Illinois vs. Minnesota Predictions
MY PREDICTION
MINNESOTA 28 ILLINOIS 17
Minnesota has struggled in Big Ten play with a 1-4 record, but a win on Saturday will make them bowl eligible. It looks like their magic number is 13. They've scored 13 points in each of their Big Ten losses. Not less than 13 points, but exactly 13 points in each Big Ten defeat. In their one win, against Purdue, they scored 44.
Defensively, they've allowed at least 21 points in each Big Ten game this season. Does this bode well for Illinois? I'd like to think so, but the Illini's inability to attack down the field is exactly what a struggling Gopher defense needs to get back on track. It's kinda sad that Reilly O'Toole threw more touchdowns in one game (five against Charleston Southern), than Nathan Scheelhaase has thrown all season (four). Nathan's completion percentage is nice to look at, but it doesn't mean anything if you can't move the ball and get in the endzone. Plus the running game needs to get more consistent. If it hasn't at this point, it's hard to imagine that changing before year's end.
It's Dad's day at Memorial Stadium and the weather is looking pretty nice for a November game. Here's hoping that increases the crowd a bit and gets some noise in the stadium. With the Illini playing the way they are, it's hard to imagine something like a pleasant forecast adding extra butts in the seats. It's a simple formula: Wins = Attendance. While Illinois won't have a season past game #12, they still have a chance to finish on a positive note, which is exactly what coach Beckman and company need at this point. Unfortunately, I just haven't seen anything recently that makes me think this team can play competitively for 60 minutes. When you play with your head hung down, it's hard to see what you're doing.
What do you guys think? Does Illinois snap the skid, or do the Gophers come up golden? Let me know with your thoughts and predictions below. Talk to you after Saturday.
I-L-L...
Minnesota quarterback Max Shortell has only ran for 43 yards this season, so it's save to say he's a "pocket gopher" Here he is with plenty of protection in the pocket.
Gollden Gophers 31
Illini 16
This is no fun for me picking and watching us lose every week ya know....but this is not the sympathy page, this is the "pick the winner" page...I sure would like to be wrong picking the opponent once though.....maybe Purdue next week? I can always hope I suppose...
I really want to be positive...I really do but history teaches us a lot of lessons both recent and the not so recent.
Recent: We are at the bottom in nearly every category in the conference and the 100th worst team in FBS. We have no vertical game, the defense is broken and we lost our best defensive player J. Brown for this game. Oh, and did I mention we have lost 11 Big Ten games in a row?
Not so recent:: With better teams we have LOST to Minnesota..AT HOME..the last two times and have lost 3 out of 4..to another so-called conference doormat in Minnesota. And Jerry Kill is a much better coach.
We might be more competetive but we lose another one and this one closer than most in a heartbreaker.
MN: 24
IL: 20
Golden Gophers 31 Frightening Illini 13 Wish I could be more positive but the Illini just don't have enough offense to beat any decent team. If we aren't going to be more competitve we should form a new conference and call it the "Have-nots". Put Kentucky, Colorado, Kansas, Duke, Tulane and New Mexico in with Illinois. We might then make the "Charmin" Bowl. Sad...Sad...Sad. Hope the basketball season is better!
Gophers 45
Illini 9
Illini score from the 1 yard line but it takes 4 plays to get them in. they miss the 2 point conversion.They also kick the obliquitory field goal.
Scheelhouse will complete a school record 42 passes for 99 yards. Biggest pass completion of the day will be a 9 yard pass to his favorite target josh ferguson.
Nathan will also run 30 times for a whopping 59 yards.
Coach Beckman will claim that Nathan is the best dual quarterback he has ever seen.
I so want to pick the Illini in this one, but I can't. I saw glimmers of hope last week, but we still lost by 30. At this point, I'll take a close game and the 'ole moral victory...
Rodents from Up North 31
Illini 10
Hopefully we'll start the basketball season better tonight...
With winds forecasted at 20-30 mph out of the south, Scheelhaase will struggle with accuracy. Minnesota turns to the ground game and finds the holes to keep the ball moving, control the clock and become bowl eligible while Illinois looks ahead to Purdue for their best chance to win a conference game this year.
Minnesota 31
Illinois 14
I usually have a paragraph or 2 to kinda throw my opinion out there about what needs to happen for illinois to be successful. But....i don't even look forward to watching illinois football right now. Is Minnesota beatable for Illinois? Most definitely! Illinois has a lot of individual talent (especially on D) but it just hasn't come together yet. If it decides to come together tomorrow....better late than never (Purdue is beatable next week, too.) Don't really see the button being pushed tomorrow, however.
Minnesota: 24
Illinois: 19
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