Gopher Football
Illinois dominates the first half
The game started off with Illinois taking the opening kickoff and driving down the field with ease, going 80 yards in 10 plays over 5:19. After trading punts and turnovers, Adam Weber threw an ill-advised pass to Jon Hoese, which was easily picked off and returned for a TD by Terry Hawthorne to give Illinois a 14-0 lead. The Gophers finally got on the board mid-way through the second quarter. The key sequence occurred when Nick Tow-Arnett caught a 20 yard pass down the middle, which was followed by a pass interference call in the end zone against Illinois. The Gophers then executed what was perhaps their best running play of the season, a 5-yard Kevin Whaley run where he had several blockers to spare leading the way.
This score pulled the Gophers within 14-7, but the rest of the quarter would not go well. Eric Ellestad had his first of two kickoffs go out of bounds, giving Illinois great field position at their own 40 yard line. Illinois was unable to take advantage, and after the Illini punted the Gophers took over at their own 20. On the first play, Da’Jon McKnight was called for an illegal block, pushing the Gophers back to their 10. Then Weber was sacked for an 8-yard loss back at the Gophers 2. After an incomplete pass, the Gophers had to punt again. Illinois took over at the Gophers 44, and on the first play Arrelious Benn hauled in a 31-yard completion, which was followed by a personal foul against Kim Royston, pushing the ball to the Gophers 6 yard line. Illinois ran three straight times, getting a TD and taking a 21-7 lead.
After the Gophers went three-and-out, Illinois took the ball on the Gophers 39 with 3:51 remaining in the half. Illinois had a 3rd and 8, and then committed a false start, making it 3rd and 13. Illinois was able to convert though (as they did on several third and longs on the day), extending their drive. Two plays later Illinois found themselves with a 3rd and 12, and again had a false start to make it 3rd and 17, but again they converted. Illinois would go on to score on a 1-yard TD run with :01 left in the first half to take a 28-7 halftime lead.
Questionable game plan on offense?
Everything was out of sync for the Gophers in the first half: Offense, defense, special teams, coaching. In hindsight it’s easy to say this, but I have to say I was disappointed with the Gophers game plan to open this game. It seemed like the coaching staff was so happy with the results from last week against Michigan State, they came out this week and tried to do exactly the same thing. The problem is Illinois was ready for it. They were defending our WRs and were not biting on the play action fakes. When we did have guys open, Adam Weber was just so out of sync he would miss them badly.
What I wished would have happened is for the Gophers to come out and try and establish the run. Seeing as how Illinois had the worst rushing defense in the Big Ten (in conference games), I don’t think that would have been a bad idea. Instead the Gophers came into this game wanting to throw the football, and that’s what they did ““ without success ““ for the majority of the first half. For the first half the Gophers had just 7 yards rushing, and Adam Weber was just 5-17 through the air. The Gophers made some nice adjustments ““ going more with the run ““ and moved the ball better in the second half, but it turned out to be too little too late.
Weber takes a step back in first half
Weber took a step back in this game, looking more like the QB from Penn State and Ohio State rather than the QB that had a career-best game against Michigan State last week. I don’t know if I can pin this on Weber 100% though, as I thought the play calling in the first half did not really allow him to get into a good rhythm. Whatever the reason, Weber was missing many receivers badly, and threw a terrible interception that resulted in an easy TD for the Illini.
In the second half Weber was better, probably due to an adjustment in the game plan that allowed him to get more comfortable. There was more emphasis on the run and short passes, which looked like helped Weber’s confidence. Then as the second half wore on Weber started hitting on a couple of the longer pass plays that he missed in the first half. On the game Weber finished just 14/31 for 221 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. What hurt even more is that Weber took 8 sacks for 64 yards.
