Oddities abound on Halloween, but U survives

Sorry, but why don't you try to figure this all out?

On a chilly, crisp Saturday night at TCF Bank Stadium, the Gophers set a program record for penalties (17) and penalty yards (157). They gave up a 93-yard kickoff return and an 84-yard end-around, both by the same fellow. They watched as Michigan State turned two Gophers turnovers into touchdowns.

And yet the Gophers won. Despite squandering a 14-0 early lead, a 21-10 halftime lead and a 28-17 third-quarter lead, the Gophers won 42-34 coming back yet again to win a game they both needed and badly wanted, both for the program and for injured receiver Eric Decker. Moments after the final gun sounded, in the Gophers' cathedral-sized locker room, the team surrounded Decker, said a prayer, gave him the game ball then sang a rousing Rouser.

"I wanted to have a game where we gave Eric Decker the game ball," said Gophers quarterback Adam Weber, Decker's best friend and roommate. On a night Weber shrugged off an up-and-down season with a redemptive performance, all he wanted to do was share it with his friend.

It was an emotional end to an eerie night. Take a breath as we try to avoid the Halloween references. But this one was weird. In a game that had more momentum shifts than most could count on two hands and feet, the Gophers put the game away with one of the weirdest plays you will ever see:

With the Gophers up 35-34 and facing a third-and-17 from their own 41, Weber dropped back and threw over the middle to Nick Tow-Arnett. The tight end grabbed the ball, was hit hard and went down, the ball bouncing out of his hands. But it bounced straight to running back Duane Bennett, who caught the bounce in stride at about the 36-yard line and completed the 59-yard scoring play for a 42-34 lead.

This came one play after a fumble on Tow-Arnett was overturned by review. Just like that, all the other mistakes were wiped away, the penalties, the big plays allowed, everything.

"Some funky things happened in that game," said Weber, who threw for 416 yards and five TDs. "It was just so many times this year the ball has been bouncing the other way. It was great that, in this big game, the ball bounced our way. It was a Halloween game."

And perhaps the most important victory of coach Tim Brewster's career. It ended a two-game losing streak and pushed the Gophers (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) within a game of being bowl eligible. With a victory next week at home over Illinois the Gophers would guarantee themselves of four Big Ten victories, one more than a year ago.

In the first game after Decker was lost to a foot injury, Weber -- under scrutiny all season -- had a career day, completing 19 of 31 passes. Tow-Arnett caught two scores, as did Bennett; his other TD came on a 62-yard catch-and-run on the first play of the game.

What a wild one. There were 22 plays that went for 10 yards or more. Six of the game's touchdowns were longer than 25 yards. The Gophers scored twice before Michigan State ran a play, but the Spartans (4-5, 3-3) responded all game long, keyed by a monster kickoff return and an 84-yard end-around, both by Keyshawn Martin.

Michigan State turned a fumbled handoff and a short field into a 31-28 lead -- its first of the game -- on the last play of the third quarter.

Five plays into the following drive, on second-and-6 from the Gophers 45-yard line, Weber threw a beautiful pass downfield to Da'Jon McKnight, who hauled it in and was tackled at the Michigan State 2. Weber hit Tow-Arnett for the score on the next play, and the Gophers never trailed again.

Aided by back-to-back personal foul penalties, the Spartans drove to a first-and-goal at the 1. But the Gophers stuffed two runs, a third-down pass was incomplete and Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio opted for the field goal, cutting the lead to 35-34.

Bite your nails. The Gophers started at their 34. They looked like they were in trouble on third-and-17, and then the ball deflected right to Bennett.

"Adam told me in the huddle to go hook and lateral," Tow-Arnett joked. "I was like, 'If you say so.' "

Said Bennett with a shrug, "It fell into my lap."

He'll take it.  So will the Gophers, who were flawed but resilient.

"Our guys were locked in," Brewster said. "... I'm awful proud."