MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Carrying a nine-game Big Ten losing streak into Saturday's game against Indiana, it was starting to look like it would take a miracle for Minnesota to win a conference game.

A shut-down performance by the Gopher defense certainly comes close to qualifying as such.

The Gophers defense stymied Indiana's dynamic offensive threats and Eric Decker tied a school record with 13 catches for 190 yards to get coach Tim Brewster his first career Big Ten victory in Minnesota's 16-7 win.

"How 'bout that defense?" Brewster crowed. "Absolutely spectacular. It feels great to play a game where we leaned on our defense at Minnesota."

That hasn't happened much this century. The Gophers defense was one of the worst in the nation last year, but it held the Hoosiers without a first down for the first 28 minutes of the game on Saturday and allowed the fewest points in a conference game since a 45-0 win over Illinois on Oct. 23, 2004.

"They played the best they've ever played," quarterback Adam Weber said.

Indiana (2-3, 0-2) certainly helped matters with a sloppy performance. The Hoosiers committed three turnovers, only had 13 total yards until a 77-yard touchdown pass from Ben Chappell to Marcus Thigpen with 2:29 to go in the first half and committed costly penalties in crucial situations.

"We just killed ourselves," said Thigpen, who was held to 14 yards rushing after racking up 267 total yards last week against Michigan State. "It's just mental things. We've got to go out there and be more disciplined."

Willie VanDeSteeg had two sacks and Lee Campbell added an interception and a fumble recovery to help the Gophers (5-1, 1-1) snap that dubious streak.

"It means a lot," Campbell said. "Minnesota in its recent history hasn't had a lot of press for our defense. So we're trying to change that around and start getting the focus back on the Gophers."

Brewster went 0-8 in the Big Ten during his first season, then lost the conference opener at Ohio State last week. But his defense kept Kellen Lewis and Thigpen under wraps and his offense gave him just enough to escape with the win on Saturday.

Weber completed his first 12 passes and threw for 274 yards, and Decker withstood a vicious blow to the head in the fourth quarter, but the usually productive Gophers offense struggled to points on the board against Indiana's aggressive front seven.

Jammie Kirlew had 2½ sacks for the Hoosiers, who had four sacks in all and chased Weber all afternoon.

He was nearly knocked out of the game early in the second quarter on a sack by Kirlew, but after being helped off the field, Weber was able to walk off a knee injury. On the next series, he spun away from Kirlew and threw a 40-yard strike to Jeff Tow-Arnett to set up Shady Salamon's 1-yard scoring run that gave the Gophers a 7-0 lead.

But 13 of his 22 completions went to the gritty Decker, who wobbled off the field in the fourth quarter after being sandwiched over the middle by Indiana's Geno Johnson and Will Patterson, but somehow never missed a play.

With Indiana unable to move the ball, Decker served as a decoy for the rest of the game and Joel Monroe kicked three field goals to provide the difference.

"It feels great. Coming off a year like last year, this team's been hungry," Decker said. "It's shown on the field. The defense improved big-time. They're keeping us in ballgames."

Lewis finished 15-for-21 for 167 yards, but was sacked three times and lost a fumble. After Chappell's TD pass to Thigpen tied the score 7-7 going into halftime, the Hoosiers were shutout the rest of the way.

"It seemed we would sustain a drive, but then we would end up killing ourselves with a penalty or a sack," receiver Nick Polk said. "It was tough to keep things going."