Once again Illinois defied the odds this weekend, knocking off another ranked Big Ten foe on the road. This time, the Illini marched into the Twin Cities and took down the No. 20 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers 14-6.

Throughout the hour, the Illinois defense totaled six sacks, nine tackles for losses and two interceptions. These eye-popping numbers were even more impressive when you figure out Minnesota had allowed only nine sacks in the previous eight games of the season.

The Golden Gophers have been known for their outstanding run game and offensive line during the season. They came into the game averaging more than 220 rushing yards per game, however on Saturday, Illinois stifled all of Minnesota’s offensive momentum. 

Minnesota’s rushing attack only put up 89 yards, and their quarterback Tanner Morgan had a mediocre showing. Morgan went 15-28 with two interceptions and zero touchdowns.

Head coach Bret Bielema gave much of the credit to his defensive coaching staff, who were five minutes away from the first Illinois Big Ten shutout in 20 years. First-year defensive coordinator Ryan Walters assumed the bulk of the praise, as he has been relentlessly working to improve the squad throughout this season

“Ryan (Walters) has two critical things: He’s extremely intelligent and he has a great presence,” Bielema said. “Our players feed off of his energy and what I love about Ryan is that he’s the first one to give credit to the other coaches. I think there are a lot of positives going for us in the (defensive) room.”

At the end of the first half, Illinois were up 14-0 off the back of a rushing touchdown from Isaiah Williams and a pass from Brandon Peters that found Tip Reiman in the end zone. This was the first time Illinois had held an opponent scoreless in the first half since the 2019 match against Purdue.

Any successful defensive scheme in college football always has several upperclassmen involved, and one of these upperclassmen who has stepped up is defensive back Kerby Joseph. The junior snagged his fourth interception of the year on Saturday, placing him tied for third throughout the country in interceptions. 

Under Bielema, Illinois are attempting to establish themselves as a Big Ten team with a solid running game and a tough defense. Although this hasn’t necessarily been the case all year, it certainly was against Minnesota.

“The key to success is maximizing what you do well and minimizing what you don’t,” Bielema said. “Ryan (Walters) in particular took an invitatory after those first couple games and thought what are doing well, let’s capitalize on that.”

Illinois have some key defensive players out with injuries, such as linebacker Jake Hansen. Bielema praised the certain members of the squad’s ability to step up and make big plays with the starters out of the lineup.

“In theory, two of our inside linebackers who would be All Big-Ten type players are down for the season,” Bielema said. “And we have players such as Tarique (Barnes) and Khalan (Tolsen) coming in and just playing at an extremely high level. I couldn’t be more impressed.”

Luckily for Illinois and their defense, they’ll be back on the road next weekend against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Hopefully, Walters can help the Illini muster up another performance for the ages.

@WillPayne33

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