Gophers Replay
Illinois 14, No. 20 Gophers 6
The recap: The Fighting Illini cashed in a Tanner Morgan interception for a first-possession touchdown and had an 86-yard scoring march that concluded on the first play of the second quarter for a 14-0 lead. That turned out to be more than enough to beat the Gophers, who mustered only Morgan's 1-yard TD run with 4:56 left in the fourth quarter.
Illinois (4-6, 3-4 Big Ten) made the Gophers (6-3, 4-2) play outside their comfort zone by holding Minnesota's run game to 89 rushing yards. The Illini dared the Gophers to pass, and Morgan went 15-for-28 for 180 yards with two interceptions. Three Gophers drives that made it inside the Illinois 30-yard line ended up producing no points.
Three takeaways
Tight ends become targets
With their running game shut down, the Gophers had to pass, and their tight ends became an option. Brevyn Spann-Ford was targeted six times and caught five passes, including receptions of 12, 9, 9 and 17 yards on the Gophers' fourth-quarter TD drive. In the second quarter, wildcat QB Cole Kramer found tight end Ko Kieft for a 20-yard gain.
Very few explosive plays
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