Gophers lose to Illinois 27-26; last-minute touchdown mars Minnesota's Big Ten West hopes

Opportunity knocked — twice — for the Gophers on Saturday afternoon even before they took the field at Huntington Bank Stadium for their game against Illinois.

Losses by Nebraska and Wisconsin, two of the three other teams tied with Minnesota atop the Big Ten West Division standings, gave the Gophers a chance to take control of the division race.

Instead, they let the opportunity slip away.

Backup quarterback John Paddock hit Isaiah Williams for a 46-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter, giving Illinois a 27-26 win over the Gophers, who had rallied to take the lead with 5:53 to play.

"We weren't able to finish the game on offense; we weren't able to finish the game on defense," Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. "And that starts with me, 100 percent. We weren't able to get it done."

The loss dropped the Gophers (5-4) to 3-3 in the Big Ten, and they are tied for second place in the West with Wisconsin and Nebraska. Iowa, a 10-7 winner over Northwestern, leads the West at 4-2.

Illinois (4-5, 2-4) got the ball with 2:47 left in the fourth quarter, trailing 26-21. The Gophers had the Illini backed up to their 15, facing fourth-and-11 with quarterback Luke Altmyer injured on a sack. In stepped Paddock, who immediately hit Williams for a 22-yard gain to stay alive. A 17-yard pass to Pat Bryant moved the ball to the Gophers 46.

The Gophers called a timeout to settle things down, but that didn't help. Out of the break, Paddock found Williams — who sprinted past linebacker Cody Lindenberg and exploited a seam between Aidan Gousby and Tyler Nubin — for the winner, stunning the crowd of 42,906.

"That's just miscommunication," Nubin said. "It's something that happened multiple times in that game. That's not us."

The Gophers got the ball back with 50 seconds left but couldn't gain a first down.

The game looked as if it turned the Gophers' way earlier in the fourth quarter when big plays by both the offense and defense helped forge a lead.

Lindenberg forced a fumble that cornerback Justin Walley recovered at the Illinois 34. Two plays later, Athan Kaliakmanis hit Daniel Jackson for a 31-yard touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone with 5:53 left to take a 26-21 lead. Elijah Spencer's two-point conversion pass to Kaliakmanis on a Philly Special play fell incomplete, and that would prove to be big later.

After Nubin intercepted Altmyer with 4:04 to play, the Gophers appeared to be in line for a victory.

One problem: The offense went three-and-out, with Kaliakmanis throwing high and incomplete to tight end Nick Kallerup on third-and-4 from the Minnesota 45.

"I've got to throw a better ball," said Kaliakmanis, who completed 11 of 22 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns but was only 2-for-11 for 37 yards after halftime. "I rushed it, and there was no need to rush it. … It's a different story if I complete that ball."

That gave the Illini the ball back, and Paddock made Minnesota pay.

"We made mistakes,'' Lindenberg said. "The small things are magnified in games like these."

That was the case from the disastrous start for the Gophers.

Sean Tyler — who lost a fumble on the second play from scrimmage the previous week against Michigan State — fumbled the opening kickoff, and Illinois recovered at the 20. Altmyer hit tight end Tip Reiman for a 15-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead 1:28 into the game.

Kaliakmanis threw TD passes to Spencer and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford in the first half, and Altmyer connected with Williams for a score.

The Gophers took a 17-14 lead on Dragan Kesich's 36-yard field goal with 1:20 left in the second quarter. Minnesota reached the Illinois 22 before facing third-and-9. Kaliakmanis handed off to Jordan Nubin, who gained 4 yards, drawing some boos from fans who wanted the Gophers to be more aggressive by passing.

Illinois got the ball to start the third quarter, and the Gophers got a takeaway when Jah Joyner sacked Altmyer for a 14-yard loss and Chris Collins recovered the QB's fumble at the 12.

The Gophers, however, couldn't cash in fully. Kesich's 34-yard field goal made it 20-14.

Illinois took a 21-20 lead with 10:16 left in the third quarter when Altmyer hit running back Kaden Feagin on a swing pass and Feagin outraced the Gophers defense 54 yards for a touchdown.

"When it counted down the stretch,'' Fleck said, "we weren't able to finish the game."