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University of Minnesota Athletics
Weber's Big Night Leads Gophers Past Spartans
11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Adam Weber had a career passing day and Minnesota rolled up 505 yards of total offense in outscoring Michigan State 42-34 at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday night.
Weber threw for 416 yards and five touchdowns despite being without favorite target Eric Decker, who will miss the rest of the regular season with a foot injury. Weber became just the fifth Minnesota quarterback to register a 400-yard game and the first since Cory Sauter against Michigan State in 2005.
Duane Bennett and Nick Tow-Arnett each caught two touchdowns and Minnesota had season-highs for points, passing yards and total offense. The Gophers had scored a total of seven points in their previous two games, but scored two touchdowns in the first 1:47 of the game. They also overcame a school-record 17 penalties and 157 penalty yards to win.
It took Minnesota just 20 seconds to get its first score when Weber completed a deep pass to Duane Bennett, who tiptoed the left sideline and managed to stay inbounds and finish a 62-yard touchdown pass. It was the longest play from scrimmage for the Gophers this season.
On the ensuing kickoff, Minnesota's DeLeon Eskridge forced and recovered a fumble by Michigan State returner Edwin Baker at the Spartans' 28-yard line. Three plays later, Weber connected on another deep pass, hitting Brandon Green for a 37-yard touchdown pass. The pass was perfectly thrown over a Spartans' defender for Green's first touchdown of the season as Minnesota took a 14-0 lead just 1:47 into the game.
Michigan State converted a 13-play, 87-yard drive over six minutes into a 20-yard field goal by Brett Swenson to cut the lead to 14-3 with 15 seconds left in the first quarter. The Spartans made it 14-10 with 10:35 left in the first half, scoring on a scrambling play by quarterback Kirk Cousins on a third-and-10 play. Cousins was flushed out of the pocket and after nearly crossing the line of scrimmage, spun completely around and found a wide open Brian Linthicum for a 27-yard touchdown to pull the Spartans within 14-10.
Late in the first half, Minnesota had an apparent touchdown pass to Troy Stoudermire overturned by replay, but the Gophers still converted on the next play with a seven-yard third down pass from Weber to Tow-Arnett to take a 21-10 lead. Weber rolled out to the right and lofted a pass across the field to Tow-Arnett, who won a jump ball with a defender and pulled it down for his first touchdown of the season.
Michigan State was driving late in the half, but Marcus Sherels intercepted Cousins with 1:04 left to end the threat as the Gophers took a 21-10 lead into halftime.
The 11-point lead didn't last long as Michigan State's Keshawn Martin returned the second half kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to pull the Spartans back within 21-17. However, Minnesota quickly regained the margin as it continued its aerial offense, getting a 48-yard pass to Stoudermire during the drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run by Bennett with 12:27 left in the third quarter.
Martin had another big play for the Spartans later in the quarter when he took a handoff on a reverse and raced 84 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown with 5:03 left in the period, cutting the lead to 28-24. Prior to the play, the Spartans had just 10 yards rushing.
Momentum was fully in the Spartans' favor at that point as Minnesota fumbled late in the third quarter on its own 24-yard line and the Spartans' Jerel Worthy recovered. Michigan State converted the turnover into a touchdown three plays later when Cousins lofted a pass into the back of the end zone that was caught by Dion Sims for a 11-yard touchdown on the final play of the third quarter to give the Spartans their only lead of the game at 31-28.
The Spartans' lead lasted less than three minutes as the Gophers regained the advantage at 35-31 with 12:40 left in the fourth quarter when Weber threw his fourth touchdown of the game and Tow-Arnett caught his second on a three-yard pass. The touchdown was set up by a 53-yard pass from Weber to Da'Jon McKnight to the three-yard line.
Penalties cost the Gophers on Michigan State's next drive as the Spartans took advantage of a pair of personal fouls to get deep into Minnesota territory. Michigan State had a first down on the Gophers' three-yard line, but Minnesota's defense came up with stops on every play and forced a 20-yard field goal by Swenson that trimmed the lead to 35-34 with 8:10 left.
Just over two minutes later, Minnesota extended the lead to 42-34 on a miraculous play by Duane Bennett for a 59-yard touchdown catch with 6:04 left. Weber passed across the middle to Tow-Arnett, who had the ball knocked away just as he was hitting the ground, but it bounced off his body to Bennett, who grabbed it in stride out of mid-air and raced to the endzone. The play came one play after a similar play to Tow-Arnett, who appeared to catch a pass across the middle and had the ball jarred loose. Michigan State recovered the fumble and returned it to the Gophers' 41-yard line, but replay overturned the call, giving the Gophers the third down play.
The Gophers were outstanding on third down all night, converting 10 of 18 third-down plays. Bennett finished as Minnesota's leading receiver with his two long touchdown catches, totaling 121 yards. McKnight had four catches for 98 yards and Tow-Arnett finished with career highs for catches and yards with eight receptions for 81 yards. Weber finished 19-for-31 passing.
Michigan State drove to the Gophers' 34-yard line, but Minnesota came up with a stop on fourth down and took over with 3:18 remaining. The Gophers ran the ball to use up the Spartans' timeouts and were forced to punt with 2:10 left, however, Michigan State was flagged for running into the kicker. The penalties gave Minnesota a first down and the Gophers were able to run out the clock. Michigan State was not immune to penalties either as the Spartans were flagged nine times for 73 yards. The two teams combined for 26 penalties for 230 yards as Minnesota's 17 penalties tied a Big Ten record held by Michigan State against Indiana in 1957.
The Spartans totaled 360 yards of offense as Cousins finished 21-for-36 passing for 236 yards and two touchdowns. B.J. Cunningham had five catches for 83 yards and Martin was the Spartans' leading rusher with his one 84-yard carry.
Saturday's game was the first of three straight home games for the Gophers, who host Illinois next Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium at 11 a.m.
