The University of Minnesota, North Dakota State University, and St. John's University football teams won big on Saturday. The CSB and SJU basketball and hockey teams also end the weekend on a high note. The St. Cloud State basketball teams notched their first wins of the season, the SCSU men's hockey team rallied to earn the weekend split, and the St. Cloud Norsemen and Granite City Lumberjacks both came out on top, while the SCSU women's hockey team was swept up by UMD. On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings will head to Buffalo, the Timberwolves will face off against Cleveland, the Wild will host San Jose, and the Gopher women's basketball team will look to build an early-season win streak.

RECAPS:

- The Gopher football team rolled over Northwestern 31-3 at home on Saturday. Athan Kaliakmanis completed seven of 13 for 64 yards and added four carries for 28 yards in place of the injured Tanner Morgan. Mohamed Ibrahim had 36 carries for 178 yards and three touchdowns. He now has 18 straight games with 100 yards or more and is just the seventh player in Big Ten history to score 50 career touchdowns. The Gophers improve to 7-3 and are now tied with Illinois for the lead in the Big 10 West. Minnesota has just two regular season matchups remaining, starting with a home game against Iowa on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. You can catch all the action on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The Bison toughed out a close 21-18 win over Southern Illinois on Saturday. Cam Miller completed 6 of 11 for 80 yards and one touchdown as well as six carries for 8 yards and a rushing touchdown. TaMerik Williams has 12 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown. James Kaczor led NDSU's defense with career-high tying 14 tackles and an onside kick return. The Bison improve to 8-2 and will close out the regular season on Saturday when they host UND in the annual Harvest Bowl. Pre-game coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The SCSU men's hockey team topped Western Michigan 4-1 Saturday to earn the series split. Jami Krannila led all scorers with two goals for St. Cloud. The Huskies improve to 9-3. The team will hit the road next weekend for a series against Colorado College.

- The SCSU men's basketball team notched their first win of the season with a 92-60 decision over Arkansas Monticello at the NSIC/MIAA/GAC Crossover. Joe Mutimer led all scorers with 21 points for St. Cloud. Matthew Willert added 14. The Huskies improve to 1-1 and will host MSU-Mankato in their home opener on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

- The SCSU women's basketball team tipped off their season with a 76-51 win over Valley City State. Jada Eggebrecht led St. Cloud with 16 points. The Huskies improve to 1-0 and will host Presentation College at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.

- The no. 5 SJU football team earned their fourth straight MIAC title in a 28-10 takedown of Bethel Saturday afternoon. The Johnnies scored a touchdown on their opening drive to take a lead they would never relinquish. Aaron Syverson completed 30 of 43 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. It was his fifth game of the season with 300 or more passing yards. The St. John's defense tallied five interceptions including two by Cayden Saxon and two by Cooper Yaggie. This marks a conference record 36th overall MIAC title for St. John's. The Johnnies improve to 9-1 overall and have punched their ticket to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

- The SJU hockey team completed the weekend sweep of Concordia College with a 5-1 win on the road. Nick Michel led St. John's with two goals on the day. Bailey Huber made 30 saves and allowed just one goal. The Johnnies improve to 4-1 and will host St. Scholastica on Friday at 7:00 p.m.

- The SJU basketball team secured their first win of the season with a 71-70 win over UW-Eau Claire in double overtime. Brock Voigt led all scorers with 30 points for the Blugolds. Kooper Vaughn led St. John's with 16 points. The Johnnies improve to 1-1 and will host Buena Vista at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

- The CSB hockey team also earned a weekend sweep of the Cobbers with a 4-0 shutout win at home on Saturday. The Bennies improve to 3-3 and will look to keep their streak alive when they visit St. Scholastica on Friday. Puck-drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

- The CSB basketball team started their season with a 57-52 win over the University of Minnesota-Morris. The Bennies outscored the Cougars in three of the four quarters. Sophia Jones led all scorers with 15 points for St. Ben's. Olivia Boily added 12, and Abigail Kuboushek finished with 10. The Bennies improve to 1-0 and will jump right into conference play with a 3:00 p.m. road matchup against St. Olaf on Saturday.

- The Lumberjacks dominated in a 9-1 win over Mason City on Saturday to secure the weekend sweep. Joe Greniuk and Jacob McPartland each netted two for Granite City. Xander Roberts made 14 saves and allowed just one goal. The Lumberjacks improve to 17-0-0-1 and will travel to Alexandria to face the Blizzard on Saturday at 7:10 p.m.

- The Norsemen scored early and often in the 7-2 win over Bismarck. The teams scored back and forth through the first period, tying things up 2-2, before St. Cloud netted five unanswered goals in the second and third frames. The Norsemen improve to 8-8-1-1 and hop back up into fifth place in the Central Division just ahead of the Bobcats.

- The SCSU women's hockey team fell 1-5 Saturday to get swept up by UMD. The Bulldogs outshot the Huskies 25-19. Grace Wolfe scored the lone goal for St. Cloud in the third period to avoid the shutout. The Huskies fall to 7-8 and will face Lindenwood on the road next weekend.

PREVIEWS:

- The Vikings (7-1) could face their toughest challenge of the season so far when they face the Bills (6-2) in Buffalo on Sunday. Minnesota is 8-6 overall against the Bills, but is 4-4 in Buffalo and has lost the last two contests. The Bills could be without starting quarterback Josh Allen who is listed as questionable with an elbow injury. If he is ruled out, former Viking Case Keenum will get the start. Buffalo will be without S Jordan Poyer and DE Greg Rousseau, while Minnesota has ruled CB Cam Dantzler and DL Dalvin Tomlinson both out this week. Other storylines to follow include the first matchup between the Vikings and WR Stefon Diggs since he was traded to the Bills in 2020, and RB Dalvin Cook facing his brother, rookie James Cook for the first time in his career. Pre-game coverage kicks off at 11:00 a.m.on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The Timberwolves (5-8) will face the Cavaliers (8-4) on the road. This is the first matchup between the two teams this season. Both Minnesota and Cleveland have lost their last three games. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m.

- The Wild (7-6-1) will try to keep the streak alive when they host the Sharks (4-9-3) on Sunday afternoon. The teams are facing off for the first time this season. Minnesota has won four of their last six games. Pre-game coverage starts at 4:45 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The Gopher women's basketball team (1-0) will return to Williams Arena to host Lehigh University (1-1) Sunday afternoon. The teams last met in 2019. Minnesota leads the series 2-0. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.

TOP 10: The best holiday TV specials of all time, ranked

LOOK: Here Are the 25 Best Thanksgiving movies of all time

More From 1390 Granite City Sports