Giant Gopher Holes - Minnesota Dominates Illinois 41-14

Minnesota dominates Illinois 41-14 to give the winless Illini its sixth straight loss dating back to Nov. 23, 2019.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The third week turned out to be exactly what Minnesota needed and a nightmare scenario for Illinois.

The Illini took its third straight loss in embarrassing fashion as Minnesota did practically whatever they wanted on offense in route to a 41-14 blowout result.

In a matchup of 0-2 programs, Saturday’s affair proved nothing more than Minnesota had a pair of poor games to start a nightmare 2020 season while those associated with Illinois might be coming to grips with the idea that their entire program is below average.

Minnesota (1-2), which started this season ranked in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll but suffered crushing losses to Michigan and Maryland, totaled 556 yards on a Illinois defense that was missing just one projected starter (cornerback Nate Hobbs) and allowed 6.7 per rush through three quarters of play.

Illinois, which had excitement and potential entering the 2020 campaign after ending the program’s five-year postseason drought but losing its last three games, has been down 94-24 after the first three quarters of play in each of its first three losses this season.

Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive lineman Boye Mafe (34) sacks Illinois Fighting Illini quarterback Coran Taylor (7) during the first half at Memorial Stadium :: Patrick Gorski/USA TODAY Sports

Coran Taylor, the third-year sophomore from Peoria, made his first start of the season and couldn’t find the same magic as his emergency relief of a week ago. After being a spark plug to a near second-half comeback last week vs. Purdue, Taylor finished just 6 of 17 for 106 yards through the air and 42 on the ground.

In the second half, Illinois offensive coordinator Rod Smith essentially turned the Illini offense into a single-wing, old-school running playbook as the only glimmer of hope Illinois (0-3) could find with the ball was in its rushing attack.

According to Yahoo! Sports reporter Pete Thamel, Minnesota was forced to rotate seven freshmen on defense and were without defensive coordinator Joe Rossi due to coronavirus protocols but none of those folks were missed Saturday. Minnesota forced Illinois into eight punts, including one in the third quarter after Illinois had the ball 1st-and-10 at the Gophers 10-yard-line, after coming into the contest allowing 47 points per game in its first two contests.

The 27-point loss for the Illini is the 10th loss for the program by 20 points or more under head coach Lovie Smith. Smith’s team, which is supposed to be his most veteran-based team in his five-year tenure at Illinois, committed 12 penalties for 120 yards.

Instead of having drastic problems with stopping the deep passes against Wisconsin and Purdue, Minnesota simply found success by stuffing its run game down the middle of an Illinois defense that came into Saturday only allowing 3.2 yards per carry. The combination of junior all-around back Mohamed Ibrahim and freshman speedster Treyson Potts left Memorial Stadium with five rushing scores and 325 combined yards as a depleted Minnesota offensive line dominated the Illini at the line-of-scrimmage.

Ibrahim had four rushing touchdowns for the second straight game and finished with 224 yards by himself (which tied a career-high he set against Georgia Tech in 2018 Quick Lane Bowl). Minnesota had 14 rushing plays of 10 yards or more after coming in to Saturday’s contest with just 13 total in two games. It’s the second straight year Minnesota has seen its running game see a resurgence against Illinois as the Gophers exploded for 332 rushing yards last season in a 40-17 in Minneapolis.

Illinois will take its six-game losing streak on the road as they face a Rutgers team that will play No. 2 Ohio State later this evening to avoid a back-to-back losses after a win at Michigan State on the opening weekend.