MINNEAPOLIS -- After an 0-2 start in the Big Ten, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have fought their way back into the race for the West Division title. Heres where it starts to get interesting.Rodney Smith ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Mitch Leidner ran for 74 yards and two more scores Saturday as Minnesota defeated Purdue 44-31.The Gophers (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) opened conference play with an overtime loss at Penn State and a home loss to Iowa. But theyve rattled off four straight wins over admittedly lesser foes -- Maryland, Rutgers, Illinois and Purdue, who have combined for five conference victories this season.Now the schedule gets tougher, with road games at Nebraska and Wisconsin sandwiched around a visit from Northwestern. Minnesota can win the Big Ten West if it wins out, which seemed and unlikely position for them to be in four weeks ago.After our first two conference games nobody gave us a chance ... to be in here, Gophers coach Tracy Claeys said. They kind of said the season was over. We just kept battling one game at a time and we fought our way back into this thing.Smith and Leidner put the points on the board on Saturday, but the Gophers resurgence in the past month and against Purdue was due in large part to its defensive effort. Trailing 28-23 at halftime, Minnesota forced three second-half turnovers, and the offense turned each of them into touchdowns as the Gophers outscored the Boilermakers 21-3 in the second half.We cant keep beating ourselves like that. Its frustrating, said Purdue quarterback David Blough, who threw four touchdown passes in the first half but was held in check after the break. They gave us every single coverage in America in the second half, they kept throwing wrenches in (our offense).Purdue (3-6, 1-5) again was competitive but continued to be plagued by second-half woes in its third game since head coach Darrell Hazell was fired. The Boilermakers have been outscored 83-10 in the second half in their last three games.It puts tears in my eyes not to be able to get them to a point they can finish, Purdue interim coach Gerad Parker said. Thought it was a chance for us, got into the third quarter and had a chance to win the game. We got to do that and relay to them its not okay to finish short and just be close.As Purdue tries to regroup, Minnesota gets ready for the most important stretch of its season, beginning with a game Saturday night at Nebraska. That leaves little time to celebrate its recent success.It feels good, but we have bigger goals, Smith said. This week is a big week coming up for us and we know that.STREAKINGPurdue receivers racked up more than 100 yards after the catch in the first half thanks to two long touchdowns off short passes. In the first quarter, Cameron Posey caught a ball one step ahead of Minnesota safety Damarius Travis and ran the last 60 yards untouched for an 89-yard touchdown. De Yancey later shook off a tackle and ran the last 45 yards of a 60-yard touchdown playYou never know until you get into the games how youre going to match up, Claeys said. Speeds hard to tell on video -- it really is. So after those two big plays we went to more safety help on them.OFF TARGETMinnesota linebacker Nick Rallis was ejected after being called for targeting in the fourth quarter. Hell miss the first half of the Nebraska game as a result. Replays appeared to show that Rallis made a clean hit with his shoulder but the replay official confirmed the ejection.That was the sixth targeting call against the Gophers, and though Claeys admitted to frustration over the inconsistent way the rule has been interpreted and implemented, he knew better than to say anything about it after the game.I would add more but Christmas is coming up and I would much rather use my money on Christmas presents than send it to the Big Ten, he said.THE TAKEAWAYPurdue: Blough ended the day with 391 passing yards, the fifth time hes passed for 300 yards this year. . Yancey and Posey each topped 100 receiving yards with a touchdown for PurdueMinnesota: Smith topped the 100-yard mark for the fourth straight game and sixth time this season. . Gophers running back Shannon Brooks missed the game due to an unspecified injury. . Minnesota rushed for five touchdowns for the second straight game. . Sophomore Emmit Carpenter became the first Gopher in 19 years to kick two 50-yard field goals in a game. Carpenter converted from 52 and 53 yards in the first half. . Sophomore linebacker Blake Cashman, a walk-on filling in for two injured teammates, finished the game with two sacks.LAST WORDI know to you guys it seems like a theme: Purdue cant finish in the second half. But we were just as ready in the second half as we were in the first half. It was not anything about lack of effort. They just made more plays in the second half. -- Boilermakers linebacker Markus BaileyUP NEXTPurdue hosts Northwestern on Saturday afternoon.Minnesota travels to Nebraska for a Saturday night clash with the Cornhuskers. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Jersey . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. Ryan Dzingel Jersey ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. http://www.cheapsenatorsjerseyschina.com/tom-pyatt-jersey/ . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Womens Senators Jerseys .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Wholesale Senators Jerseys .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner.Michael Cheika believes Australia will have their work cut out for them against Ireland on Saturday, in what he views as the biggest game of the Wallabies’ November tour so far. After being whitewashed by England in June and suffering a disappointing Rugby Championship campaign, the Wallabies have found form this month with successive wins against Wales, Scotland and France.But Cheika feels his side will have to raise their performance levels against an Ireland team brimming with confidence after halting New Zealands record 18-match winning streak on November 5 and pushing them close again in Dublin over the weekend. We are resetting today and saying this is going to be the biggest game of the tour, without a doubt, Cheika told reporters. Highlights of Irelands Autumn International clash against the All Blacks in Dublin. Ive seen highlights [of Irelands games against the All Blacks], obviously. They look like they were good encounters. What I can glean from it all is the fact we got our work cut out for us as (Ireland) got closer to (New Zealand) in the two games then we did in the three games. Paul OConnell, Gordon DArcy and Sean Fitzpatrick analyse Irelands bruising loss to the All Blacks in Dublin.dddddddddddd Cheika left winger Dane Haylett-Petty, full back Israel Folau, flanker Michael Hooper and lock Sekope Kepu out of last weeks 23 for the win over France and allowed a handful of players to have a lighter training week to manage their workloads, but that wont be happening in Dublin this week.I wouldnt say they had a week off deluxe, Cheika said. They didnt have the feet up at the hotel relaxing. However many there was, only a handful, they had some time off and some time working and training. Sky Sports Black Friday sale Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price! If I asked Hoops to play, Im sure he wouldve been straight up there or if he was selected to play he certainly wouldnt have been saying Im tired.Its just a choice we made and theyll have to get themselves back into training with the team quick smart.They trained Thursday with the team last week, and back into the swing of it quick smart to get ready for this weekend. Quade Cooper is expected to be part of the match-day 23 for Australia against Ireland Cheika said he expected fly-half Quade Cooper to train fully this week, after he was a late withdrawal from the France Test with an ankle injury.Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton (hamstring) and centre Robbie Henshaw (concussion) have already been ruled out of Saturdays match at the Aviva Stadium.Full back Rob Kearney and back rower CJ Stander were also concussed and are doubtful for the game.Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price. Hurry, offer ends December 4! 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