COLLEGE FOOTBALL : BIG TEN ROUNDUP : Northwestern Rallies to Defeat Minnesota

Darnell Autry carried 28 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns, including a 73-yard run in the fourth quarter as Northwestern rallied for a 27-17 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night at Minneapolis.

The victory guaranteed Northwestern, 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten, its best season since the 1971 team went 7-4, and it gave the Wildcats their best start since the 1962 team opened 6-0.

“This is very special to me,” said senior cornerback Chris Martin, who lost 24 games his first three seasons. “I’ve been here when we’ve been down, and to step up like this is a great feeling.”

Northwestern, which trailed, 14-3, in the second quarter, also stayed in first place in the Big Ten, a half-game ahead of Ohio State and Iowa. The Wildcats don’t play Ohio State this season, and their two toughest remaining games are at home, against Wisconsin next week and Penn State on Nov. 4.

The Wildcats, whose Rose Bowl championship after the 1948 season is the only bowl appearance in school history, need only one more victory to qualify for a bowl game.

“We’re not Ohio State and we’re not some other teams, but we ain’t bad,” Coach Gary Barnett said.

Minnesota (3-2, 1-1), which hasn’t been to a bowl since 1986, came into the game believing it might be as improved as Northwestern this season, and it played like it early.

The Golden Gophers became the first team this season to score a first-quarter touchdown against Northwestern, and they also capitalized on a blocked punt to take a 14-3 lead.

But the young Gophers quickly came apart, and the Wildcats were able to take advantage of the mistakes. Two fumbles led to 11 points, including Autry’s first touchdown as Northwestern tied it 14-14 at the half.

“We made stupid mental errors,” said Minnesota’s Cory Sauter, who completed 29 of 50 passes for 303 yards, all career highs. “That’s what kills you.”

No. 20 Penn State 26, Purdue 23--The Nittany Lions flirted with disaster all day before rallying to beat the Boilermakers at West Lafayette, Ind.

“We had enough mistakes to lose five games,” said Nittany Lion Coach Joe Paterno, who saw his team overcome five turnovers. “On the offensive side, we didn’t know what to do.”

But Penn State knew enough to throw the ball to Bobby Engram, who had career highs of nine receptions and 203 yards and set up the winning touchdown with two catches for 63 yards.

Mike Archie scored the winning touchdown on a 16-yard pass play with 2:34 left and Penn State’s defense came up with two crucial sacks on Purdue’s final possession.

The Nittany Lions (4-2, 1-2) were in danger of losing three consecutive games for the first time since 1988 until driving 80 yards in four plays for the winning score.

For Purdue (2-3-1, 0-2-1) the frustration continued. The Boilermakers have lost three games by a total of 11 points.

“You just have to make some plays when you have to make them in close games,” Purdue Coach Jim Colletto said. “The defense played phenomenal all day long.”

Michigan State 27, Illinois 21-- Scott Greene ran for four touchdowns and a two-point conversion as the Spartans beat the Illini at Champaign, Ill.

Greene, who leads the conference with 11 touchdowns, rushed 25 times for 79 yards. His three-yard run put Michigan State (3-2-1, 1-1-1) ahead to stay late in the third quarter, and he added a one-yard scoring run for a 27-14 lead in the fourth.

Illinois (3-3, 1-2) pulled close on Johnny Johnson’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Jason Dulick with 2:11 to play.