MINNEAPOLIS — Two early touchdowns for Illinois on Saturday at Minnesota were a rarity. Another strong defensive performance was not.
The Illini might have come up just short of the first Big Ten road shutout for the program since 1965, but the defense played its best game of the season in 14-6 win.
Illinois bookended the game with takeaways. A Tarique Barnes interception set up the first score of the game. A Kerby Joseph interception on Minnesota’s final drive sealed the win. In between, the Illini harassed Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan and came up with a pair of key fourth down stops.
HOW ABOUT THAT?
Hot off the press: #Illini deliver another road upset pic.twitter.com/7xRVZtdAXl
— The News-Gazette (@news_gazette) November 6, 2021
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Minnesota just got Illinois’ lead to 14-6. The good news for the Gophers? They finally scored. The bad news? It took them nearly 5 minutes to go 86 yards on 13 plays. They ran hurry up as much as possible, but the margins are slim without a stop.
That’s good news for Illinois. Extend this upcoming drive even a little bit, and the door will be shut on Minnesota. Of course, the Illini had two opportunities already this quarter to put the Gophers away. Penalties early in drives set them back, and Minnesota’s hopes were kept alive. Now would be the time to not go three-and-out if you were Illinois.
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We’ve now gone 29 minutes, 55 seconds without either Illinois or Minnesota scoring. Not even a field goal (the Gophers missed one at the end of the first half).
Tony Petersen has the reins pulled pretty tight on the Illini offense with a two-score lead, and the Illini defense might make that hold up. The last Minnesota drive took up a significant portion of the third quarter. It ended with Illinois getting a stop on fourth-and-6. Not just a normal stop either. Owen Carney sacked Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan and then rowed the boat.
We’ll see what the next 15 minutes bring.
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The Minnesota fans just boo’d their team off the field at the end of the first half. A two-touchdown deficit to Illinois will do that.
Not that the Illini did much to build off what was incredible momentum through the first quarter and into the second. Basically nothing, actually. Illinois isn’t running quite as effectively and is down to 4.6 yards per carry, while also essentially abandoning the passing game in the second quarter.
So today’s game has basically devolved into an Aussie punter battle between Illinois’ Blake Hayes and Minnesota’s Mark Crawford. The Gophers have had the field position edge with Crawford winning said battle, but they haven’t been able to take advantage.
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Turns out you can throw when you have what amounts to nine blockers on the field. Illinois finished off its second offensive possession of the game with a 15-yard play action pass for a touchdown between Brandon Peters and Tip Reiman.
Play action worked, of course, because the Illini are averaging 6.2 yards per carry with their run game. It’s been an interesting combination of traditional sets, the Barge and even some Wild One looks with Isaiah Williams running read option.
The result has been arguably the best two drives of the season for Illinois. There’s obviously some recency bias involved, but the Illini have never been this productive offensively this early in a game this season.
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Illinois went nine straight games to start the season without scoring a first quarter touchdown. One successful drive following a Minnesota turnover later, and the Illini have more than doubled their first quarter scoring effort in the 10th game of the season. Not hard when those first quarter points up until Isaiah Williams’ 2-yard touchdown run were a Kerby Joseph safety and a James McCourt field goal.
The Illini basically had to score on this drive, though. To not, after Tarique Barnes intercepted Tanner Morgan at midfield, would have been a fairly significant blown opportunity. Not that Illinois hasn’t taken advantage of similar chances. But to win on the road against Big Ten West-leading Minnesota will require turning takeaways into points whenever possible.
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No real surprises on the Illinois travel roster other than the fact wide receiver Brian Hightower didn’t make the trip to Minneapolis. It’s another chapter in the Hightower saga this season, which saw one of last year’s top receivers dealing with a shoulder injury to start the year and then suffer another soft tissue injury once his shoulder was cleared.
Even if Hightower would have made the trip, it’s not a guarantee he would have played. Illinois’ top three receivers have been Isaiah Williams, Casey Washington and Donny Navarro, with Deuce Spann, Carlos Sandy and Pat Bryant next on the depth chart. A few snaps for Miles Scott rounds out what’s been the rotation.
Other notables …
– Illinois traveled just three quarterbacks in Brandon Peters, Ryan Johnson and Matt Robinson. Should be enough, and if for some reason it isn’t, Williams and Spann could fill in in a pinch.
– True freshmen to make the trip include Bryant and Scott, running back Josh McCray, defensive backs DD Snyder II, Prince Green and Tyler Strain, fullback Kennena Odeluga and offensive linemen Josh Kreutz and Zachary Barlev.
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Illinois basically has to keep Minnesota out of the red zone. The alternative is not ideal given how efficient the Gophers’ offense has been from 20 yards and in this season.
Minnesota has converted 92.9 percent of its red zone opportunities this season, which ties the Gophers for 11th nationally with Alabama. Washington is the national leader having converted 100 percent (all 24) of its red zone chances.
