What We Learned About Bowl Bound Minnesota Gophers in Crucial Victory Over Illinois

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Darius Taylor: Minnesota Gophers at Illinois Fighting Illini
Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Gophers entered their game vs No. 24 Illinois on Saturday with a massive opportunity in front of them. Win, and go 4-2 in Big Ten play, something that is about as rare as seeing the Gophers beat Bret Bielema (0-10 entering the day).

Oh, and a win vs Illinois would keep the Gophers’ College Football Playoff hopes alive, at 6-3 overall. Yeah, I said it. But it wasn’t going to be easy. The Fighting Illini came into this contest ranked, for a reason. This was a matchup of two Big Ten teams trying to prove that they belong in the new division-less Big Ten.

As Illinois vs Minnesota usually does, this contest came down to one final drive. With less than one minute remaining, the Illini were down eight points and driving. But then, EDGE Jah Joyner strip-sacked Illini QB Luke Altmyer, in Gophers territory. Danny Striggow recovered, Max Brosmer took a knee, and Minnesota won 25-17.

Minnesota still needs Darius Taylor

The first quarter was a battle of two defenses. The Illini might have been the first opponent of 2024 to focus on stopping Max Brosmer, which they did pretty successfully, throughout the first half. That’s why this turned into by far the most balanced offensive attack of the season for Minnesota.

In the first half, the Gophers rushed for 88 yards and passed for 99 yards. In the 2nd quarter, with Brosmer struggling to find open receivers, it was Darius Taylor who powered through tacklers and put Minnesota up by a touchdown, with this 29-yard scamper and score.

Max Brosmer, on the other hand, was just a bit off for much of the day. He was missing throws that he normally hits and hanging onto the football for far longer than what we have seen the past few weeks. Whatever the Illini were doing defensively, it worked, and Brosmer struggled to find open receivers for most of the afternoon.

But when the Gophers went down 17-16 in the 4th quarter, and needed Brosmer to get their lead back, he delivered, going 4-of-5 on the drive, for 61 yards and a touchdown. On the day, Brosmer finished 22-of-37 (59%) for 213 yards and 1 touchdown, but that one TD drive may have been the most important of the game.

Meanwhile, with Illinois keying on the Minnesota Gophers’ air attack, PJ Fleck hitched his wagon to running back Darius Taylor, in a way have not seen since last year, pre Max Brosmer. Taylor rushed 22 times for 131 yards and the one TD you saw above. He also caught 9 passes (on 9 targets) for another 58 yards, totalling 31 touches for 189 total yards offense.

If you want to be a college football playoff contender, you have to be flexible on offense. Minnesota proved, on Saturday, that they can run the ball, if you make it too difficult for them to pass it, something they hadn’t shown they were capable of, prior to this week.

Mark Crawford has the green light to fake punt

There have been a lot of questions surrounding the Minnesota Gophers special teams unit, over the years. But there was no denying how important they were in victory this week. Mark Crawford boomed some nice punts and Dragan Kesich returned to form, going 4-of-4 on FG attempts, including two that were over 40 yards.

But early in what would be a very eventful 4th quarter, punter Mark Crawford — who is 31-years-old — caught the snap, took a couple steps as if he was going to punt it. But then, he tucked it under his right arm, instead, and bolted toward the right sideline, which had a 1st down marker about 15 yards upfield.

Unfortunately… he only made it about 13 yards, before he was tackled and the ball was jarred loose. Instead of pinning the Illini deep in their own territory, they took over on Minnesota’s 35 yards line. They scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive, to take a 17-16 lead.

The broadcast, and most pundits on social media, chalked the fake punt up to a questionable PJ Fleck coaching decision. As it turns out, the only direction PJ gave Mark, before he took off running, was a green light months earlier.

Related: Accolades Raining Down on Gophers QB Max Brosmer

That’s right, Mark Crawford has Fleck’s trust to take off running any time he gets the right look, which is a punt return max protect, when most of the receiving team bails back toward their punter, to setup blocks down field. That’s what Illinois did Saturday. Crawford identified it, and took off. Unfortunately, this time around, he came up short.

The Minnesota Gophers have a shot at College Football Playoff

Saturday’s win moved the Minnesota Gophers to 6-3 on the season (4-2 in Big Ten). That means they are bowl eligible, with three games remaining on their regular season schedule. It would be surprising if they are not ranked in this week’s AP and Coaches Poll. At worst, they will get votes. The College Football Playoff Poll drops this week, too.

But the Gophers aren’t just bowl eligible, they are now a legitimate threat for the College Football Playoff. Yeah, that’s right. They’ve now defeated two ranked opponents (USC, Illinois). If they want any chance to do the impossible, and play in the first ever 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, they’ll need to add a third team.

Related: Minnesota Gophers LT Continues Climb Up Mel Kiper’s Big Board

After Minnesota plays Rutgers next week, they’ll get a bye before hosting No. Penn State, who lost a nailbiter to No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday. But if the Gophers can win out (@ Rutgers, Penn State, @ Wisconsin), it’ll be nearly impossible to leave them out.

Of course, this is Minnesota, where any talk of National Championships in college football became preposterous, post 1970. But with the expanded tournament, the Gophers have a shot. They have a really good defense, and the most balanced offensive attack in Fleck’s 8-year coaching tenure, possible ever, as long as Max Brosmer and Darius Taylor can stay healthy.

They should win against Athan Kaliakmanis and a floundering Rutgers football program next weekend, before they get two weeks to prepare for Penn State. Wisconsin, Minnesota’s final regular season opponent of 2024, is 5-4, 3-3 in conference play. It feels weird to talk about… but with only three games remaining, the Minnesota Gophers have a clear path to the CFP. That much is undeniable.

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