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The Minnesota football team (5-5, 3-4) nearly overcame a 28-7 halftime deficit, before falling to Illinois (3-6, 2-5) 35-32 in front of 50,805 fans at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Junior quarterback Adam Weber was 14-for-31 with a touchdown and an interception, including going 9-for-14 with a touchdown and 147 yards in the second half. Fullback Jon Hoese had both rushing and receiving touchdowns, as he collected three receptions for 49 yards and had a career-high five carries for 17 yards.
Sophomore receiver Brandon Green had a team-high 64 receiving yards on four catches, while Nick Tow-Arnett collected 63 receiving yards on four catches. Freshman running back Kevin Whaley ran for a touchdown, and had a team-best 41 yards on eight carries. DeLeon Eskridge also had 39 yards on nine carries.
Illinois outgained Minnesota 351 to 271 in the game, but the Golden Gophers collected 190 of those yards in the second half, and also limited the Illini to 145 yards after the break. Minnesota also was 8-for-15 on third-down conversions in the game.
On the defensive end, Cedric McKinley had a career-high seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss and a forced fumble. Kim Royston had a team-high, and tied a career-high, with 11 tackles. Simoni Lawrence also collected five tackles, including two tackles for a loss and a sack.
Minnesota entered the second half trailing 28-7, but mounted a furious comeback. The Golden Gophers opened the second half with a 12 play, 73-yard drive that ended with a 26-yard Eric Ellestad field goal to move the score to 28-10 with 8:57 left in the third quarter. The field goal ended a drive that took 6:03 with Hoese leading the Gophers with two catches for 39 yards and a rush for six yards.
With 13:49 left in the fourth quarter, Hoese caught a ten-yard touchdown pass, his first career touchdown reception, to bring the score to 28-17. The touchdown was set up by a 24-yard reception by Tow-Arnett that came on a 3rd-and-24 play from the Illini 34-yard line.
Another key play on the drive came when Minnesota faced a third-and-nine from its 41-yard line and converted the opportunity with a 13-yard reception by Gopher receiver Da’Jon McKnight. On the play, Illinois committed a personal foul that added 15 yards for the Gophers.
Hoese came back with another touchdown on Minnesota’s next offensive series. This time, the Gopher fullback ran up the middle for a three-yard touchdown run with 9:13 left in the fourth quarter. Minnesota went for the two-point conversion and McKnight caught a pass from Weber to cut Illinois lead to 28-25. Weber tossed the ball toward the left corner of the end zone and McKnight jumped over the Illinois defender. Overall, it was a nine-play drive that went 70 yards in 3:46.
Illinois answered back with a touchdown that came with 5:10 left in the fourth quarter. Redshirt freshman Jacob Charest found Arrelious Benn in the end zone for a four-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 35-25, capping a nine play drive that took 4:03 and went 60 yards. The big play on the drive came when Charest found Eddie McGee for a 42-yard strike on a third-and-four to bring the Illini to the Minnesota 12-yard line.
The Gophers came back with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter with their first blocked punt returned for a touchdown since Dominic Barber did it against Colorado State on Sept. 10, 2005. Illinois punter Anthony Santella was backed up to the Illini 32-yard line when freshman Keanon Cooper stormed in to block the punt, leaving the ball to roll all the way to the Illinois 3-yard line. Senior Ben Kuznia came in and swooped the ball up for his first touchdown of the season, cutting Illinois’ lead to 35-32.
Minnesota tried an onside kick, but failed to recover the ball as it rolled out of bounds. Illinois ran out the clock and pulled off a 35-32 victory over the Gophers, its second victory in a row.
In the first half, senior quarterback Juice Williams led the Illini down the field for the first score of the game on Illinois’ first possession, completing a perfect 5-for-5 for 53 yards. The final pass of the 10-play, 80-yard drive came when Williams found wide receiver Jeff Cumberland on a 22-yard corner route in the end zone with 9:41 remaining in the first quarter to put the Illini ahead 7-0.
On Minnesota’s second possession of the game, Illinois defensive tackle Josh Brent stripped the ball from redshirt freshman quarterback MarQueis Gray and recovered the fumble at Minnesota’s 33-yard line with 4:17 left in the quarter.
The Gophers were able to take the ball back nearly 30 seconds later when McKinley knocked the ball loose from Illinois' Williams at Minnesota’s 21-yard line. Minnesota captain Lee Campbell jumped on the ball with 3:50 left in the quarter.
Illinois extended its lead to 14-0 with 56 seconds left in the first quarter on the third consecutive drive with a turnover. Freshman defensive back Terry Hawthorne picked off an Adam Weber pass that was intended for Hoese and returned the ball 44 yards for the second Illini touchdown of the game.
Minnesota added a touchdown of its own to make the score 14-7 with 7:45 left in the second quarter when freshman Whaley ran a sweep to the left side for a five-yard touchdown, his second of the season. The touchdown capped a nine-play drive that went 63 yards in 5:10.
Two plays earlier, the Gophers looked to be in trouble when they faced a third-and-19, but overcame the challenge with a 20-yard reception by tight end Nick Tow-Arnett. On the following play, Illinois’ Hawthorne interfered with McKnight in the end zone, prompting a penalty that set up Whaley’s touchdown run.
The Illini added their third touchdown of the first half to move their lead to 21-7 with a two-yard Justin Green run with 3:51 left, capping a four play, 44-yard drive that took 1:29 to complete. The big play for Illinois came when Benn caught a 31-yard reception at Minnesota’s 13-yard line that ended with a penalty on helmet-to-helmet contact, moving the ball to the Gopher six-yardline.
With one second left in the first half, Illinois extended its lead with its second rushing touchdown of the game. Illini sophomore running back Jason Ford squeaked into the end zone with a one-yard rush to make it 28-7. The nine-play, 39-yard drive took 2:12 off the clock and started following a short 22-yard punt by the Gophers’ Blake Hauden.
Illinois' Williams left the game with an injury at the 3:50 mark of the first quarter. Charest, Illinois' backup quarterback, came in and went 10-for-19 for 185 yards and a touchdown. Benn had a touchdown reception, and collected three receptions for 41 yards. Cumberland also had two catches for 45 yards and had a touchdown reception. On the ground, Ford ran for 82 yards on 20 attempts and had a rushing touchdown.
Minnesota will be back in action when it plays host to South Dakota State (7-2) at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 11 a.m. That game can be seen live on the Big Ten Network.
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Courtesy: University of Minnesota
