The No. 24 Illini returned home to Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Despite being a 6-2 team playing an unranked opponent, Illinois entered the game as the underdog.
After its road loss to Oregon last week, Illinois needed a bounce-back game. The Golden Gophers, while unranked, stepped into Memorial Stadium with three-straight conference wins, giving them a boost of confidence.
The Gophers’ momentum led them to their first-ranked and first win against the Illini since 2020. The game ended 25-17 in a close-fought battle. The Illini’s loss at home Saturday was the first one this season, having a previous five-game winning streak at home.
“Obviously extremely disappointed,” head coach Bret Bielema said after the loss. “But give credit to Minnesota, they did what they needed to win the game.”
Sloppy start
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Entering the game as the underdogs, Illinois acted like the underdogs. The first quarter was nothing short of disappointing and messy for the Illini.
Illinois’ offense was not at their best, with only three first downs in the first quarter. None of those first downs came in the same drive; they stalled several times.
Junior quarterback Luke Altmyer continued to be loose with the football in the first quarter. A strange play that resulted in Altmyer being picked up and dropped on his head ended with the football on the turf, and the Gophers fell on it.
On top of all the mistakes, sophomore kicker Ethan Moczulski added to the sloppiness. Following Illinois’ first score of the day, his kickoff landed out of bounds for the second straight week. Minnesota scored off the fumble and the bad kickoff, capitalizing on Illinois’ biggest mistakes.
Figuring it out in the second
After a slow start with the Illini trailing 3-0, they started to figure things out in the second quarter. Illinois came back to tie the game with the help of sophomore kicker David Olano’s 25-yard field goal.
With the game tied up, it was evident that either team could walk away victorious. The slow start evaporated quickly after two big plays from each team. The Gophers quickly reclaimed their lead with an easy scoring drive capped by a 29-yard touchdown run.
The Illini responded swiftly, matching the Gophers for their first touchdown. Junior running back Josh McCray evaded multiple defenders at the line of scrimmage and rumbled for 42 yards to tie the game at 10-10.
Slowing down again in the third
Once again, the Illini went scoreless for an entire quarter. The second-quarter momentum was gone, and the offense worsened for the third.
The only point scored in the third quarter was Minnesota’s third field goal, as they continued to add on behind a stellar day from sophomore running back Darius Taylor. He was difficult to stop, rushing for 131 yards and a touchdown while recording 58 yards through the air. His ground game played a big part in helping the Gophers control the possession battle.
Altmyer, pass incomplete
No quarterback is perfect at their job; Altmyer proved this in the last three weeks. Altymer had a 61% completion rate on his passes in an inconsistent effort Saturday, following 50% and 48.6% in the past two games.
While many see improvement throughout the season, Altmyer has been on a downhill trend for his completion rate. To make matters worse, Altmyer went 0-6 in the third quarter alone.
Injuries, injuries and more injuries
Injuries are not foreign to the Illini this season. Earlier this season, sophomore running back Kaden Feagin had his season cut short. Before the game, junior defensive backs Tyler Strain and Terrance Brooks were announced inactive, hurting the secondary depth.
In this game alone, both star wide receivers were helped to the sideline on separate plays. Seniors Zakhari Franklin and Pat Bryant were taken to the medical tent, but both shortly returned.
On the defensive side, junior linebacker Dylan Rosiek also left the game due to an injury. The defensive leader did not return.
Exciting fourth quarter
Toward the end of the game, Altymer seemed like a whole new quarterback. The junior had a clean pocket and was completing his passes nicely. He had a couple of good plays for Franklin and senior tight end Carson Goda. Eventually, he found Franklin, who scored the second Illini touchdown of the day.
Franklin’s touchdown gave Illinois their first lead. However, this lead did not last long. Moments after a call that took junior defensive back Miles Scott out for the remainder of the game, the Gophers scored their second touchdown. They failed to convert the two-point conversion, giving Illinois a chance.
“It was kind of a clown show,” Bielema said about the officiating involving Scott’s ejection. “There’s no consistency. If he targeted him, he targeted him, but that’s just ludicrous.”
With minutes left, the Illini had one more opportunity to score and reclaim their lead. Illinois ran four dysfunctional plays to turn it over on downs quickly and gave Minnesota the ball back deep in Illinois territory.
The Illinois defense stood firm and, using timeouts and the two-minute warning, got the ball back for their offense with 1:52 remaining and only an eight-point deficit. In their final chance, Illinois managed to march down the field. They got to the red zone, but Altmyer was stripped for the second time in the game. Minnesota secured the win.
“A fitting ending with a fumble on a three-man rush,” Bielema stated. “Just showed what wasn’t in the deck of cards.”
