College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Minnesota 28, Western Michigan 23
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 15, 2012
Where: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 63°
Head Official: John O'Neill
Attendance: 44921

Minnesota 28, Western Michigan 23: Max Shortell came off the bench to throw three touchdown passes, lifting host Minnesota past Western Michigan.

A.J. Barker had five receptions for 101 yards and three touchdowns for the Golden Gophers, who are off to their first 3-0 start since winning their first four games in 2008.

Shortell, forced into action due to an ankle injury to starter MarQueis Gray late in the first quarter, connected on a pair of scoring strikes to Barker - a 9-yard score and a 53 yarder - in the final 1:59 of the first half to give Minnesota a 21-10 lead at intermission.

Shortell also hit Drew Goodger with a 9-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter and finished 10 of 17 for 188 yards with one interception.

Dareyon Chance rushed for a career-high 144 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown for the Broncos (1-2), who fell to 0-2 against Big Ten opponents after losing to Illinois 24-7 in the season opener. Alex Carder threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jaime Wilson with 4:18 to play to bring Western Michigan within 28-23.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Gray was carted off the field with an apparent left ankle injury late in the second quarter. He connected on 3 of 6 passes for 29 yards and a TD and rushed for 57 yards on 11 carries before he was hurt. ... Chance's previous high for rushing was 58 yards on seven carries last week against Eastern Illinois. ... Barker, a walk-on, set Minnesota state records for touchdowns (50) and receiving yards (4,018) in high school.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Western Michigan   Minnesota
Darevon Chance Player Donnell Kirkwood
29 Attempts 23
144 Yards 110
5.0 Avg Yards 4.8
1 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Receiving
Western Michigan   Minnesota
Jaime Wilson Player A.J. Barker
10 Receptions 5
117 Yards 101
11.7 Avg Yards 20.2
1 Touchdowns 3
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Western Michigan 374 165 209 3 1 1 1.0 1
Minnesota 397 180 217 4 0 1 2.0 0