ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

I just got off the phone with Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber, who tied his career high with five touchdown passes in a 42-34 win against Michigan State. None of those five scores was as memorable -- or as odd -- as a 59-yarder to running back Duane Bennett, who grabbed the ball after it popped out of tight end Nick Tow Arnett's hands.

Here's Weber's take on the play.

"It was third-and-17, third-and-crazy, and we knew they were going to blitz us, we didn't know which side they were going to come from," Weber told me. "We drew something up on the sideline with our running back [Bennett], and I was looking for him for a little flair up the middle. Nick opened up in my vision, but he made an amazing catch and got knocked pretty hard.

"The ball's been going the other way so much this season. It was nice to finally see the ball bounce our way for once."

Did Weber think Tow-Arnett was down?

"I just saw him get clocked and I thought it was a fumble at first," Weber said. "And then I saw the ball pop up and then Duane was running down. It was one of those crazy things where you give yourself an opportunity, who knows what can happen?"

Minnesota gave wide receiver Eric Decker the game ball following the victory. A fluke foot injury last week ended Decker's college career, and he will undergo surgery on Wednesday.

"Everyone has so much respect for Eric on this team with everything that he's done," said Weber, Decker's roommate. "We wanted to do something special for him, and we figured the best way we could do that was to play a great game and give him the game ball. It was very emotional, very happy, a great moment that Eric was able to share with the whole team. We started chanting his name and we were able to give him the ball.

"It was just one of those special moments that you'll probably remember for the rest of your life."