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University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gophers Run Past Northwestern 45-42
10/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
- Click here for box score
- Click here for Head Coach Glen Mason's post-game press conference
Minnesota ran for 418 yards en route to a 45-42 victory over Northwestern this evening at the Metrodome. The Gophers (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) are off to their best start through seven games since 1967.
Terry Jackson II ran for 239 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns and Thomas Tapeh notched 176 yards on 26 carries and one touchdown. The same tandem ran for over 100 yards apiece last week in the win over Illinois, marking the first time in school history that two players ran for 100 yards in back-to-back games.
Minnesota took a 14-7 lead in the second quarter on a rushig touchdown from Terry Jackson II and a touchdown reception by Scooter Baugus from Benji Kamrath. It was the first career touchdown throw for Kamrath who started for the first time in his career in place of injured Asad Abdul-Khaliq.
Northwestern took its only lead on two touchdown runs by Noah Herron to lead 21-14 with 6:35 remaining in the half. Minnesota struck right back with a nine-play, 74-yard drive capped by an Antoine Burns 23- yard touchdown pass from Kamrath. Jermaine Mays blocked a Brian Huffman punt and returned it nine yards for another score to put Minnesota ahead 28-21 at the half. It marks the second straight week that Mays blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown.
Minnesota scored three times to open the second half. Tapeh ran for a one-yard touchdown and Jackson II for a two-yard score. Dan Nystrom tacked on a 37-yard field goal to give the Gophers a 45-21 edge. However, Northwestern made the tail end of the game interesting, scoring 21 straight points to pull within three points at 45-42 with 4:12 remaining in the game. Minnesota was able to run out the clock and preserve the victory.
The two teams combined for 1,041 yards of total offense and 87 points. Kamrath finished 6-of-9 for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Brett Basanez was 21-of-35 for 216 yards and a touchdown. Jason Wright ran 21 times for 148 yards and two scores.
Minnesota travels to Michigan State next Saturday for an 11:05 a.m. contest.
Minnesota Head Coach Glen Mason Quotes
"I'm ecstatic we won the game. We found a way to win, and were able to eat up a lot of clock with our running game. We were in total control of the game until Jackson's fumble on third down. Then all heck broke loose."
"I was not pleased with the defensive performance. We started out poor, then stiffened up and then seemed lost again at the end of the game. We couldn't make a tackle."
"You look at the stats sheet and see that we ran for over 400 yards- Something that Minnesota hasn't done very often. But then you look at them (Northwestern) and they ran for over 300 yards. I'm not very happy with that last statistic."
On Tapeh's performance:
"I'm very pleased with Thomas' game. He's a big strong runner and what he's accomplished in the last few games is what we've been waiting for with him. Take away the fumble, and it was a banner performance by our running backs."
Minnesota Player Quotes
Running Back Thomas Tapeh
"You never know what's going to happen. That's football. Every year Northwestern comes after us and we had to hold onto it, just as we did before."
"We can always do better. There's always room for improvement. The offensive line is playing well and we're getting a little better each game. Northwestern is a good team and they have a very talented offense. I give them a lot of credit, they played hard."
Defensive Tackle Dan Kwapinski
On the fourth quarter:
"We had to get a stop somehow. We were out there just playing hard. They were very well coached and we didn't adjust well at times."
"Even though we gave up 42 points, a homecoming win feels good."
Cornerback Ken Williams
On the defensive secondary:
"We went in and coach Mason wanted us to step it up. We relaxed too much and gave up big plays."
About stepping in and playing Mike Lehan's position:
"I enjoy just playing football. I want to go out and play hard on every down. Coach Mason emphasized this week, how big this game was and how important it was to play well. I'm glad we got the win tonight."
Free Safety Eli Ward
On being bowl eligible:
"It's great to be bowl eligible and we are happy, but we're not happy with tonight's performance."
On the end of the game outcome:
"Northwestern played hard the whole game. It brought back memories of the 2000 season's second half. It's great to win our homecoming game, especially for the fans."
Running Back Terry Jackson
On quarterback Benji Kamrath's play:
"He's playing well and we knew that they (the coaches) were going to start him and that we had to help him out."
"It was nice to start the running game early on. It was a great way to start the game. We feel good with six wins, but we want and need to better ourselves.?"
Quarterback Benji Kamrath
"I found out that I was playing earlier in the week and I wanted to go out and have a chance to play hard. This was a great opportunity. I was a little nervous going into the game. I started to relax within the first few plays. Once we got going and with a good team effort, it helped to get the nerves out."
On his comfort level:
"The offensive line blocked really well tonight. Terry (Jackson) and Thomas (Tapeh) were running really well. They played great. We had to establish the run early on. The offense played hard."
Linebacker Ben West
"The guys up front especially (Anthony) Montgomery played really hard tonight. In the start of the second half, I didn't even have to hit anyone. When you play behind someone that big, it makes your job easy."
On the fourth quarter:
"We got complacent and defensively we stopped playing hard. It's everyone's job on defense to get going. We fell off a little bit."
Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker
"We took a step backwards tonight to some of the progress we had made. I'm really angry and upset about it. We just couldn't get off the blocks. You can't call a defense if you can't get off the blocks."
"I'm willing to bet that no one works harder on punts then we do. We started punting the first day of spring ball. And to have it break down against us, is really disappointing. From that point to the end when they just chased our tail, I was very disappointed."
"It's a slow uphill battle in our running game. I thought that we had made some progress, played with fire against Ohio State last week, but it just didn't work against Minnesota."
"Right now we aren't doing what it takes in any aspect of our play. Not to say that there were not positives - we scored 42 points, but it wasn't 46."
"I'm not going to let a valiant comeback masquerade a poor performance."
"I still maintain that there is a good football team in there, and we're going to dig it out."
Northwestern Player Quotes
Running Back Noah Herron
"This is obviously a pretty disappointing loss. We were looking at this as our turn around game and it obviously turned out pretty dark. We saw this as our game, but that didn't happen."
On the Offense:
"We felt we were ready offensively. It's not unusual to feel that you have to outscore the other team, but we obviously didn't do that. We needed some extra help from our defense. They needed to kick in and help us out a little, but obviously both sides didn't do all they could. We have so many guys that are willing and able to score so we needed to move the ball around. We did that which is why we had so many guys scoring, but we lost the momentum and were never able to get it back."
On his performance:
"I feel I played very well. I got in some decent carries, but without a doubt I could have done better. Even if I do play well, we can lose, which obviously happened tonight."
Quarterback Brett Basanez
"We needed to score more. They scored 45, so we needed to score 46, simple as that. We just didn't push it far enough. Our offense needs to outscore theirs. We just can't have a third quarter like we did. We lost our power. We all feel pretty bad and disappointed about the loss but we have to focus on getting back on the winning track."
Linebacker Doug Szymul
"We took a step back this week. But, even with the set back we need to focus on getting back into winning form. We need to get back on track. We weren't playing to our full potential. Against Ohio State, we were performing top notch, but today we just laid flat."
"I think it snowballed from the opening kickoff. Our defense simply can't let things like that happen. They have great running backs who just keep their feet moving. We had great opportunities to slow them down, but every time we tried to slow them down their feet just kept moving. They wanted to put in the extra effort and we simply let them."
