Minnesota at Illinois
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the Minnesota Golden Gophers are set to go on the road to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in Big Ten action. The Golden Gophers fell 31-8 to Michigan State last week for their ninth consecutive loss on the season. The Fighting Illini also come in off a loss, as they lost 67-65 in a triple-overtime thriller at Michigan. The home team has struggled in this series, losing each of the last three games, including a 35-32 win by Illinois last season. The oddsmakers don’t seem to think that streak will continue this week, as the current odds have the Fighting Illini favored by 21.5-points over the Golden Gophers at home.
Minnesota (1-9, 0-6 Big Ten): The Golden Gophers are simply not a good football team this season, and with Iowa awaiting on the schedule in their next game, its very likely that this team will finish the season on an eleven game losing streak. Minnesota isn’t getting it done on either side of the football, as they come in giving up nearly 34 points a game while averaging just over 21 points a game.
The offense figured to at least be respectable coming into the season with nine starters returning, but Minnesota has averaged just 18 points a game in six conference games. The running has been non-existent all season and the passing game is struggling of late. Quarterback Adam Weber has thrown for just 329 yards in the last two games, after throwing for at least 200 in six of the first eight games.
Defensively the Golden Gophers have been torched on the ground, giving up just over 200 yards a game, and with an offense that can’t do much, it simply leads to a lot of bad losses. It isn’t a matter of if the Golden Gophers win this weekend, just how bad the loss will be.
Illinois (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten): The Fighting Illini took advantage of a terrible Michigan defense to put up a ridiculous 65 points last week, but that still wasn’t enough to get the win. Illinois has really been moving the ball with a lot of success lately, scoring at least 43 points in each of their last three games.
Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase had huge game last week against the Wolverines throwing for 211 yards with three touchdowns to no interceptions and also finished with 101 yards rushing and a touchdown on 21 carries. Scheelhaase has thrown 9 touchdowns without an interception in his last three games, and in each of the last two he has rushed for over 100 yards. Running back Mikel Leshour had his best game in weeks, rushing for 120 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries, and he figures to be a huge part of the offense this week against the struggling Minnesota run defense.
Defensively the Fighting Illini came into the game against Michigan having allowed 23 points in their last two games, so while they didn’t look good against the Wolverines, this defense is still solid and should be able to bounce back with a big performance this week.
Looking at the Odds: This is the final home game for the Fighting Illini this season, and I think they go out in style with a big time win over the Golden Gophers. Minnesota has nothing to play for except finishing up the season, while the Illini still need at least one more win to be bowl eligible. I look for Illinois to have another huge day offensively, and should have this one wrapped up by halftime. My final score prediction is Illinois 44, Minnesota 17.
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