Minnesota Falls to North Dakota State, 37-24
Marcus
Williams had two defensive touchdowns for North Dakota State on
Saturday to help the Bison pull off the upset of Minnesota, 37-24.
Williams,
a sophomore cornerback who played at Hopkins High School in the Twin
Cities - one of the dozens of Minnesotans on NDSU's roster - returned
an interception of Max Shortell's late heave 40 yards for a touchdown
to seal the game.
On the final play of the first half, teammate
Colten Heagle picked off MarQueis Gray's risky pass and tossed the ball
back to Williams as he was taken down. Williams raced 52 more yards to
put the Bison (3-0) ahead 28-14 at the break.
The Gophers gave
the Bison three first downs via penalties on their first two
possessions, both of which ended in touchdowns. Minnesota rushed for
168 yards in the contest - including a 10-play, 95-yard march, all on
the ground, to tie the game at 14-14.
The Gophers rotated Gray
and Shortell at quarterback. Shortell found tight end Eric Lair for a
20-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-7 to bring the Gophers within
seven, 31-24, with 9:05 left.
McNorton, who was held out of the
previous game with a sprained ankle and had an extra week to recover
because the Bison didn't play last Saturday, looked plenty agile
cutting and planting in the first half before the Gophers began to
bottle up the Bison ground game.
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