Until Saturday, Illinois still believed it could make it to a bowl game.

They still believed they could turn around an 0-4 conference record and prove it was better than last year’s 1-11 performance.

After Saturday, they only hope to recover some semblance of respect.

“It’s going to define them as individuals and it’s going to define us as a football team,” head coach Ron Turner said Saturday. “If we have the pride and the character that I believe we have, then we’ll play for that. We’ll come out fighting and we’ll win football games down the stretch. Whatever they decide to do, that’s what they’ll decide to do 20 years from now when stuff hits them in the face.”

Minnesota crushed Illinois 45-0 Saturday, moving the Gophers to 3-2 in the Big Ten and dealing Illinois its 13th consecutive conference loss.

It was the first time the Illini had been shut out since 1998.

The scoring started slowly, with a Gopher touchdown pass in the first quarter ruled incomplete. Minnesota’s Rhys Lloyd kicked a 35-yard field goal in the first and Marion Barber III rushed 44 yards to give the Gophers a legitimate touchdown in the second. But with 2:04 to play in the half, the Gophers were only up 10-0. Jamal Harris then intercepted a pass by Illini quarterback Chris Pazan, starting a Minnesota drive that would end in a touchdown and a 17 point lead at halftime.

But it wasn’t until place kicker Jason Reda narrowly missed a 28-yard field goal attempt five minutes into the third quarter that the Illini began to lose hope.

“That whole drive sequence really hurt us,” Turner said. “We were down 17-0 and we need something positive to happen.”

The Gophers scored three more touchdowns in the third and put the Illini away with another in the fourth.

Illinois continued to turn over the ball, to fail to convert on third downs and to give up any chance of getting on the board.

“I don’t think we wore down, I just think they made some big plays, and the big plays are what won the game for them,” said Illinois defensive back Morris Virgil. “They made a lot of plays in the passing game today, and I guess it kind of caught us by surprise.”

Sitting at the bottom of the conference, the Illini know they are headed down a familiar road. But they still believe there is time to change course.

“We’re going to learn a lot about ourselves in these next three weeks, about our character – are we going to fight or are we going to lay down?” Virgil said. “It’s going to tell a lot about our players, and it’s going to go a long way in life, too.”