Gophers' trip to Illinois could lead to another big fall

Two Octobers ago, Minnesota was 6-1, with David Cobb flourishing, and a four-point favorite entering that game.

But the Gophers came out flat, falling behind Illinois — which was 3-4 entering the game — by two touchdowns in the first quarter. They rallied, but Cobb made a costly fourth-quarter fumble that was returned 12 yards for a touchdown in an eventual 28-24 loss.

That was probably the most disappointing defeat of Jerry Kill's tenure. But there were warning signs one week earlier, when the Gophers needed a 52-yard Ryan Santoso field goal to beat Purdue 39-38 on homecoming.

The Boilermakers entered as 12-point underdogs but played much like Rutgers did Saturday, with an answer for everything the Gophers tried.

Rutgers was an 18-point underdog Saturday, and the Gophers jumped to a 21-3 lead. But Minnesota needed a 28-yard field goal from Emmit Carpenter with six seconds remaining to pull off the 34-32 homecoming win.

"I just think that all over college football, when you look each weekend, there is probably eight to 10 games that just surprise you," Gophers coach Tracy Claeys said Sunday. "I keep saying that the team that prepares during the week and shows up and plays up to their abilities has a chance to win in a lot of the conferences."

To Claeys, it wasn't a matter of taking Rutgers too lightly.

"They found a couple of things. That gets frustrating no question. You sit over there and we lose a little bit of our energy. We will have to learn from that."

In 2014, it took the near fall against Purdue — and the face plant at Illinois — to fully sharpen the Gophers' focus for their November stretch run. They rebounded from the Illinois loss with a 37-point thrashing of Iowa, a hard-fought seven-point loss to No. 8 Ohio State, and a comeback win at No. 21 Nebraska.

Right now, this Gophers team could only dream of such a run. Claeys saw plenty that needs fixing on film. His biggest concerns on offense were the pick-six thrown by Mitch Leidner and the team's excruciating struggles on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1.

Defensively, Claeys was most bothered by Rutgers' 15-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that made it a two-point game early in the fourth quarter. Nor did Claeys like seeing his top cornerback, Jalen Myrick, get beat on Andre Patton's 37-yard post-pattern touchdown.

"On defense, I think we can play better," Claeys said. "But I look at it — as a defense, we really only gave up 23 points, with the pick-six and the field goal off the muff [Drew Wolitarsky's fumbled punt]. We stopped them three-and-out and made them kick it, so there isn't much more we can do."

The Gophers beat Illinois 32-23 last year at TCF Bank Stadium, but that was suspenseful, too. Illinois trimmed Minnesota's lead to one point midway through the fourth quarter. Shannon Brooks broke off a 75-yard touchdown run, and the Gophers finally sealed it with a two-point conversion.

Now, Illinois is 2-5 in its first year under coach Lovie Smith. The Illini just took a 33-point beating by now-No. 2 Michigan and definitely have their issues. But Illinois also defeated Rutgers 24-7 and had a six-point lead at home against Nebraska entering the fourth quarter Oct. 1.

The Gophers don't need a reminder that trips to Champaign can be dicey. Two years ago, they learned the hard way.