Will the Ground Game Keep Rolling Against Minnesota?

The last time the Minnesota Golden Gophers gave up 100 yards rushing to two players in a game, it was Juice Williams and current Pittsburgh Steeler Rashard Mendenhall doing the damage. Last week, the Illini came within 3 yards of having 3 different players eclipse the century mark in the form of Williams, Jason Ford, and the surging Mikel Leshoure. If the Illini plan to keep the momentum going after the emotional win over Michigan, the ground attack is going to have to perform.

The Gophers' coaching staff has some connections to the Illini as head coach Tim Brewster played TE for Illinois and was a key player on the 1983 Big Ten Championship team that played in the Rose Bowl. Also, co-defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove was an assistant at Illinois for seven years in the 80's, coaching his current boss Brewster.

Sometimes one play can turn around an entire season. No, this team cannot still compete for a New Year's Day bowl, and the reality is that they will probably spend their second straight season at home during bowl season, but you just get a sense that the enormous weight these players have been carrying has been lessened substantially. The play, of course, was the 77 yard touchdown saving tackle from freshman Terry Hawthorne. The play was all about heart and hustle, and that says something about a kid who is probably having a little bit different of a season than expected. Hawthorne starred at East St. Louis high school last year and helped bring the Flyers a state championship with the help of fellow Illini Tommie Hopkins. Most thought that Hawthorne would be a member of what was touted as a top 10 receiving corps preseason by a number of publications. Instead, the freshman finds himself learning the nuances of the defensive side of the ball, and let's face it, the learning process for a defensive back takes longer than that for a receiver. But instead of giving up, the player that most thought was the best offensive prospect in the state last year is showing his true colors as a team player on the defense. Obviously the credit for this turnaround needs to be given to the rest of the defense as well which stopped Michigan four times from the one yard line, without which the run down by Hawthorne would have become a side note about good hustle.

The Illini will be much closer to full strength when they visit Minnesota as well. I don't think the Illini Nation realizes all of the guys we were missing when we beat the Wolverines twice in a row for the first time since Buddy Holly died. Number two wide receiver Jarred Fayson was on the bench with an injury along with AJ Jenkins. Starting tight end Michael Hoomanawanui and his back up Hubie Graham were also in street clothes. Zook had to go young when it came to his safety because of the absence of starter Donsay Hardeman. According to Zook during his address to the media on Tuesday though, all of these guys have a good chance of playing on Saturday.

My hope is that the trend continues from the last two meetings with Brewster coached Minnesota teams, and that trend is very offensive football... and I don't mean offensive like the first half of this season. In 2007, the future Rose Bowl squad recorded the third most yards in a game by an Illinois team with 655. Last year the game's outcome wasn't quite as good as in '07, but the offense was able to put up another 550 yards. Looking at the Big Ten stats, Illinois and Minnesota come into the game as the bottom two teams in the Big Ten when it comes to scoring points, but that isn't enough to convince me that there won't be a lot of points put up this weekend as the scoring defenses are ranked almost as bad.

There are a few guys on this team who hope that they can repeat big games from last year. Then-freshman AJ Jenkins caught three passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. I would say that 39 yards per catch and a 66% touchdown rate is the definition of productivity. Meanwhile, Rejus Benn was having a career day as well, but doing it with consistency--12 Catches for 181 yards. Lastly, Juice Williams had an enormous day, putting up over 500 yards of offense and breaking the Memorial Stadium record of single game production. These things all lead me to believe that the offense has a chance to keep the momentum going.

Something that I think was a big deal last week was the ball control by the Illini in the first quarter. The truth is that we only came away with seven points, but when you dominate the clock like we did (9:30), it is much easier to get into a rhythm later in the game. Playing catch-up isn't this team's strong point, and anything that you can do to get that ball rolling early is a plus.

The Golden Gophers will be without the most productive wide receiver in the conference for the rest of the season. Senior Eric Decker was pulling in a conference best 95 yards per game. Since the injury to the star hands man, quarterback Adam Weber has had to spread the ball around the field... and he did it very well last week in their big win over Michigan State. Weber went off for 400 plus yards and 5 touchdown passes. Something you might not have expected without his star running routes.

Win or lose this weekend, I think the bottom line is that we cannot get beaten badly. This needs to be a competitive game of football against a team most thought would be a win before the season started. Ron Zook no doubt picked a good game to win, but the truth is that the Illini aren't going to win the majority of the recruiting battles with Michigan. The teams Illinois really needs to be beating are the Purdues, the Minnesotas, and the Michigan States. These teams recruit against Illinois every year for guys, and it goes a long way to show some results.

You will have to wait until Saturday afternoon to ask me whether or not the final score mirrored a competitive football game, but the bottom line is that the fans are expecting results. If this game goes poorly, the victory over Michigan is going to be forgotten quickly, and the memory will be replaced with another loss to a team we should be beating at this stage in our program's progression.