Bret Bielema is 10-0 all-time vs. the Gophers; P.J. Fleck just wants this one

Monday morning, P.J. Fleck did his best impersonation of a benevolent Dikembe Mutombo.

The Gophers football coach — all 5-foot-10 of him — anticipated the question: “What would it mean to you to not only get your first win over Coach [Bret] Bielema, but also lock up bowl eligibility?” — and politely swatted it away, much like the 7-2 former Denver Nuggets star, but without a finger wag.

“This is going to bore you,” Fleck answered. “1-0. That’s all we’re worried about.”

Fleck’s approach is that each game stands alone, each week is a one-game championship season, and this week that season is No. 24 Illinois. On Saturday, the Gophers visit the Fighting Illini in Champaign, where they’ll face a coach that has Minnesota’s number.

Bielema took over as Illinois coach in 2021 and has a 3-0 record against Fleck, winning 14-6, 26-14 and 27-26 last year with an improbable fourth-quarter rally. If you look back to Bielema’s days as Wisconsin’s coach, his win streak over the Gophers stretches to 10 games. He went a combined 7-0 against coaches Glen Mason, Tim Brewster and Jerry Kill.

“I have a lot of respect for Coach Bielema and what he does,” Fleck said. “He always has a hard, smash-mouth, tough football team no matter where he’s been — Wisconsin, Arkansas, Illinois. It’s his DNA.”

With Bielema on the sideline, Illinois has dug itself out of the malaise the program suffered under poor coaching hires in Tim Beckman (12-25 record from 2012-14) and former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith (17-39 from 2016-20). Bielema led Illinois to an 8-5 record and an appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl in 2022, but the Illini dipped to 5-7 last year.

This year, they started strong with wins over No. 19 Kansas and No. 24 Michigan. Last week, the Illini lost 38-9 at No. 1 Oregon, and their only other loss was at No. 3 Penn State. So, at 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, they’re in the mix for a spot in one of the Florida bowls.

The Gophers will arrive in Champaign with a team that’s on a three-game winning streak and boasts two players that are tearing up the Big Ten as of late.

Quarterback Max Brosmer, named conference offensive player of the week on Monday, completed 26 of 33 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-23 rout of Maryland on Saturday. He’s on a three-game run in which he has completed 78.8% of his passes for 682 yards and six TDs with no interceptions. He also rushed for three TDs, all in the 24-17 upset of No. 11 USC.

Safety Koi Perich was named freshman of the week after intercepting a pass and returning it 45 yards against Maryland. That gave the true freshman from Esko, Minn., four picks in the past three games and a Big Ten-leading five for the season. He’s also a threat on punt returns, leading the Big Ten with a 14.2-yard average that included a 60-yarder in a comeback at Michigan that came up just short in a 27-24 loss.

Brosmer’s passing and Perich’s all-around play could be keys in counteracting an Illinois team that features quarterback Luke Altmyer, who averages 208.4 passing yards per game and has 15 TD passes against three interceptions. Altmyer has a knack for extending plays with his feet, too.

“He’s really, really cool, calm under pressure in the pocket,” Fleck said of Altmyer, who went 24-for-31 for 212 yards and three TDs against the Gophers last year. “… He’s very accurate as he’s being hit, but he’s a really good runner, too.”

A victory at Illinois, where Minnesota last won in 2020, would gain the Gophers a chance to play in a bowl for the sixth time in Fleck’s eight years in Dinkytown. It also would give them their second win over a Top 25 team this season. The last time that happened was in 2019, when they topped No. 5 Penn State in Minneapolis and No. 9 Auburn in the Outback Bowl on the way to an 11-2 record.

The coach, though, rejected any bowl talk.

“We’ve gotta play our best football against a ranked opponent on the road,” Fleck said. “We’ve got to ‘D.I.B.’ — do it better.”