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University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gophers Shut Out by Nittany Lions
10/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
State College, Pa. - On the road to face No. 14 Penn State today (Oct. 17), the University of Minnesota football team watched as the hosts set the tone early, controlling the first half of play, before cruising to the 20-0 victory.
The Nittany Lions out-gained the Golden Gophers 464-to-138 which included a 177-to-37 discrepancy on the ground. Penn State scored on drives of 32, 70, 91, and 85 yards respectively. Conversely, they forced Minnesota into five drives that resulted in less than 10 yards.
Penn State (6-1, 2-1) used a ball control offense that held the ball for over two-thirds of the game, totaling 41:59 which allowed just 18:01 of possession for Minnesota (4-3, 2-2). In the second and third quarters combined, which saw the Lions score 17 combined points, the Gophers held the ball for less than seven total minutes.
"Obviously, disappointed to lose the football game," Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster said. "We didn't play well enough offensively to sustain anything really from the beginning. Give credit where credit is due. Penn State was better than we were and I thought they played extremely well. Penn State's defense is outstanding. We still, obviously, have a lot of things that we need to improve upon offensively to be a better football team, a better offensive football team."
Trailing 20-0, the last chance for the Gophers to get back in the game, came early in the fourth quarter. Starting the drive with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter, Adam Weber (Shoreview, Minn.) connected with Eric Decker (Cold Spring, Minn.) for the first time all game. Decker hauled in a 42-yard pass that brought Minnesota down to the Penn State 34 yard line. Two plays later, Weber found tight end Nick Tow-Arnett (Redwood Falls, Minn.) for nine yards and the Gophers were in the redzone as the final quarter began.
After grinding all the way down to the one yard line, the Gophers were faced with a four-and-one. A Kevin Whaley (Virginia Beach, Va.) rush attempt was stuffed the Penn State took over ready to put the game on ice.
The Gopher defense did their best to slow the Lions, making the hosts earn their yardage. Lee Campbell (Naples, Fla.) was at the head of the charge as always, collecting a game high 13 tackles, including two tackles for a loss. Kim Royston(Minneapolis, Minn.) added 11 and Nate Triplett (Delano, Minn.) tacked on 10 to aid the effort.
"I thought our defense was very resilient for the most part, holding that football team to 20 points total," Brewster said. "They fought their guts out."
Weber finished 10-of-22 for 101 yards, with Decker catching the one pass for 42 yards. Tow-Arnett caught a team high three passes and finished with 26 yards on the day. The Gophers leading rusher was Whaley who totaled 11 yards on six carries.
Evan Royster did the damage for Penn State, racking up 137 yards on the ground on 23 carries. Lion quarterback Daryll Clark was equally as good, throwing for 287 yards on 21-of-32 passing with one touchdown.
The Gophers stay on the road next weekend as they face another stiff test in Columbus against Ohio State. Kickoff on Oct. 24 is slated for 11:00 am.
