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Topic: Illinois (3-4, 4-6) at #20 Minnesota (4-2, 6-3) Post Game

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ELA

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Illinois (3-4, 4-6) at #20 Minnesota (4-2, 6-3) Post Game
« on: November 03, 2021, 10:46:39 AM »
Illinois Fighting Illini (2-4, 3-6) at #20 Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-1, 6-2)
NOON - Minneapolis, MN - espn2
A month ago I may have said these were the two hardest teams in the conference to figure out.  Now, Minnesota's results perhaps make as much sense as anybody, and they had one fluke loss.  Illinois remains perplexing.  The Illini go into Happy Valley, and absolute dominate the run game, on both sides of the ball, and upset the Nittany Lions.  Then they return home, face a Rutgers team coming off a loss to Northwestern.  Not just a loss, but the first time all year Northwestern's nation worst run defense held a team in check.  So naturally Illinois got more than doubled up on the ground, 230-107.  Now they have to face what has been the Big Ten's best run blocking line.  Common sense would say the Gophers are going to run at will.  Illinois sense says the opposite.  Minnesota returned the Big Ten's leading rusher from last year, lost him for the season to an injury, then lost their top two backups.  They are down to their 4th and 5th string backs from the opening depth chart, a pair of true freshmen, and they went out last week and combined for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns on 5.4 ypc.  Caveat for the already mentioned horrific Northwestern run defense.  The key has been the gelling of the offensive line with that ground game.  In standard downs, the Minnesota line ranks #15 nationally, #2 in the Big Ten, and are 11th nationally in preventing run plays for zero or negative yardage.  If the Gophers can win for 4 touchdowns, while Tanner Morgan only needs to complete 12 passes, that is ideal, although I think they would like to get Chris Autman-Bell more involved.  After finally appearing to break out with 15 receptions for 138 yards over the previous two games, Autman-Bell was held in check.  Minnesota doesn't need to pass the ball a ton, and may not need to at all this week, but with upcoming games against Iowa and Wisconsin to determine the division title, they need Autman-Bell's deep ball threat to keep those monster defenses from jamming up the box.
MINNESOTA 28, ILLINOIS 13

« Last Edit: November 07, 2021, 09:57:19 AM by ELA »
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Brutus Buckeye

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Re: Illinois (2-4, 3-6) at #20 Minnesota (4-1, 6-2) Game Week
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2021, 11:39:40 AM »
I have a feeling that Bert wins this one. 
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Benthere2

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Re: Illinois (2-4, 3-6) at #20 Minnesota (4-1, 6-2) Game Week
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2021, 10:32:03 PM »
Gophers need to take care of business and not get trapped
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Brutus Buckeye

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Re: Illinois (2-4, 3-6) at #20 Minnesota (4-1, 6-2) Game Week
« Reply #3 on: November 07, 2021, 12:12:30 AM »
Quote from: Brutus Buckeye on November 03, 2021, 11:39:40 AM
I have a feeling that Bert wins this one.
Alright, I was right about something for once. 
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1919, 20, 21, 28, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 42, 44
WWH: 1952, 54, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 67, 68, 70, 72, 74, 75
1979, 81, 82, 84, 87, 94, 98
2001, 02, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
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