After yielding two TD?s early on, Northwestern pulled within seven points near the end of the first quarter on a 49-yard touchdown pass that junior wide receiver Teddy Johnson (Elgin, Ill./Larkin) snagged from junior quarterback Zak Kustok (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg). Kustok was making his Northwestern debut in the contest and entered earlier in the half.
After a Gopher field goal made the score 17-7 at the break, the Wildcats opened the second half by marching 62 yards for a touchdown when Kustok scampered 11 yards on a keeper. NU followed that up with a big defensive stop deep in their own territory, but after marching down the field again the Wildcats could not even the score when Tim Long missed on a 29-yard field goal.
Northwestern was finally put away on big plays near the end of the third quarter. Taking over on its own 36-yard line with 13 seconds left, Minnesota went 64 yards on the first play from scrimmage as Billy Cockerman found Thomas Hamner. Northwestern?s ensuing possession resulted in a fumble recovered by the Gophers, and they wasted no time putting the nail in the coffin when Luke Leverson ran it in from 16 yards out.
Kustok completed seven of 15 passes for 173 yards on the day, while junior running back Damien Anderson (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington) led the team with 48 yards rushing. Senior linebacker Conrad Emmerich (Foley, Minn./Foley) was the team?s leader on defense with nine tackles, including one for loss, and one fumble recovery.