Northwestern remains in stride with 24-14 win in Minnesota

Isaiah Bowser had 85 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 24 Northwestern turned Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan into 10 points for a 24-14 win on Saturday, extending his eight-game winning streak.

Clayton Thorson completed 15 of 21 passes for 230 yards without a change and scored a 13-yard touchdown in the first half for the Wildcats (7-4, 7-1, PSC # 22), who have their best Big Record Ten since 1996, when coach Pat Fitzgerald was in his last season as a player.

Nate Hall had two interceptions for the Wildcats, who have won 14 of their last 15 conference contests, including 11 games against West Division opponents they won the week before. Hall, who also tackled Seth Green's fourth and first stop at Northwestern 26 in the second quarter, was ejected for targeting a fourth-quarter cap-cap shot on Morgan.

Mohamed Ibrahim rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown and Blake Cashman was sidelined by his 20 career-high tackles with the Gophers (5-6, 2-6), who fell at 4-13 in conference with coach PJ Fleck.

With a starting temperature of 23 degrees, which was actually a bit warmer than when Minnesota beat Purdue here last week, Thorson and the Wildcats played well. The three missing injured from the side team completed the race with a decisive pass led by Joe Gaziano, who forced a Morgan fumble with a bag in the fourth quarter, setting a short goal.

That came right after a 68-yard Thorson third tryout at J.J. Jefferson, who escaped safety to rookie Jordan Howden and was tackled to 2 before Bowser's second score.

Morgan finished 19 with 32 for 197 yards and a touchdown late in the game to Tyler Johnson, who broke the 1,000-yard mark for the season. The series of four consecutive games in Minnesota with more than 400 rushing yards, the longest in the program for more than 12 years, was stopped.

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