Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Northwestern Wildcats Match Player Stats On Oct 03, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Oct 3, 2015

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's defense recorded its second shutout in five games and kept Minnesota largely bottled up in its own territory in a 27-0 Big Ten season-opening victory on Saturday.

The No. 16 Wildcats improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2012. Unranked Minnesota (3-2, 0-1 Big Ten) failed to reach 100 yards in either rushing or passing while its three-game winning streak was snapped.

Wildcats quarterback Clayton Thorson was 14 of 18 for 128 yards and rushed for two touchdowns while running back Justin Jackson carried 20 times for 120 yards, the 10th game in his last 12 with 100-plus yards.

Kicker Jack Mitchell has field goals of 25 and 23 yards.

Minnesota had 173 yards total offense as quarterback Mitch Leidner was 10 of 21 for 72 yards.

Northwestern stalled at the Minnesota eight on its opening drive, settling for Mitchell's first field goal for a 3-0 lead with 7::27 left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats held promising field position at the Gophers 42 after cornerback Matthew Harris' second quarter interception. But Northwestern barely penetrated past the 30 and Mitchell missed on a 41-yard field-goal try on fourth down.

Miles Shuler's 55-yard punt return late in the first half set up a Northwestern's first touchdown, a 5-yard first down run by Thorson as The Wildcats opened a 10-0 lead with 1:35 left in the half.

Northwestern had a touchdown called back early in the third quarter. A 32-yard liner from Thorson to running back Solomon Vault was ruled incomplete after a review of the apparent one-handed end zone grab.

The Wildcats then marched inside the Gophers 5 but failed to reach the end zone on three straight tries before Mitchell's 23-yard field goal made it 13-0 with 6:14 left in the third.

But they cashed in the next trip to the red zone as Thorson scored on a 1-yard plunge as Northwestern opened a 20-0 lead with 1:25 showing in the third quarter.

Another Northwestern touchdown also went under review, but this time a fourth quarter score was sustained after Anthony Walker Jr. scooped up a Minnesota fumble and dashed 13 yards as the Wildcats' lead reached 27-0.

NOTES: Minnesota is the only team scheduled to play a No. 1 team (Ohio State, Nov. 7) and a No. 2 (TCU, a 23-17 loss on Sept. 3) this season. ... The No. 16 Wildcats were the second ranked team the Gophers have faced so far this season. ... Minnesota hasn't hesitated to give young players a shot with six true freshmen and seven redshirt freshmen already seeing time so far this season. ... Both teams had to contend with stiff winds from the north/northeast off Lake Michigan, reaching as high as 23 miles per hour in the first half. ... Northwestern came into the game ranked first nationally in third down percentage defense (just 18.6 percent) and was third in the country in scoring defense, allowing an average 8.8 points per game. ... The 35 points the Wildcats had allowed in their first four games were the fewest since they allowed just 27 in 1961. ... Both teams move into week two of Big Ten play on the road. Northwestern travels to Michigan next Saturday while Minnesota is at Purdue.