The play that hurt
The Gophers trailed 28-7 at halftime, but the Gophers got the ball to open the second half. On that possession, they put together a great drive ““ mixing the run with short passes ““ and ultimately ended up with a first-and-goal from the Illinois 1 yard line. On first down the Gophers ran for no gain. It’s at this point that the coaches got a little too cute. Rather than follow their motto of “œPound the Rock”, a play action fake was called. Unfortunately for the Gophers, as soon as Weber looked up he had 2 Illinois players in his face and was sacked for a 9-yard loss. (Why was a pass called on second and goal from the one yard line? Probably because last week Illinois shut the door on Michigan four straight times from the same spot on the field.) So instead of possibly 3 more shots from the goal line, the Gophers were forced into a passing situation on third down ““ which they missed ““ and had to settle for a field goal. These missed points could have been the difference in the game.
Offense picks it up again
After a nice Illinois drive ended in a missed 45-yard FG, the Gopher offense put together another good drive. The Gophers again used a mix of runs and short passes (and an Illinois personal foul) to advance the ball to the Illini 20. From here Adam Weber was sacked two straight times, pushing the Gophers back to a 3rd and 24 from Illinois 34. It was here that Weber had his best pass of the day, threading the needle to Jeff Tow-Arnett in the seam for a 24-yard completion, good for a first down. The Gophers scored a TD on the next play on a 10-yard reception by Jon Hoese.
After Illinois went three and out, the Gophers took the ball again and scored their third straight TD. The drive was highlighted by back-to-back 17 and 21 yard receptions by Brandon Green, and then Jon Hoese’s three straight runs to pound it into the endzone. The Gophers converted the two point conversion on a brilliant reception in the corner of the end zone by Da’Jon McKnight to pull within 28-25.
The play that hurt, part II
Just when the Gophers didn’t need it, Eric Ellestad put his second kickoff of the day out of bounds. This gave Illinois the ball at the Gophers 40. On a third and four, a missed tackle by Traye Simmons allowed Eddie McGee to scamper for 42 yards to the Gophers 12 yard line. Illinois would score on 3rd and goal on an 4-yard Arrelious Benn TD reception, putting Illinois up 35-25. Just when it looked like the Gophers were out, Ben Kuznia scored off a blocked punt by Keanon Cooper to pull the Gophers within 35-32. But after an onsides kick went out of bounds, Illinois was able to make 2 first downs to run the clock out.
Penalties were better, but still too many mistakes
One of the frustrations of this season is that it seems like the Gophers have yet to play a game where there have not been multiple mistakes. Last week it was the 17 penalties, and even though the Gophers only had 3 accepted penalties for 22 yards in this game, there still were many mistakes made. Weber threw the INT for a TD. MarQueis Gray fumbled the ball away on his first run. Eric Ellestad shanked two kickoffs out of bounds. Blake Haudan shanked a punt. Traye Simmons and Kim Royston dropped potential interceptions. After an official timeout, the Gophers came out with both Weber and Gray in the formation, but were forced to take a timeout because of apparent alignment issues (this timeout would have been nice to have at the end of the game). Then after the Gophers had pulled within 28-25, a missed Traye Simmons tackle sprung Eddie McGee for a 42-yard gain that would help Illinois to score the game-winning touchdown.
Jon Hoese has a big day
The Gophers halftime adjustments meant a big opportunity for fullback Jon Hoese, and he certainly capitalized. Hoese had three receptions for 49 yards (and a TD), had 5 rushes for 17 yards (and another TD). When the Gophers were down 28-17 and had a 2nd and 5 from the Illinois 12, Hoese got the call three straight times, rushing for 3, 5 and 3 to score a TD. His improvement through the year has been impressive, and his performance Saturday will probably lead to an expanded role the remainder of this year and next.
Where to go from here
Illinois was only 1-6 against FBS teams coming into this game, so you can put this one in the “˜disappointing loss’ column. The Gophers failed to take care of business on their home field, and all the momentum that was created from last week’s win against Michigan State was sucked out of the air. The frustrating aspect is that for much of the game, was back to the “˜bad’ Gophers. Adam Weber missing open receivers. The defense giving up third and longs. Too many mistakes and missed opportunities. I would hate to see this loss cost the Gophers a bowl game, so let’s hope the Gophers can get the ship righted the next two weeks. The Gophers did a god job shaking off the Penn State and Ohio State losses and came out ready to play against Michigan State, so hopefully they can do the same this this weekend when South Dakota State comes to town.
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