Gophers beat Illinois 25-17 to win 4th straight, earn bowl eligibility

P.J. Fleck reacts after Gophers beat Illinois 25-17

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck speaks with reporters after a 25-17 win at Illinois on Saturday to improve to 6-3 on the season and earn bowl eligibility.

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota football team is 6-3 and has won four straight after a 25-17 win over Illinois on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium. They also guaranteed that their season will end at a bowl game.

It took everybody, from Dragan Kesich making four field goals to a big day from Darius Taylor and key turnovers by the defense.

What it means

The Gophers earned bowl eligibility for the sixth time in P.J. Fleck's eight seasons, and this year it comes with three regular season games still to play. Fleck got his first win over Bret Bielema, who had previously been 10-0 against Minnesota. It's also a win over a ranked team, the sixth for the Gophers under Fleck, and second this season. Illinois entered the game ranked No. 24 in the nation. USC was ranked No. 11 when the Gophers beat them at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Gophers players react to 25-17 win at Illinois

Gophers players Dragan Kesich, Max Brosmer, Darius Taylor, Danny Striggow and Anthony Smith react after a 25-17 win at Illinois to improve to 6-3 on the season and 4-2 in Big Ten play.

"It’s a huge win for our program. Our players all week were just tremendous, we just kept talking about ‘So what?’ Last week was ‘DIB, do it better,’ this week was so what? They’ve got a great crowd, it’s going to be hostile, so what? They’re ranked, they’re really good, so what? Coach Bielema and his staff hadn’t lost to Minnesota, so what?" Fleck said. "They had that ‘so what’ approach, kept everything internal."

Nine games into the season, the Gophers are sixth in the Big Ten behind Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa. Entering the season, the Gophers over/under win total was set at 5.5, and they were projected to finish near the bottom of the league.

2 Big calls for Fleck

The Gophers faced a 4th-and-2 with under two minutes to play in Illinois territory, up 22-17. They could go for it and run the clock out with a conversion, or kick a field goal to make it an 8-point game and lean on the defense for a stop. Fleck opted for the field goal, and Kesich converted from 46 yards out.

Minnesota sealed the game with a Jah Joyner strip sack that Danny Striggow recovered with 29 seconds to play.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, the Gophers faced a 4th-and-12 at their own 44-yard line with a little more than 12 minutes to play. They tried a fake punt, and it almost worked. Mark Crawford ran for 10 yards before fumbling the ball out of bounds for a turnover on downs. Illinois capitalized, with Luke Altmyer hitting Zakhari Franklin for a 21-yard touchdown to give the Illini a 17-16 lead with 9:03 to play.

Fleck detailed the play after, saying it was Crawford's decision to make to take off with it.

"When we have a safe look, we will put a tag on it and Mark Crawford is 48 years old, the guy can make a decision on his own. It’s based on him, we had the perfect call for it," Fleck said. "It was such a great look for him that he just took off. He has the green light to do that. Obviously it didn’t work, we were a few yards short, but it was the right call in the right situation."

Gophers answer Illinois TD

The Gophers responded with the go-ahead, and eventual game-winning touchdown. Max Brosmer hit Jameson Geers for a 1-yard touchdown and 22-17 lead with 5:14 to play. Brosmer first looked like he might sneak it, then had Geers wide open.

Big day for Darius Taylor

Taylor is the Gophers’ best offensive player, and he had another huge day on a big workload. He had 22 carries for 131 yards and a 29-yard touchdown. He was also the leading receiver, with nine catches for 58 yards.

A big day for the defense

The Gophers sacked Luke Altmyer four times, had eight tackles for loss and seven pass break-ups. Maverick Baranowski recovered an Almyer fumble that Justin Walley and Striggow forced. Joyner's strip sack fumble that Striggow recovered with less than 30 seconds to play sealed the win. Illinois came in averaging 27 points per game, but scored just 17 against the Gophers.