Sept. 26, 2009

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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Mike Kafka was 32 of 47 for 309 yards passing and two touchdowns, but it wasn't enough as Northwestern fell to Minnesota 35-24 in its Big Ten Conference opener at Ryan Field. The Wildcats drop to 2-2 on the year and 0-1 in conference play.

Kafka was able to spread out his passing yards on the afternoon, with Zeke Markshausen leading the Wildcat receivers with six catches for 70 yards. Sidney Stewart had five catches for 43 years while Demetrius Fields added four receptions for 43 yards.

Arby Fields led the Northwestern rushing attack, racking up 43 yards on nine carries with a touchdown. Jacob Schmidt had six carries for 20 yards.

Minnesota (3-1, 1-0) struck first as Duane Bennett capped a five-play, 58-yard scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. Stefan Demos converted on a 26-yard field goal, giving the Gophers a 7-3 lead after the first quarter. Adam Weber connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker with 7:16 remaining in the third to put the Gophers on top 21-10. But Kafka responded with a pair of touchdown passes, finding Andrew Brewer for a 24-yard strike and then connecting with Brendan Mitchell for a 13-yard touchdown pass to give Northwestern the 24-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Gophers then scored 14 unanswered points behind a 4-yard touchdown run from Bennett for his third of the game, and a 1-yard touchdown pass from Weber to Decker with 1:43 remaining to put the game out of reach.

Weber was 15-for-26 with Decker snagging eight catches for 84 yards with the two touchdown receptions. Bennett led all rushers with 89 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns.

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