Hartman: Gophers lose good vibes with loss to Illini

Saturday's 28-24 loss at Illinois will turn out to be costly to the Gophers when it comes to their small chances of winning the Big Ten West Division, or being selected to a prestigious bowl game, with an upcoming schedule that includes games against Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin, all games where they will be underdogs.

Had the Gophers beaten both Illinois and Iowa — a team they should beat at home in two weeks — they would have had a 9-1 record and a 5-0 Big Ten mark going into the toughest part of their schedule.

The Gophers lost a lot of the prestige they had built up, along with a chance to move up in the rankings after being rated 23rd in the coaches poll this past week.

Unfortunately, the Illinois game was one where the Gophers beat themselves with three costly turnovers and a missed field goal. This was the first time the Illini had beat a ranked team from either the AP or coaches poll since 2011.

Three of the Gophers' big guns in quarterback Mitch Leidner, running back David Cobb and kicker Ryan Santoso did some good things Saturday, but it was the turnovers by Leidner and Cobb and a missed 40-yard field goal by Santoso in the fourth quarter that will stand out in defeat.

Had Santoso made the field goal, the Gophers would have led 27-21. Then, had Illinois scored a touchdown to take a lead, the Gophers still would have been able to still try a winning field goal, rather than have to go for it on fourth down at the end of the game.

Going into Saturday, the Illini had given up 271 yards rushing per game. But the Gophers had just 36 yards rushing in the first half, with 24 by Cobb. He got going in the second half, finishing with 118 yards, 67 coming on one play, but it was still short of his average of 144.7 yards per game coming in.

Gophers coach Jerry Kill was asked by reporters after the game about the slow start, when Illinois took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

"There's no excuses for it," Kill said. "I don't know if the weather, I don't know, I can't answer that. We played hard, but just not with the amount of energy early that we're accustomed to. Then in the second half we came out and did some things and so forth, but again, you turn the ball over, you lose field position. They did some things up front and they played in areas — I'll have to watch the film — up front better than we did. But you can't turn over the ball. That's the No. 1 thing."

On those two quick Illinois touchdowns, Gophers linebacker Damien Wilson said: "We felt like we were flat, but we weren't in trouble, because we had just did it last week, coming back from behind. We knew we were capable of coming back."

Wilson was asked if he felt for his cousin, Cobb, whose fumble resulted in the winning touchdown. "David Cobb is one of the best backs in the Big Ten, worth his weight in gold," Wilson said. "But even the best backs, even in the NFL, Adrian Peterson goes out there and drops one every now and then. I'll take nothing away from Illinois defense. They made a play when it mattered most and came up big."

The Illini had an extra week to prepare for Cobb and did one of the best jobs of any Gophers opponent from the past two years.

"I never really got down. It's just one of those things, again, just stay on track, just listen, just keep playing, things open up for us."

The season isn't over. The Gophers are tied for first place in the division and have four big games left. Maybe they will knock off one of the big boys in Nebraska or Ohio State and surprise everybody.

Former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire spoke with Sirius XM's MLB Network Radio last week about why Paul Molitor would not only be a good managerial hire for the Twins, but a unique one. Molitor was a coach under Gardenhire this year.

"He's intelligent of the game. He played the game at the highest level, he's as good as they get," Gardenhire said. "There's a lot of areas that he's just unbelievable, the baserunning part, the things he sees that no one is going to see. If Paulie ends up getting this manager job, he's not going to be your traditional manager. He can go out there and try things, which is really entertaining.

"We talked about it all the time, and he's into a lot of different things on finding different ways to beat you, just like he did as a player. It's not going to be straight-up baseball. He'll work in a lot of things up there, as far as baserunning and all those things. I don't think there is anybody better than that as far as figuring things out, watching guys, pitchers and so forth. He brings a lot to the table. I do know that about Paulie. He was fun to have on the staff. I learned a lot from him. A fantastic guy and a local guy, so we'll see what they end up doing."

• One plus for the Bucs is they have Gerald McCoy, who on Saturday became the richest defensive tackle in the history of the NFL, signing a seven-year, $98 million deal with $51 million guaranteed. That deal came two days after the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 draft blasted the Bucs' NFL-worst defense, telling reporters, "If you look out there on tape and you see a bunch of guys sitting on blocks, are you not earning the title of being soft?"

• Tampa Bay tackle Anthony Collins spent his first six years in Cincinnati when Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was Bengals defensive coordinator, so there is familiarity with the defense. "I played against that for six years," Collins said to the Tampa Bay Times. "I know the ins and outs of that, and I'm schooling my soldiers about a Mike Zimmer defense."

• The Vikings offensive line has given up an average of 12.3 total pressures (quarterback sacks, hits and hurries combined) per game, the sixth most in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. The website also reported that Vikings left tackle Matt Kalil is responsible for eight sacks this season, tied with Washington right tackle Tyler Polumbus for most in the league.