"We got the victory, that's the big thing," Lion linebacker LaVar Arrington said. "We won and got back on track. It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it."

That Minnesota (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) still had a shot at a win in the third quarter was a credit to sloppy play by the Lions. While Penn State (4-1, 1-1) gained a lot of yardage throughout the first half, it continually shot itself in the foot with turnovers and missed opportunities.

Twice the Lions squandered golden scoring chances deep in Gopher territory. They twice failed to even pick up first downs after the defense, which recorded seven sacks, forced two Minnesota turnovers in Gopher territory. Penn State had to settle for two field goals instead of 14 points which could have buried the heavy underdogs.

"We had some problems," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "We could have had 27 points in the first half."

When the Lions were not shooting themselves in the foot, they managed to build a 16-0 lead behind three Travis Forney field goals and a 3-yard Aaron Harris touchdown run. Harris' touchdown was his first since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last year against the Gophers and was set up by an Eric Sturdifen blocked punt.

After being shut down for much of the first half, Minnesota's offense came out strong in the third quarter. Persby, making his first career start, moved the Gophers 44 yards in seven plays on their second possession and made it 16-10 with his strike to Leverson.

That, however, was as close as Minnesota would get. After Jones' touchdown reception, Penn State's defense put the clamps on the Gopher attack and picked off Persby twice. It then destroyed any hopes of a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback when David Macklin recovered a Billy Cockerham fumble after the Gophers had closed the gap to 27-17.

Despite the loss Gopher coach Glen Mason said his team took an important step.

"I'm not about moral victories, but our players played hard against a physical team," Mason said. "That's the best game we've played to date."