MINNEAPOLIS -- David Cobb ran for 207 yards and two touchdowns and backup quarterback Chris Streveler ran for 161 yards and touchdown in his first career start on Saturday and Minnesota defeated San Jose State 24-7.

Minnesota's defense forced five turnovers to support an offense that played without starting quarterback Mitch Leidner, sidelined with a sprained knee and turf toe. The Gophers' offense was one-dimensional behind Streveler, who didn't complete a pass until midway through the fourth quarter and finished 1-for-7 for 7 yards.

The game was suspended early in the fourth and delayed just over an hour due to thunderstorms. When play resumed, Minnesota (3-1) drove 60 yards and Cobb burst through the line for a 16-yard touchdown run to put the game away.

Blake Jurich completed 14 of 29 passes for 161 yards for San Jose State (1-2), but threw two interceptions and fumbled twice in his third career start.

Two momentum swings in the final 30 seconds of the first half resulted in a late Minnesota touchdown and a 17-7 halftime lead for the Gophers. Cobb fumbled at the Spartans 1 and San Jose State recovered in the end zone with 29 seconds left. But two plays later, San Jose State quarterback Blake Jurich threw his second interception of the half, as Minnesota cornerback Eric Murray made a leaping pick on the sideline at the Spartans 22.

Given a second chance with 25 seconds left, Cobb rushed three times to get the ball down to the 1. With 4 seconds remaining and no timeouts left, the Gophers decided to run a play on third-and-goal from the 1. Streveler bounced over left tackle and into the end zone to put Minnesota up by 10 as the half expired.

Jurich also handed Minnesota its first three points when he threw his first pass of the game straight to Gophers safety Damarius Travis. The Spartans defense held and Minnesota had to settle for freshman Ryan Santoso's 38-yard field goal 2:29 into the game.

Minnesota had more success with its ground game on its second drive, marching 85 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. Cobb carried the ball eight times for 74 yards on the drive, capping it with a 9-yard touchdown run.

The Spartans bounced back quickly with their only scoring drive of the day. Jurich hit Tim Crawley over the middle for a 46-yard gain, and three plays later he connected with Tyler Winston on a bubble screen that Winston took 25 yards for a touchdown.

 

David Cobb, Minnesota Golden Gophers
Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
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