Gophers routed -- but not as bad as usual

Well, it was an improvement.
Hard to imagine the Gophers consider Saturday's 41-14 drubbing by Nebraska anything but another disaster in a 1-6 season, but technically, the 27-point defeat was their best showing against the Cornhuskers in more than four decades. MarQueis Gray completed a long pass to Da'Jon McKnight midway through the third quarter, and scored a 1-yard touchdown three plays later, snapping Nebraska's streak of 145 consecutive points against Minnesota. And Duane Bennett added a 6-yard scoring run in the final minutes, making the Minnesota deficit its smallest since a 35-10 loss in 1970, nine meetings ago.
But Nebraska dominated the mistake-ridden Gophers for the entire afternoon, finally walking away with its 15th straight win over Minnesota and its first road victory as a member of the Big Ten. Nebraska led 34-0 at halftime, bringing the Gophers' cumulative deficit in the first half of Big Ten games to 103-3.
The Gophers made numerous mistakes once again, not that it would have made much of a difference, considering Nebraska's 508 yards of offense, to Minnesota's 254. Rex Burkhead piled up 117 rushing yards on 23 carries, and 13 of 22 passes for 162 yards.
Gray was 9-of-18 for 122 passing yards.