On the flip side, the Illini are tied for 67th in red zone defense, allowing their opponents to convert 83.3 percent of their scoring chances inside the 20. Georgia, of course, leads the nation, allowing opponents just a 57.1 percent red zone conversion rate.
The breakdown of Minnesota’s red zone opportunities includes 26 scores on 28 chances, including 16 rushing touchdowns, four passing touchdowns and six field goals.
Illini defensive coordinator Ryan Walters had the breakdown of the Gophers’ offense: “Probably the biggest offensive line we’ll see. They work really well together. Not overly complicated with what they’re doing, but they do it really, really well. Quarterback (Tanner Morgan) is very accurate, makes great decisions on time. Receivers run crisp routes, always on the same page. They catch the ball really well.
“Obviously, their running backs have dealt with some adversity from an injury perspective, but they’ve got a lot of capable guys. To be honest, with how good they’re playing up front, it don’t really matter who you put back there. Our challenge for us is going to be at the line of scrimmage, obviously. We’ve got to do a good job of setting the edge and containing the ball and keeping it in front of us in order to give us a chance to get in more third-and-favorable down and distances to get off the field.”
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Beyond the players ruled out for the season, Illinois is fairly healthy headed into today’s game. Of course, that’s hardly been the case this season. Injuries, both the season-ending and lingering kind, have popped up consistently throughout the season.
That’s a new experience for Illinois coach Bret Bielema.
“I get it, it’s Big Ten play, but I don’t know if I’ve ever in my entire 13 years as a head coach had this much fluctuation in my starters on offense, defense,” Bielema said. “By far the most I’ve ever lost for an entire season, but also just kind of week to week guys in and out of the lineup based on injuries. It’s been frustrating but it’s not an excuse. It’s just part of the reason you have to work your way through it and come up with the best plan to give us an opportunity to have success.”
The inconsistency in lineup has only created more difficulties for an Illinois offense that has struggled to score all season long. It’s why the Illini have tried so many different personnel groupings.
“The personnel groupings we started out with at the beginning of the year was kind of more of 11, and then the emergence of 12 came into it and now we’ve had some more 21,” Bielema said. As a refresher 11 personnel is three wide receivers, one tight end and one running, while 12 personnel includes two tight ends and 21 is a two-back look.
“We’ve had some larger groupings have success,” the Illini coach continued. “Settling in on who your best 11 players are and trying to maximize them (has been difficult). I think as a head coach I’ve always tried to drive the play calling towards your better players and put them in positions to have success.”
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Here’s how similar Illinois and Minnesota are when it comes to run game scheme. The Gophers started last week’s game against Northwestern with six offensive linemen. Not quite the Illini’s “Barge” look, but pretty close. And when you consider tackle Daniel Faalele is 6-foot-9 and 380 pounds, well, that’s almost a seventh up front.
Bret Bielema has noticed.
“The way they’ve been able to run the football has stayed pretty consistent, especially the last three games,” the Illinois coach said. “I give a lot of credit to the offensive mentality. It doesn’t matter who is back there. Their offensive line are big, physical guys who cover you up and move the football. They use their tight ends. They have a 12-jumbo package, which is really just one person away from a barge type of concept.
“Their quarterback really fits well with what they’ve done in the run game. He understands it, sees it, he’s a very accurate passer. They actually have another quarterback who comes in and does some wildcat stuff. Again, a key ingredient when you look at why do teams win and one of the key things that jumps out to me is they’re the only power five team to be in the top 15 of rush offense and rush defense. That says something to me. That’s not a very common trait. That’s something that jumps out pretty good.”
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Good morning from Minneapolis. Beat writer Scott Richey (that’s me) is all set up at Huntington Bank Stadium with kickoff between Illinois and Minnesota just two hours away.
It’s a beautiful day in Minnesota with the forecast calling for sunny skies and a temperature of 54 degrees at kickoff and sneaking into the low 60s into the afternoon.
Whether it turns out to be a good day for Illinois is to be determined. The Illini, unable to capitalize off the momentum of their last road win, enter today’s game following a disappointing home loss to Rutgers. The Illini are also a 14 1/2-point underdog on gameday, which is probably fair. Big Ten West-leading Minnesota might be on a four-game winning streak, but the Gophers aren’t exactly overwhelming their opponents (save for Northwestern last week).
Minnesota simply does two things and does them well. Three season-ending injuries to running backs hasn’t mattered, as the Gophers’ stout offensive line simply opens holes for the next 100-yard rusher in line. Minnesota had two of them last week. From the backs that started fourth and fifth on the depth chart to start the season.
The Gophers also stop the run. Nearly as well as Wisconsin does. If you remember that Homecoming game last month in Champaign, that doesn’t exactly bode well for Illinois. Unless Brandon Peters can build on what was his best game in nearly a calendar year. It’s basically a necessity.
It could be a tough day in Minneapolis for the Illini. Of course, that’s pretty much what everybody outside the Smith Center thought two weeks ago before Illinois won at Happy Valley.
Is that road upset repeatable? We’ll find out in a few hours.
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