Gopher Football
Another nice first drive
It seems like more often than not, the Gopher offense come out of the gate with a nice first drive. Today they were aided by a kick off out of bounds resulting in great field position. The Gophers wasted no time, going down the field just over 4 minutes to get the first score. Adam Weber was 5-5 on the drive, with three passes to Eric Decker and two to Jack Simmons. The Gophers touchdown came on a 3rd and 4 when Adam Weber made a great pass down the sidelines, and Eric Decker fought off Vontae Davis to make a pretty 25 yard TD catch along the sidelines.
Gambler, or not?
The national and media and TV announcers seem to think that Coach Brewster is a gambler, but to be honest I haven’t made up my mind. Brewster shocked everyone in the first half when he made a gusty call to fake a punt on 4th and 4 deep in Illinois territory. Great call as it turns out. But then at the end of second quarter, Minnesota got the ball on the Illinois 40 with 3 minutes left in the half. But the Gophers were content to rush the ball three straight times, including on 3rd and 6, and gave the ball back to Illinois with over a minute left in the half. It didn’t end up costing the Gophers because Illinois could not move the ball, but I was surprised that the Gophers didn’t show confidence in their offense to go 30 yards in 3 minutes for a possible field goal attempt.
The defense finally collapsed (pass defense that is)
For the most part the Gophers defense has done an outstanding job this year. But the one criticism is that they have been prone to suddenly giving up the big play. That continued in this game.
Through most of the first three quarters the Gophers D was pretty solid. But late in the third quarter things started to unravel. The Gophers had Illinois pinned back deep on a 3rd and 14. Somehow, the Gophers let Illinois best receiver, Benn, get wide open downfield for a 31 yard gain. Two plays later, the Gophers again let Benn get wide open “” this time running across the flat “” and this resulted in a 27 yard gain. The next play, the Gophers let A.J. Jenkins get wide open down the right side line, giving Illinois the ball inside the 10 yard line. HOWEVER, give the Gophers defense a TON of credit for the huge goal line stand in the following few plays. They made a great recovery, and held Illinois out of the end zone.
Unfortunately, a couple series later the defensive lapse reappeared, when the Gophers failed cover A.J. Jenkins right off the line of scrimmage. Juice Williams hit the wide-open Jenkins down the sideline for an easy 54 yard touchdown pass.
After Simoni Lawrence’s fumble return for a touchdown, the Gophers allowed two more huge pass plays, 44 and 35 yards, resulting in another Illinois touchdown. True freshman walk-on turned scholarship recipient Mike Rallis was on the wrong end of a couple of those plays.
Again, I want to stress than I am thrilled with the overall performance of the defense this year, but this is another thing the coaching staff can work on fixing over the bye week. Oh, and it will definitely help to have Marcus Sherels back in the mix.
Running game finally makes a big play
Off the top of my head, I can not recall the Gophers having a run of more than 10 yards through the first three quarters. It makes it tough for the offense to sustain many drives when you’re constantly digging out from 2nd and 9’s and 3rd & 7’s To the coaches credit, they definitely didn’t give up on the running game; they keep plugging away at it, and then all of the sudden, BANG! A 46-yard touchdown run by DeLeon Eskridge. It’s clear that the running game has a long way to go “” they definitely have to be more consistent “” but hopefully that big run will give this group some confidence.
It should also help to allow Weber to rest his knee for a couple weeks, so that he once again can become a threat in the running game. I don’t know the exact numbers, but since he hurt his knee against Indiana, I don’t remember more than about 5 designed runs called for Adam. This is the same guy, who last year, was getting 10-15 of these per game. While that is too many, I’d guess that ideally he will be getting somewhere in the 5-8 designed carries a game.
Decker disappears, then reappears
Eric Decker tore up Illinois in the first quarter, specifically on the first drive. For the quarter he had 5 catches for 59 yards. But after that Decker was quiet for the next couple quarters. Part of it was that the Gophers seemed to be more content to run the ball, but give Illinois some credit for figuring out how to cover him. Decker would not get his sixth reception until early the fourth quarter, when the would make catches on three straight plays. The first play after Decker’s three catches was the 46 yard TD by Eskridge, so perhaps Decker’s success loosened up the defense just a bit.
Gophers get their un-orthodox touchdown
I wrote in my preview that the Gophers might be able to score a touchdown or two via special teams or defense. Wallah. The Gophers got the big play late when Willie VanDeSteeg knocked the ball away from Juice Williams. The ball was scooped up and run into the end zone by Simoni Lawrence, giving the Gophers a 27-14 lead. As it turns out that was the game-winning score for the Gophers. Earlier, Garrett Brown came up big, forcing a fumble inside the Illinois 10 yard line. The Gophers recovered and scored a touchdown three plays later.
Illinois special teams struggles
While the Gophers did not get a special teams TD, Illinois gave them the next best thing, having several special teams gaffe’s that really aided the Gophers. The opening kickoff by Illinois went out of bounds, giving the Gophers great field position on the 40 yard line, and the short field helped the Gophers score a TD. On the ensuing kickoff, the Arrelious Benn mishandled the kick, getting out to only the 2 yard line. Illinois later put another kickoff out of bounds, had a missed field goal, and after choosing not to go for it on a 4th and 4 from the Minnesota 41, the Illini punter kicked the ball in the end zone, unable to pin the Gophers deep.
Player of the game: Willie VanDeSteeg
This game was arguably the best of Willie’s career. He did have 4 sacks against Michigan State in 2006, but this performance is going to be looked up more favorably because of the magnitude of this win. Willie had 3 sacks, one of them forcing a fumble which was returned by Simoni Lawrence for a touchdown. He also had the hit on Juice Williams that led to the interception with a minute left in the game. When Willie was not getting sacks, he was putting on pressure. It was an all around great job by #91, and with 6.5 sacks on the season, he could be heading for a first team All-Big Ten type of year if the Gophers continue to do well.
Click here to see the box score.
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