The Gophers’ season record may end at 6-6 if they can win November home games against slumping Illinois and small school South Dakota State. Coach Tim Brewster’s Gophers, 4-4, also have remaining games with Michigan State and Iowa.
The Illini, a Rose Bowl team a year ago last January, is in free fall having lost five consecutive games. The only Illini win is against Illinois State, a Missouri Valley Conference team as is South Dakota State. Illinois was 5-7 last season and considered a possible Big Ten conference contender going into this season, but the Illini (1-6) have imploded badly losing by double digit margins in every game including to so-so Indiana and Purdue.
The struggling Gophers can hardly be over confident about beating Illinois, or South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits have a 6-1 record playing teams such as Cal Poly, North Dakota State and Northern Iowa. Those aren’t scary teams but the Gophers got more than a fright put into them two years ago when North Dakota State (same conference as SDS) upset Minnesota in the Metrodome.
The Gophers’ two other remaining games, against Michigan State and Iowa, definitely look spookier. This Saturday, on Halloween night at TCF Bank Stadium, the Gophers play MSU (4-4), a solid team. MSU went down to the last play before losing 15-13 to undefeated Iowa (8-0) last Saturday. The Spartans have one of the Big Ten’s better defenses, although probably less formidable than what the Gophers have faced in recent weeks.
The Gophers had 138 yards in total offense against Penn State a week ago last Saturday in a 20-0 loss. At Ohio State last Saturday the Gophers managed one late fourth quarter touchdown in a 38-7 loss. Minnesota had 286 total yards but 78 of those yards came on the touchdown drive when the game was long decided.
The Gophers put together a heavy list of mistakes in Columbus on Saturday including five dropped passes in the first half alone. A blown coverage in the secondary gave the Buckeyes an easy touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead at halftime. A fumbled kickoff return to start the second half and later two Gopher interceptions and other mistakes made for a disappointing outcome against an Ohio State team that has a struggling offense, too.
With successive home games coming against Michigan State, Illinois and South Dakota State, the Gophers are likely to have better performances than the last two weeks. Two or three wins are possible. A November 21 finish at Iowa looks much more difficult. The Hawkeyes are the favorite now to win the conference championship and they beat Minnesota 55-0 last season.