No. 24 Minnesota forces four turnovers en route to win vs. Purdue

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• Weber Leads Minnesota To 17-6 Victory

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Adam Weber hit Jack Simmons for a 9-yard TD to seal it for the Gophers. Gameball goes to... Weber, who passed for 212 yards and a score and ran for 60 yards and a TD. Stat of the game... 4. The Gophers entered the game leading the nation in turnover margin and picked up four more versus the Boilers. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	15	19
Total Yards	321	226
Passing	212	109
Rushing	109	117
Penalties	13-114	5-44
3rd Down Conversions	6-15	4-13
4th Down Conversions	0-2	0-2
Turnovers	1	4
Possession	31:03	28:57

Air/Ground Leaders
Minnesota Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Weber 21/34 212 1 1	Purdue Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Siller 10/17 73 0 1 Painter 6/12 36 0 1
Minnesota Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Weber 13 60 1 39 Eskridge 17 42 0 11	Purdue Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Sheets 21 73 0 21 Siller 10 17 0 15
Minnesota Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Green 5 100 0 71 Decker 7 51 0 13	Purdue Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Whittington 7 37 0 9 Valentin 1 26 0 26

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				MINN	PUR
	TD	13:11	Adam Weber 4 Yd Run (Joel Monroe Kick)	7	0
	FG	11:38	Carson Wiggs 31 Yd	7	3
	FG	02:40	Carson Wiggs 40 Yd	7	6
SECOND QUARTER				MINN	PUR
	FG	06:14	Joel Monroe 41 Yd	10	6
FOURTH QUARTER				MINN	PUR
	TD	06:22	Jack Simmons 9 Yd Pass From Adam Weber (Joel Monroe Kick)	17	6

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Best known for producing top-notch running backs, No. 24 Minnesota is in the midst of the nation's best turnaround season because of an opportunistic defense.

Fast Facts

• Minnesota won in West Lafayette for the first time since 1990.

• Purdue has now lost five straight, its longest losing streak since 2005.

• The Boilermakers lost their 18th straight game against a ranked team.

-- ESPN research

The Golden Gophers, who came in leading the nation in turnover margin, forced four more in a 17-6 win over Purdue on Saturday. It was the third time in the past five games Minnesota has held an opponent to single-digit points. The Golden Gophers were 1-11 last season with one of the worst defenses in the country.

"It's really different, especially from last year," said Minnesota safety Kyle Theret, who intercepted a pass. "We weren't even close to shutting down people to six points, no touchdowns. We've done that a couple times this year, and we think we can play better."

It's hard to see how. Purdue passed for 109 yards in its homecoming game, the lowest total in coach Joe Tiller's 12 years with the program. The Gophers (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten) allowed just 226 total yards and had five sacks.

"I have tremendous confidence in our defense," Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said. "It was an outstanding performance today. We did things good defenses have to do to be successful."

Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter hurt his throwing shoulder in the first quarter and left the game. He returned in the second quarter, but didn't play in the second half. Tiller called it a slight-to-moderate separation and expects Painter to play next week.

Justin Siller replaced Painter and made some plays, but couldn't consistently move the Boliermakers (2-6, 0-4). Siller was a running back until a week ago, when former backup Joey Elliott was knocked out for the season with a separated shoulder.

The Boilermakers play Michigan next week.

"I will admit we better have our No. 1 quarterback back," Tiller said. "We're not efficient enough and proficient enough offensively to expect a whole lot out of our offense with our No. 3 quarterback who was a running back until last week."

Kory Sheets led Purdue with 73 yards rushing and became the third Boilermakers player to run for more than 3,000 yards in a career. That wasn't enough to prevent Purdue's 18th straight loss to a ranked opponent, including four this season. The Boilermakers (2-6, 0-4) have lost five straight and are in danger of missing a bowl game in Tiller's final season.

Minnesota's offense sputtered at times, but did enough to get the win. Adam Weber passed for 212 yards and a touchdown and ran for 60 yards and another score. Brandon Green caught five passes for 100 yards.

Minnesota struck on the game's first possession. Weber completed a 71-yard pass to Green on a third-and-6 to set up a first-and-goal at the 5. Weber scored on a 4-yard run 1:49 into the game.

On Purdue's first series, Painter was hit from the blind side and ran off the field with his right arm hanging. The Boilermakers managed a 31-yard field goal by Carson Wiggs.

Wiggs made another field goal, a 40-yarder, to cut Minnesota's lead to 7-6 late in the first quarter.

Painter returned midway through the second quarter, but threw an interception to Marcus Sherels shortly thereafter. That turnover led to a 41-yard field goal by Minnesota's Joel Monroe.

Purdue was driving late in the first half when Painter fumbled and Minnesota's Garrett Brown recovered at the Gophers' 46.

Siller started the second half at quarterback, and the redshirt freshman led the Boilermakers inside the Minnesota 20 before Tremaine Brock leveled Sheets and forced a fumble that Nate Triplett recovered at the Minnesota 18.

Weber broke loose for 39 yards on a keeper in the fourth quarter and on the next play he found tight end Jack Simmons for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-6 with 6:22 to play.

"There was a lot of frustration on the sidelines for the offense, but we knew just to keep fighting, and that we would come out on top," Weber said.

Minnesota has lost only to Ohio State and doesn't play Penn State. The players are starting to hear people talk about contending for the conference title.

"People try to talk about it, but we really just want to keep it to one game at a time," Theret said. "That's what's been our mind-set all year, and we don't want to change it. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves."