MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ One week after getting benched for his miserable passing, Billy Cockerham threw for a career-high 218 yards, ran for career-best 156 and accounted for four touchdowns in Minnesota's 55-7 rout of Illinois State on Saturday.

Cockerham, replaced by backup Andy Persby last week after a 4-for-15 performance against Louisiana-Monroe, completed 18-of-22 against Illinois State. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.

Cockerham needed a big day to remain the starter heading into the Gophers' Big Ten opener at Northwestern in two weeks.

Cockerham darted 56 yards for a score on the Gophers' second play from scrimmage and Minnesota (3-0) never looked back, building a 34-0 halftime lead against the overmatched Redbirds (2-1), who hadn't played a Big Ten team since 1944.

On the series after Cockerham's 56-yard sprint, the longest run of his career, he hit seldom-used senior Derek Rackley for a 44-yard gain to the 2 and Thomas Hamner took it in from there for a 14-0 lead.

In between field goals of 29 and 43 yards by Dan Nystrom, Cockerham connected with Ron Johnson on a 3-yard TD and Antoine Henderson for a 29-yard score for a 34-0 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Cockerham faked a pitch and scored from 9 yards out. Then, Byron Evans scooted 54 yards, setting up Tellis Redmon's 1-yard plunge that made it 48-0.

Cockerham was done for the day after producing 374 yards of offense. His previous best rushing day was 65 against Arkansas State in last year's opener, and his best passing day came in this year's opener, when he threw for 212 yards against Ohio.

The Gophers' streak of 35 consecutive possessions in which they held opponents scoreless ended when Redbirds quarterback Kevin Glenn scored from 5 yards out in the third quarter.

Persby retaliated with a 28-yard scoring strike to Jermaine Mays that made it 55-7.

The Redbirds, a Division I-AA team that hasn't defeated a Division I school since Arkon in 1991, managed just 73 yards on seven first-half possessions.

The Gophers played without their best offensive player, center Ben Hamilton, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Monday, ending his 25-game starting streak. Fellow sophomore Akeem Akinwale got his first start in his place.