EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Dan Persa threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns, and Northwestern won its fourth straight, beating Minnesota 28-13 on Saturday.
Venric Mark came through with two big kickoff returns as the Wildcats (6-5, 3-4 Big Ten) scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to build a 21-7 lead. That set the tone as Northwestern became eligible for its fourth straight bowl appearance.
Minnesota (2-9, 1-6) had two deep drives stall, settling for a field goal after getting to the Wildcats' 10 in the second quarter and coming away with nothing late in the third when it was threatening to make it a four-point game.
Mark's 44-yard return on the opening kickoff and 42-yarder on Northwestern's next possession both led to touchdowns, giving the Wildcats an early lead that ultimately stood.
Minnesota's MarQueis Gray Gray ran for 147 yards and a touchdown and threw for 124, but completed just 9 of 21 passes and got picked off once. Teammate Duane Bennett finished with a season-high 127 yards rushing.
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Wildcats 28, Gophers 13
Minnesota 7 3 0 3--13
Northwestern 21 0 0 7--28
FIRST QUARTER
NU--Colter 7 pass from Persa (Budzien kick), 13:34.
Minn--Gray 5 run (Wettstein kick), 11:09.
NU--Fields 28 pass from Persa (Budzien kick), 8:13.
NU--Green 2 run (Budzien kick), 2:29.
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SECOND QUARTER
Minn--Wettstein 28 FG, 6:20.
FOURTH QUARTER
NU--Schmidt 1 run (Budzien kick), 11:02.
Minn--Wettstein 48 FG, 7:28.
Attendance--26,215.
Minn NU
First downs 22 23
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Rushes-yards 51-269 47-152
Passing 124 216
Comp-Att-Int 9-22-1 22-31-1
Return Yards 0 0
Punts-Avg. 4-24.0 3-58.3
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 5-43 0-0
Time of Possession 31:34 28:26
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Individual statistics
RUSHING--Minnesota: Gray 26-147, Bennett 23-127, Team 1-(minus 1), Crawford-Tufts 1-(minus 4). Northwestern: Schmidt 13-69, A.Smith 10-31, Green 8-23, Colter 6-16, Persa 7-7, Ty.Jones 1-4, Ebert 1-3, Team 1-(minus 1).
PASSING--Minnesota: Gray 9-21-1-124, Team 0-1-0-0. Northwestern: Persa 22-31-1-216.
RECEIVING--Minnesota: McKnight 2-52, Green 2-49, Lair 1-10, Bennett 1-6, Moulton 1-4, Crawford-Tufts 1-3, McGarry 1-0. Northwestern: Ebert 6-62, Colter 5-47, Lawrence 4-29, Fields 2-34, Dunsmore 2-14, Brown 1-17, C.Jones 1-8, Schmidt 1-5.
