Minnesota outclasses Northwestern in 41-14 rout
EVANSTON-Minnesota came into Evanston with a clear game plan. They knew it. Northwestern knew it. Even the fans knew it.
The Gophers wanted to run the ball, lean on Northwestern’s front with its massive, all-senior offensive line and rack up the time of possession. Defensively, they wanted to bottle up the ground game and make the Wildcats beat them through the air.
The Wildcats, it turned out, just couldn’t do anything about it.
Minnesota ran for 308 yards to claim first place in the Big Ten West with a dominant 41-14 win over Northwestern. It was the fourth straight win for the Gophers, and, if they were better in the red zone, this one could have been even uglier.
The Wildcats have now been outscored 74-21 over their last two games, both losses, and have given up more than 600 rushing yards. At 3-5 (1-4 Big Ten), they need to win three of their final four games to make a bowl game.
Northwestern’s offense, which has struggled all season, had another clunker on Saturday. The Wildcats ended up with 241 yards – just eight more than they had last week against Michigan – and didn’t get their second score until the fourth quarter, when the game had long been decided.
Quarterback Ryan Hilinski was inaccurate and ineffective against the Gophers, missing throws long and short. He was just 1-for-6 for five yards passing when he was pulled in favor of Andrew Marty.
Marty, who played for the first time since getting injured against Duke in Week 2, threw for both of Northwestern’s touchdowns, one in the first half and one in the second. He finished 10-for-16 for 93 yards passing. Carl Richardson then came in for mop-up duty late.
Evan Hull finished with 107 yards on 15 carries, but he got 40 of them on the Wildcats’ final touchdown drive.
Mar’Keise Irving led the way for Minnesota's ground attack with 110 yards and two touchdowns, while Ky Thomas had 106 yards. Tanner Morgan wasn’t asked to do very much passing, but he went 12-of-17 for 134 yards, with one interception.
The Gophers set the tone early in this one. They held the ball for 23:32 of the opening 30 minutes as they built a 20-7 halftime lead that would have been worse if Northwestern’s defense hadn’t kept the Gophers out of the end zone on three trips deep into NU territory.
Minnesota opened the game by marching 67 yards in 13 plays to chew 7:05 off the clock. But the Gophers had to settle for chip-shot Matthew Trickett field goal after curiously calling a quarterback keeper on a third-and-7 at the NU 9-yard line.
As if they needed it, the Gophers then got help from Northwestern’s offense. After a false start on its first snap, Hilinski threw a screen pass to Malik Washington, who fumbled while fighting for extra yards. Justin Walley scooped it up and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 Minnesota lead.
After a Northwestern three-and-out, the Gophers again drove deep into the red zone. But Tanner Morgan missed on his throw to Daniel Jackson in the end zone on third down, and the Gophers again had to settle for another short Trickett field goal, this one a 30-yarder.
Northwestern’s offense looked dead in the water in the first quarter, running four plays for a total of one yard, until Evan Hull broke off a 30-yard run. Once they got into the red zone, Marty came in for Hilinski. He ran it twice on read-options and then threw to Hull for the touchdown on third-and-goal from the Minnesota 6-yard line.
Suddenly, the Wildcats were back in the game at 13-7. But it was short-lived as the Gophers unleashed their third scoring drive of at least 11 plays, nine of them runs. It ended with an Irving 3-yard touchdown run to make it 20-7.
After yet another three-and-out by the Wildcats that consisted of three Hilinski incompletions and a total of 26 seconds of game clock, Minnesota was poised to score again. But Brandon Joseph dove for a deflected pass and came up with an interception in the end zone to thwart the threat and end the half.
The Wildcats were lucky to be down by just 13 points at the break. Minnesota held advantages of 253-75 in yards and 17-4 in first downs.
Northwestern went with Marty in the second half, but he couldn’t sustain the spark he provided in the opening period, as two drives ended with failed fourth-down conversions. The third quarter turned into a taffy pull, with neither offense able to mount any consistent drives.
The Gophers blew the game wide open in the fourth quarter, when Irving added a 41-yard touchdown run and Derek LeCaptain, a former linebacker, scored on a 24-yard scamper.
In between those two scores, Marty threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Berkeley Holman. It was the first TD of Holman's career.
The Wildcats host reeling No. 9 Iowa next week in a battle between two teams that have lost two straight.