble recoveries, including a nail-in-the-coffin fumble inside the Northwestern 20-yard line as time ran down.

Weber's performance left more to be desired, however, going 15-for-26 for 186 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

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 four. That made it 28-24 and Minnesota hung on from there.

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.