Chase Brown rushed 33 times for 150 yards, and the Illinois defense delivered six sacks and two interceptions of Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan on the way to a 14-6 victory on Saturday.
Kerby Joseph picked off Morgan at the Illini 45-yard line with 38 seconds left to halt the too-little-too-late rally by the Gophers (6-3, 4-2), whose four-game winning streak that catapulted them into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West Division was stopped cold.
“It was awesome. We developed a lot of different schemes and a lot of different things during the week. Our guys do an amazing job, so to see it all come to fruition is not a surprise,” said tight end Trip Reiman, who caught his first career touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.
Morgan scored on a fourth-and-1 bootleg with 4:56 to go after going 7 for 8 for 68 yards on that drive to pull the Gophers within one score.
Brandon Peters attempted a season-low nine passes for the Illini (4-6, 3-4), but he was as sharp as he needed to be with seven completions for 80 yards and a score to help keep a bowl game in play.
The Illini finished the game with seven consecutive punts, except for a kneel-down at the end of each half, but Brown moved the chains with a 7-yard run off left tackle on third-and-4 near midfield around the 3-minute mark. Blake Hayes pooched his last punt to land it at the 2, leaving only 1:12 remaining and no timeouts for Morgan and the Gophers.
After a 38-yard strike to Dylan Wright, Morgan was taken down for an 11-yard sack by Isaiah Gay so hard the Illini linebacker hurt himself on the play.
The damage was already done by the Illinois defense, which frequently pressured Morgan and forced him out of the pocket to throw on the run when he wasn't sacked. The Gophers never found their usual rhythm, netting a season-low 89 rushing yards after racking up 634 yards on the ground over the previous two games. They crossed the 30-yard line without scoring three times, including a sack by Owen Carney Jr. on fourth-and-6 at the 22 in the third quarter.
Illini defensive coordinator Ryan Walters received plenty of postgame accolades from both sides.
“We stacked the line, so all the gaps were spaced out. It really helped us stop the run game,” defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton said.
Illinois played a flawless first quarter, matching Minnesota's per-game average allowance with 93 rushing yards. Seth Coleman provided the spark by tipping Morgan's third-down pass at the line, deflecting the ball toward fellow linebacker Tarique Barnes for an interception near midfield to thwart a promising opening possession for the Gophers.
“They did a great job with disguises, all kinds of different stuff, but I can’t let tipped balls happen,” said Morgan, who finished 15 for 28 for 180 yards.
Wide receiver Isaiah Williams scored on a 2-yard jet sweep to finish a strong response to the turnover. Then after forcing a three-and-out, the Illini cruised from their own 9 to reach the end zone again on the first play of the second quarter.
The Illini just sat on their two-touchdown lead after that, and their defense was so relentless they just got away with the play-it-safe game.
The Gophers had a fourth-and-1 run stopped for no gain at the Illinois 22. Later in the first half, Matthew Trickett pulled a 45-yard field goal wide left. Trickett missed a his extra-point try in the fourth quarter, too, as the Gophers fell to 1-18 under Fleck when trailing at halftime. Their only such win was last month at Purdue.(recap courtesy AP)
*Winning thoughts!
*Play of the game-’Seth Coleman provided the spark by tipping Morgan's third-down pass at the line, deflecting the ball toward fellow linebacker Tarique Barnes for an interception near midfield to thwart a promising opening possession for the Gophers’……Football game of momentum…..Illini coming off a disappointing loss last week at home vs. Rutgers, jump on them early, break their will, win going away but nope.....Tipped pass leads to an Illini interception.....Bielema's 'offense' takes advantage, score up 7-0……Illini with momentum, pep in their step, end up controlling the game, running out the clock WIN.
*Stat of the game-Minnesota on offense 4 of 16 on 3rd/4th down conversions.....16 attempts show that Illinois didn't give up many 'chunk' plays/ plays of 15 yards or more.….another example of the poor offensive Gopher game plan/execution….Walters and his staff clearly won the battle of X's and O's over Minnesota's offensive staff.....Illini didn't turn the ball over vs. Minnesota, always playing from ahead, controlling the game, running out the clock.
*’What are we doing out here?’-You watch Illinois on offense know when they get into the red zone….be prepared for a wheel route/play action/boot action pass to the tight end in the end zone….Illini did both first drive, Minnesota on ‘D’ not ready for either….again, coaching malpractice…not like Illinois is running a bunch of ‘exotics’ on offense a defensive staff has to study, figure out.
*Have written it before but a great way to 'judge' a defensive coordinator is how well his defense is in the red zone/attack pass protections with his blitzing/pressures.....Illini 'D' performance in the red zone this fall has kept them in the majority of games (forcing opponent’s offense to kick a field goal vs. scoring a touchdown in the red zone example).....Saturday over and over Minnesota QB had a free Illini running towards him when Illini coordinator Walters called his blitzes.....#24 Prather Hudson made his presence felt off the edge all game in his first extended time with the 'D'.....One constant weakness of Lovie Smith’s defense was being soft on the edges defensively…..this year Illinois ‘D’ much more disciplined/physical in their play on the edge vs. the run……Don't forget.....Illini defense playing majority of the season without the opening game starting linebackers Hansen/Hart.
*The old coaching cliche' 'The quarterback was going to throw that pass out of the huddle'...meaning....QB has one read and regardless is going to throw to his first read.....Walters defense on Saturday majority of time knew exactly where Gophers QB Morgan first read was....Gophers don't have a complicated passing scheme, one read, if not open go to check down/run....Illini defense rolled an extra defender to the primary receiver on passing downs/jammed the check down……forcing Morgan to 'think' about his next move that 'thinking' led to hesitation which gave Illini pass rush time to pressure, sack the Gophers QB....Illinois isn't running a complex coverage scheme…majority man coverage, single safety high, or cover 2 with some pre snap movement to disguise the underneath coverage…..Defense made the Gophers QB have to ‘think’ after the snap of the ball….a win for the Illini defense.
*Illini offensive MVP Saturday? Guard Jack Badovinc (#72)….been hard on the Illini guards but Saturday #72 held his own pass blocking, did a good job on the pull, staying off the ground....big improvement from earlier this season.
*Illinois defensive MVP's so far this year? Defensive tackle Roderick Perry …..durable/disruptive…..takes on 2 blockers every play.....played 90 percent of the snaps...great job of holding his ground, stuffing up the middle, ....stats will not be great but is having an All Big Ten type of season.
Sydney Brown safety/rover/robber-makes plays all over the field in both run support/pass coverage, another All Big Ten type of season from the junior. And of course the Illini defensive staff...way they have taken a group that the last few years have been for the most part an un-disciplined mess...turned them into a dependable/disciplined group on defense.