Minnesota Golden Gophers defeat the Michigan State Spartans

October 31, 11:27 PMMinnesota Golden Gophers Football ExaminerJoseph Gunther

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Brandon Green (left) makes a catch in the end zone.
AP Photo

The Minnesota Golden Gophers held on to defeat the Michigan State Spartans 42-34 at TCF Bank Stadium Saturday.
 

The Gophers (5-4 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) just need one win to become bowl eligible. It has home games against Illinois and South Dakota State and a road game at Iowa.

Despite playing without star wide receiver Eric Decker, the Gophers racked up 490 total yards, including 416 through the air.

The Gophers struck first with a play action pass play from Adam Weber to Duane Bennett for a 62-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.

The Gophers got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff with a fumble recovery at the Spartans 28-yard line. Weber threw his second touchdown pass of the game with a 37-yard pass to Brandon Green on a third-and-19 play.

The Gophers defense allowed the Spartans to get to a first-and-goal situation, but stuffed running back Larry Caper on back-to-back plays and a short pass to force a chip-shot field goal by Brett Swenson.

The Spartans (4-5, 3-3) cut the deficit to 14-10 with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Brian Linthicum. Linthicum got behind the Gophers secondary when Cousins scrambled and got close to the line of scrimmage without crossing it.

Late in the first half, Weber rolled out to his right and threw back to the left to Nick Tow-Arnett for the seven- yard touchdown. Tow-Arnett made an incredible catch in front the Spartan defender. Tow-Arnett finished the game with eight catches for 81 yards.

Keshawn Martin returned the opening kick of the second half 93-yards to cut the Gopher lead to 21-17.

The Gophers responded on the ensuing drive going 61 yards that culminated in a one-yard run by Bennett to reclaim an 11-point lead.

Martin came right back with his second touchdown of the game on a 94-yard touchdown run on an end around to cut the deficit to 28-24.

The Gophers responded again when Troy Stoudermire returned the kickoff 71-yards to the Spartan 13-yard line. The Spartan defense had its best stand of the game with 13 yards lost in two plays and got the ball after Eric Ellestad missed a 48-yard field goal.

After a fumbled handoff, the Spartans took the lead on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Dion Sims. The drive was aided by an offside penalty on the Gophers, a terrible spot that gave the Spartans a first down and a missed false start penalty on the Spartans on the touchdown play.

Tow-Arnett scored his second touchdown of the game on a two-yard touchdown pass from Weber that gave the Gophers a 35-31 lead early in the fourth quarter. The drive was highlighted by a 53-yard pass from Weber to Da’Jon McKnight.

The referees helped the Spartans with late hit and roughing the quarterback penalties on the ensuing kickoff and first play of the drive. Both were absolutely terrible calls. The Gophers were called for 17 penalties that totaled 157 yards. At least six were terrible calls. On the other side the Spartans were called for nine penalties for 73 yards. The Spartans eventually got the ball to first-and-goal at the two-yard line, but the Gophers forced a 20-yard field goal by Swenson.

“I don’t think I need to comment right now on the Big Ten officiating. I think that would be the wrong thing to do,” Gophers head coach Tim Brewster said to the Big Ten Network immediately following the game.

The Gophers extended its lead to 42-34 with 6:04 remaining on a 59-yard touchdown pass to Bennett. Bennett caught the ball on a third-and-18 play that was intended for Tow-Arnett, but when Tow-Arnett was hit the ball bounced up to Bennett who took it most of the way for the score. Tow-Arnett was drilled with a helmet-to-helmet hit that was not called. Bennett finished the game with two catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

The Gophers final stand came on a fourth-and-long play that Keanon Cooper knocked away deep in Gopher territory.

The Gophers forced three turnovers with a fumble recovery on a kickoff, a fumble recovery by Garrett Brown and an interception by Marcus Sherels all in first half.

Offensive MVP: Adam Weber. The quarterback from Shoreview, Minn. threw for 416 yards and five touchdowns as the Gophers overcame penalties to get the win.

Defensive MVP: Garrett Brown. The defensive tackle from Fairfield, Conn. had a team-high seven tackles, including three for a loss. He also had a fumble recovery and forced fumble.

Special Teams MVP: Troy Stoudermire. The wide receiver from Dallas had six kick returns for 192 yards, including a 71 yarder.