MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- With a chance to reclaim the Little Brown Jug from Michigan, Minnesota lost the handle.
No. 13 Minnesota surrendered 31 points in the fourth quarter, squandered a 21-point lead and blew its perfect season with a 38-35 Big Ten Conference loss to 19th-ranked Michigan, which engineered the biggest comeback in school history.
"This was a devastating loss," Minnesota running back Lawrence Maroney said. "We played well and just did not come out on top."
The 100th meeting between the schools was a wild one, with Minnesota opening a 28-7 lead late in the third quarter and Michigan - shut out in the first half - storming back behind John Navarre and Chris Perry.
Navarre threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Perry in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Less than a minute later, cornerback Jacob Stewart intercepted a pass from Asad Abdul-Khaliq and raced 34 yards for a score.
Abdul-Khaliq appeared to atone for his mistake by scampering 52 yards for a TD on 3rd-and-inches, giving the Golden Gophers (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) a 35-21 lead with 11:11 remaining.
But the Wolverines (5-2, 2-1) again struck quickly as Navarre hooked up with Braylon Edwards on a 53-yard scoring toss less than a minute later.
Perry's 10-yard TD run tied it with 5:48 left. He had 85 yards on 20 carries but did more damage as a receiver, catching 11 passes for 122 yards.
"In the second half, we really did not have an answer for Chris Perry catching passes out of the backfield," Mason said.
Michigan's defense held, and Navarre, who completed 33-of-47 passes for 353 yards, directed a 42-yard drive that was capped by a 33-yard field goal by Garrett Rivas with 47 seconds to go.
It was a disheartening loss for the Gophers, who were off to their best start since winning the national title in 1960 but had its dreams of another championship ended. They have not held the Little Brown Jug since 1986, when it last beat Michigan.
"Our team left everything on the field today," Abdul-Khaliq said. "We gave everything we had today, but we just were not able to close out the game."
The previous biggest comeback by the Wolverines came in the 1995 season opener, when they erased a 17-point deficit to defeat Virginia.
The Gophers lost despite rushing for a season-high 424 yards. Marion Barber III had 197 yards on 21 carries, Abdul-Khaliq added 106 on nine and Maroney 81 on nine.
"If you would have told me before the game that we would rush for 424 yards tonight, I would have told you that we won," Mason said. "That shows how little statistics mean." Barber had a 20-yard TD run that completed an 80-yard march with 6:14 left in the first quarter. Maroney's eight-yard scoot capped an 89-yard drive and made it 14-0 with 9:17 left in the second period.
Shut out in the first half for the first time since the 2001 Ohio State game, Michigan finally scored in unconventional fashion as Navarre handed off to receiver Steve Breaston, who threw back to Navarre for a 36-yard touchdown with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
But Maroney romped 38 yards for a score and Juston Isom's interception set up Thomas Tapeh's two-yard TD run that made it 28-7 late in the third quarter.
"Our offensive line did a great job tonight of giving us running lanes," Barber said. "I give them a lot of credit for creating opportunities for myself and the other running backs in the game tonight."
