On a day when Northwestern’s offense played maybe its best game of the season, the Wildcats’ defense was still the driving force behind their dominant 27-0 win against Minnesota at Ryan Field.

Saturday’s shutout was the first in-conference shutout for the NU program since the famed 1995 season.

The Cats (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) held the Golden Gophers (3-2, 0-1) to just 2.66 yards per play while nabbing an interception, a fumble recovery, and a TD.

The unit has allowed just three touchdowns in the opening five games of the season.

“Our confidence has grown each game,” senior defensive lineman Dean Lowry said. “We feel very confident we can play against anybody and any offensive scheme going forward.”

NU’s defensive line put substantial pressure on Minnesota’s quarterbacks, forcing hurried throws and tallying three sacks. Simultaneously, the Cats’ pass coverage was nearly impeccable, with senior cornerback Nick Vanhoose and junior cornerback Matthew Harris breaking up three passes each.

As a unit, the Cats held Minnesota starting quarterback Mitch Leidner to 10 completions on 21 attempts before later limiting backup Demry Croft to an even worse 5-11 stat line. Minnesota recorded only 99 yards through the air.

Protection against the run game was equally as strong, as the defensive unit restricted the Golden Gophers to just 74 yards on the ground on 33 carries, an average of 2.24 yards per touch.

Sophomore safety Godwin Igwebuike led the defensive charge with 9 tackles, a career high for the safety. Senior safety Traveon Henry, Lowry and Harris followed with five tackles apiece, with Lowry recording two tackles for loss.

Harris had a particularly standout game. In addition to his multiple tackles and pass deflections, he also nabbed the only interception of the game, beginning a drive that ended in a missed field goal attempt.

Perhaps the most important accomplishment of NU’s defensive unit was its effectiveness on third and fourth down conversion attempts.

NU only allowed the Golden Gophers 4-of-16 third-down conversions while remaining perfect on Minnesota’s four fourth-down attempts.

“If you include the third downs, they were four for 20. And that’s pretty dominant,” head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “I know that Hank (defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz) and the guys will be mad about the four they got.”

Shutting out their first Big Ten opponent in 20 years is a landmark accomplishment for this squad, but Igwebuike said it’s just another day at the office for the unit.

“As always, that’s what we expect as a defense,” Igewbuike said. “It was a big game, opening up in the Big Ten, so obviously preparation was huge for us this week.”

The camaraderie between the defensive players is evident on the field, as the team has even become somewhat twitter-famous for dancing celebrations, with freshman defensive back Stephen Reese drawing attention weeks after defensive backs coach Jerry Brown’s dance moves went viral.

Fitzgerald said that it’s this camaraderie, coupled with their willingness to have fun that has propelled the defensive unit through the season, including Saturday’s win.

“I think they’re playing together, playing for each other,” Fitzgerald said. “They have a great synergy and they’re playing with a lot of passion.”

Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story misstated freshman Stephen Reese’s position. He is a defensive back. Additionally, a previous version of this story misrepresented how long NU had gone without a shutout. The program’s last conference shutout was in 1995. The Daily regrets the errors.

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Twitter: @clairechansen