PREGAME NOTES
Minnesota (6-1 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) at Illinois (3-4 overall, 0-3 Big Ten)
Champaign, Illinois – Memorial Stadium (60,670)
Saturday 11:00 p.m. CT – ESPNU
The hottest team in the Big Ten right now is the 6-1 Minnesota squad. Riding three straight conference victories and an impressive comeback win against Purdue, the streaking Gophers will head to Champaign to take on the Illini this Saturday. Despite the success, Jerry Kill and his team are preparing the way they’ve always prepared.
“We don’t talk about it much,” said Kill of the team’s newfound success. “We take one game at a time; I know it’s a cliché. But I’ve said every game you play is a game that’s important. It’s a championship game and you’ve got to take care of that game.”
Series History
In 66 games against Illinois, the Gophers have a record of 35-28-3. Despite the relatively close all-time series, Minnesota has found success against the Illini in recent years. The Gophers have won three straight games against Illinois and have won four consecutive contests when playing in Champaign. Minnesota’s last loss at Illinois took place all the way back in 2001.
Last Meeting
The two teams met in 2012 with the Gophers winning 17-3 on the road. The Gophers only passed for 78 yards on the game but were picked up by Donnell Kirkwood who rumbled for 152 yards rushing yards and two scores. Minnesota’s defense helped to seal the victory, only allowing 276 total yards and three points while forcing two fumbles. The win helped the Gophers gain bowl eligibility, their first under Jerry Kill.
Season to Date
Illinois sits last in the Big Ten West standings with a 0-3 conference record. While the Fighting Illini have managed three victories on the season, they came against dreadful opponents Youngstown State, Western Kentucky, and Texas State. Last week, Illinois traveled to Camp Randall where it’s porous run defense gave up 401 yards and five touchdowns on the ground to Melvin Gordon and Co. Despite two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the Illini lost 38-28.
Coaching Preview
Tim Beckman is in his third season as the head coach at Illinois. His tenure in Champaign has been a disappointment. The Illini have managed only a meager 9 wins over his time at Illinois, but what is more troubling is only one of those wins came within the Big Ten conference. It’s likely Beckman will add a few conference losses to his 1-18 record, Illinois will probably be the underdog in every game the remainder of the season.
Containing Two QBs
For the third time this year, the Gophers will have to prepare for two quarterback options from their opponent. With quarterback Wes Lunt out with injury, the Illini will look to the duo of Reilly O’Toole and Aaron Bailey to take snaps.
“You’re going to see two quarterbacks and two different styles of quarterbacks, (offensive coordinator) Bill Cubit has two weeks; it’s all going to be a challenge,” said Kill. “It’s hard to prepare for two guys.”
Each quarterback presents a different set of problems for the Gophers.
“Reilly’s competitive nature…he’s kind of a dual guy; he throws the ball and he can run it,” said Beckman of O’Toole. “He’s a great leader; our players look up to him. We know that he can lead the offense.”
Bailey, on the other hand, is more of a gifted runner, and a player that Kill and the Gophers recruited out of high school.
“Aaron is a running quarterback but he does have an extremely strong arm,” said Beckman. “It’s just making sure we get proper reads and doing those types of things when he’s throwing the football. We feel both of [them] can make us successful; our football team feels the same way.”
The Illini will use both throughout Saturday’s matchup, a tactic that Beckman has used in his previous coaching stops.
“I think both of them can win football games for us,” said Beckman. “That’s the decision we’ve got to make as a coaching staff. We feel that both can bring things to this football program and to our offense and can enable us to win a football game.”
Matchup to Watch
The story heading into Saturday’s game is how Illinois’ ghastly rushing defense will be able to handle Minnesota’s potent rushing attack. The Gophers are averaging 222.4 yards on the ground per game while the Illini are giving up a league-worst 271.1 rushing yards. Beckman knows that it will be the key to this matchup.
“That’s been one of our problems; we have not stopped the run,” said Beckman. “We’ve got to be able to do that. It’s about tackling. It’s about swarming to the football. It’s about doing the things that we need to do to be successful.”
With two weeks to prepare for David Cobb and the Minnesota offensive line, Kill knows that in order to throw off the rhythm of his offense, Illinois will utilize a multitude of different blitzing packages.
“They’re a football team that does a lot of blitzing,” said Kill. “And you’ve got to spend a lot of time over the next few days picking up all the blitzes that you’re going to see. So it’s going to be a week that we’ve got to have great preparation.”
Player to Watch
No. 2 V’Angelo Bentley – His incredible name isn’t the only reason to know him, Bentley is just one of two players in school history to record a kick return, punt return, and interception return for a touchdown during his career. The only other Illini player to accomplish that feat is the renowned halfback Harold “Red” Grange. While Bentley is certainly no Grange, he is very dangerous on special teams where he ranks second in the nation in combined kick and punt return yards with 660. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior cornerback will do his best to imitate the “Galloping Ghost” this Saturday when the team will be donning alternate “Gray Ghost” uniforms to honor the Fighting Illini legend.
Background
Location: Champaign, Illinois
Enrollment: 44,520
Conference: Big Ten
Nickname: Fighting Illini
Colors: Blue and Orange
Coach: Tim Beckman (3rd Season)