MINNEAPOLIS -- Ki-Jana Carter said the turf in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome complemented his style. He had over 51,000 witnesses who will back up that statement.

One of the most affected witnesses was Minnesota Coach Jim Wacker.

"Ki-Jana Carter is as fine a back as probably there is in the country. At least tonight he was," Wacker said. "If there is a better running back, I don't want to see him."

The redshirt junior tailback had already burned Wacker's defensive line on a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. A Terry Killens fumble recovery on the Gophers' ensuing possession gave the Lions the ball on their own 15-yard line. Carter's number was called twice. That was all he would need.

He drove the Lions five yards to the 20 on his first carry. Then he got the call again.

Running right, parallel to the line of scrimmage, Carter used some fancy footwork and a few sharp cuts to throw off the pursuing defenders. The offensive line provided all the blocking that was necessary.

"All I know is I got the ball and Phil Collins sealed off the defender," Carter said. "It was just me and another (defender) and I saw him and I just kicked it into another gear."

But getting through the hole was only the first part of the job. There was also the 80 yards of real estate separating Carter from the promised land, and the 11 maroon-and-gold-clad defenders chasing him.

In the end, only cornerback Rodney Heath would come close. A desperate dive inside the 10-yard line resulted in a facemask full of turf for the Gopher defender as Carter jumped over his flailing arms and into the end zone.

"I think that really set the tone of the game," Carter said.

Indeed it did. As the Gophers' defense began to focus on Carter, it was repeatedly burned by the potent passing of Kerry Collins. And when Carter again got the ball, the Minnesota defense learned something. After a few initial successes, it could not stop him.

Less than four minutes into the second quarter, with the Lions already leading 21-0, a Gopher punt gave the Lions the ball on their own 38-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Carter took the ball, sprinted through a hole on the right side and rambled 62 yards to the end zone for his third score of the night.

As he had done twice previously in the evening, Carter celebrated his score by heading straight for an offensive lineman and congratulating him. Carter said he performs this ritual because the blockers rarely get any credit for opening the holes that Carter exploits so well.

"I always thank them, jump on them after I score," he said. "The holes were wide open. Anybody could have run through those holes. I was just fortunate being there at the right time and using my speed to outrun everybody."

In all, Carter would tie a career high with three touchdowns on 181 yards before the gun sounded. The gun to end the first half, that is. In the second half, he tacked on 29 more yards for a career-high of 210 on 20 carries. His total was the most yardage gained by a Penn State rusher since Blair Thomas had 214 yards against Notre Dame in 1987.

And, more importantly, Carter may have sent a message to the rest of the Big Ten.