Gophers replay

Gophers 24, Northwestern 17

The recap: The Gophers stretched their lead to 17-10 early in the fourth quarter before Northwestern tied it with a 97-yard touchdown drive. But Jalen Myrick returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for the game-winning score.

What was learned: Northwestern made it tough for David Cobb, holding him to 97 yards on 30 carries. But Mitch Leidner delivered another strong game, completing 10 of 15 passes for 153 yards, and rushing seven times for 31 yards and two TDs.

YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

• Middle linebacker Damien Wilson had a career-high 15 tackles, putting him back atop the Big Ten leaderboard, at 11.0 tackles per game.

• Wisconsin struggled to tackle in its loss to Northwestern one week earlier. But the Gophers tackled very well, especially in the secondary, where Briean Boddy-Calhoun had 11, Cedric Thompson nine and Eric Murray and Antonio Johnson seven each.

• The Gophers' GPS technology tracked Myrick at 22 miles per hour on his game-winning kickoff return. Johnson ran 21 mph for his key downfield block.

UP NEXT: Purdue

11 a.m. Saturday, TCF Bank Stadium

TV: BTN • Radio: 100.3-FM

Records: Gophers 5-1, 2-0 Big Ten; Purdue 3-4, 1-2

The skinny: After going 1-11 last year, the Boilermakers have turned a corner in Darrell Hazell's second season. They defeated Illinois 38-27 for their first Big Ten win since 2012 and then pulled within a touchdown of No. 8 Michigan State on Saturday before falling 45-31. Akeem Hunt rushed for three touchdowns against the Spartans, including a 52-yarder, after rushing for 177 yards against Illinois. Austin Appleby replaced Danny Etling at quarterback and completed 39 of 57 passes (68 percent) the past two games.

JOE CHRISTENSEN