Mason’s Gophers stay unbeaten

After slow start, squad routs Northwestern

? Minnesota scarcely resembled the Big Ten Conference’s highest-scoring team for much of the first half Saturday, failing to manage a single first down against lowly Northwestern for more than 21 minutes.

Then the 21st-ranked Gophers struck suddenly, on a game-changing 96-yard bomb from Asad Abdul-Khaliq to Jared Ellerson and didn’t stop on their way to a 42-17 victory.

Abdul-Khaliq threw for three touchdowns and Marion Barber III ran for two as Minnesota improved to 6-0 (2-0 Big Ten) for the first time in 43 years heading into a Friday night matchup at home against No. 9 Michigan.

“I was very pleased with how the game turned out, but I wasn’t very happy with how it started,” said Gophers coach Glen Mason, a former Kansas University coach. “The first quarter was the worst quarter of football from my perspective I’ve ever been associated with as a coach. … The positive was no one panicked, no one started pointing fingers.”

The nation’s third-leading rushing team produced 241 yards on the ground, 43 yards below its season average. But the passing attack keyed a big-play offense, carrying the Gophers to 572 total yards.

Abdul-Khaliq, the Big Ten’s leader in passing efficiency, missed on four of his first five passes before finishing 12-for-17 for 331 yards.

Minnesota had just 8 yards on its first four possessions. Backed up at the 1 and trailing 14-0 near the midway point of the second period, the Gophers appeared in danger of losing to Northwestern (2-4, 0-2) for the sixth time in eight years.

But on third down from the 4, Abdul-Khaliq dropped back into the end zone and heaved a pass down the right sideline to Ellerson, who was 15 yards behind the nearest defender after cornerback Jeff Backes tripped and fell. Ellerson’s TD made it 14-7, and he said the Wildcats’ attitude clearly changed with the big play.

“Yeah, you could see it in their eyes after that,” he said. “They were scared. They saw we started getting on a roll.”

Northwestern defenders Loren Howard, left, and Torri Stuckey try to tackle Minnesota's Jared Ellerson in the second quarter. The Gophers beat the Wildcats, 42-17, Saturday in Evanston, Ill.

Three minutes later Barber raced untouched around left end to tie the score. Then following an interception by Justin Fraley near midfield, the Gophers took the lead for good at 21-14 on an 8-yard pass from Abdul-Khaliq pass to Ben Utecht.

Northwestern closed to 21-17 on a 39-yard field goal by Slade Larscheid just before halftime, but Abdul-Khaliq hit Ellerson on the 82-yard play on the second play of the second half, and the Wildcats never threatened again.

Northwestern beat KU, 28-20, Aug. 30.