Mohamed Ibrahim rushes for three touchdowns in Gophers' 31-3 mastery over Northwestern

The starting quarterback was new for the Gophers on Saturday, but two old standards shouldered the load in a 31-3 victory over Northwestern: Mohamed Ibrahim and Minnesota's defense.

Ibrahim rushed 36 times for 178 yards and three touchdowns as the Gophers (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) overpowered the Wildcats in front of 41,686 at Huntington Bank Stadium to win their third consecutive game. In the process, the sixth-year senior running back moved into second place on the Gophers' all-time rushing yards list, surpassed 100 yards rushing for the 18th consecutive game and moved into sixth place in Big Ten history with his 51st career rushing TD.

Meanwhile, the Gophers defense allowed only a second-quarter field goal to Northwestern (1-9, 1-6), which lost its ninth consecutive game. Joe Rossi's defense limited the Wildcats to 3-for-12 on third-down conversions and running back Evan Hull to 98 all-purpose yards.

"I'm really proud of our team tonight. I've got a lot of respect for them and how they persevered all week,'' Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. "We didn't have the greatest practice on Wednesday, and I let them know that. We challenged them, challenged the staff, and I thought they responded really well.''

Athan Kaliakmanis, replacing the injured Tanner Morgan at quarterback, made his first home start but wasn't called on much as the Gophers pounded Northwestern with their ground game. The redshirt freshman completed seven of 13 passes for 64 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

"He's a freshman,'' Fleck said. "He's learning his own rhythm. He's learning his own preparation. He's learning his ability and how to adapt to a game.''

With the victory and other results in the Big Ten on Saturday, the Gophers are in a four-way tie for first place in the West Division among Purdue, Illinois and Iowa. If the Gophers win their final two games — at home against Iowa next week and at Wisconsin on Nov. 26 — they would at least tie for the division title. To secure the West's spot in the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 3 in Indianapolis, the Gophers would need to beat the Hawkeyes and Badgers and have Purdue and Illinois each lose one more game.

Kaliakmanis and the Gophers offense struggled on their first two possessions, with the QB going 0-for-3 and Ibrahim rushing twice for minus-4 yards, leading to two quick punts.

Northwestern got the game's first big gainer when quarterback Brendan Sullivan found a wide-open tight end Marshall Lang for 37 yards to the Gophers 25. The Wildcats reached the 16 and went for it on fourth-and-1, but Gophers cornerback Terell Smith and safety Jordan Howden dropped Hull for a 2-yard loss, ending the threat.

"That was huge,'' safety Tyler Nubin said. "That gave us a bunch of energy. Just to see those guys flying around, it made everybody else want to fly around, too.''

The Gophers offense got moving on its third possession, driving 82 yards in nine plays for a 7-0 lead on Ibrahim's 6-yard TD run with 3:04 left in the first quarter. Ibrahim carried four times for 40 yards on the march, and on his touchdown run he moved into second place on the Gophers' career rushing yards list, passing Rodney Smith (4,122). Darrell Thompson is the career leader with 4,654. Ibrahim has 4,264 yards.

"I didn't know that,'' Ibrahim said of passing Smith. "… I know he probably shot me a text saying congratulations. That's Big Bro. I look up to him.''

The Gophers increased their lead to 14-0 with 7:57 left in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Ibrahim, his 50th career rushing TD.

Northwestern cut the Gophers' lead to 14-3 on Adam Stage's 35-yard field goal with 1:27 left in the second quarter, set up by back-to-back receptions of 27 and 49 yards by Malik Washington. Until giving up those two plays, the Gophers had allowed only 68 yards in the first half.

On Northwestern's second play of the third quarter, Nubin intercepted backup QB Ryan Hilinski's pass and returned it 11 yards to the Wildcats 25, setting up Matthew Trickett's 41-yard field goal for a 17-3 lead. Later in the quarter, the Wildcats drove to the Gophers 41, but Hilinski's fourth-and-2 pass sailed incomplete over Hull's head. The Gophers responded by driving 59 yards to extend the lead to 24-3 on Ibrahim's 1-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

True freshman running back Zach Evans scored on a 6-yard run with 4:24 left for a 31-3 Gophers lead.

"We got the victory tonight,'' Fleck said. "That's all that mattered, to go 1-0 [against Northwestern].''