CHAMPAIGN, ILL. -- The Gophers will have temperatures in the 70's, even with an 11 a.m., kickoff, when they play Illinois today. There is a strong wind blowing from the south end zone over the north end zone at historic Memorial Stadium, so that will be a factor.
Speculation in the press box still has Jeff George Jr., stating at QB for the Illini. Stay tuned on that, as there's still a chance West Lunt will return from his back injury.
Update: Lunt threw passes during warmups, but it looks like George will be the starter. He worked with the first-team offense pregame.
Gophers DT Steven Richardson has been cleared from the concussion protocol and looks like he'll get the start today.
I think Illinois has a lot of talented players on defense -- DE Dawuane Smoot, DE Carroll Phillips, LB Hardy Nickerson, SS Patrick Nelson, to name a few.
But I can't get past those rushing defense statistics. Here's a look at how some teams have run the ball against the Illini this year: North Carolina (197), Western Michigan (287), Nebraska (203), Purdue (231), Rutgers (203) and Michigan (270).
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