Michigan Sports
Weber leads Minnesota past Michigan State 42-34
AP
Weber passed for 416 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Gophers hurdle a school-record 17 penalties and hang on to beat Michigan State 42-34 on Saturday night.
Playing without Decker, his star wide receiver, for the first time, Weber came through with his best performance in two years.
‘‘Confidence breeds confidence,’’ said Weber, who totaled five interceptions and only 287 yards without a score over the previous three weeks. ‘‘The more you build it and are moving the ball, other guys are making plays.’’
Completing 19 of 31 passes for the career high in yardage behind sound protection, Weber had his first five-touchdown game since his freshman year. Except for a wide-open drop of a sure touchdown by Troy Stoudermire in the second quarter, the young Gophers receivers honored Decker and supported Weber with an array of fine catches in tight coverage.
‘‘He never shied away,’’ running back Duane Bennett said. ‘‘He really was our leader. Nobody on our offense lost faith.’’
Bennett caught two scores for Minnesota (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten), including an incredible recreation of the famous Immaculate Reception by Franco Harris for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1972 to stretch the lead to eight with 6:04 left.
Tight end Nick Tow-Arnett, who had a career-high eight catches for 81 yards and two scores, caught a third-and-17 pass from Weber near the Michigan State 35 and landed on his back after a jarring hit. The ball never touched the ground and ricocheted right into the hands of Bennett, who ran the rest of the way for the 59-yard touchdown.
The Spartans felt Tow-Arnett was down.
‘‘Maybe it’s Halloween. I don’t know,’’ coach Mark Dantonio said. ‘‘There were some scary things that happened out there, that’s for sure.’’
The fans were fed up with the refs, who flagged the Gophers for 157 yards in penalties — also the most in their history. The calls evened out in the end, though.
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