Writing Illini
Fansided

Illinois Football: Illini in a must-win situation with Minnesota

By Rees Woodcock

EAST HARTFORD, CT - SEPTEMBER 07: Illinois Fighting Illini Oluwole Betiku Jr. (47) comes up with a fumble recovery during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the UConn Huskies played on September 07, 2019 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, CT. (Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
EAST HARTFORD, CT - SEPTEMBER 07: Illinois Fighting Illini Oluwole Betiku Jr. (47) comes up with a fumble recovery during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the UConn Huskies played on September 07, 2019 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, CT. (Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Is this upcoming game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers a must-win for the Illinois football program?

Well, there is a lot that can go into that question. What does a must-win mean? Will there be calls for Lovie Smith to be fired if we can’t pull out a win on the road against a Minnesota team who just beat Purdue? Does it mean that it is a must-win to keep a bowl game something we can continue to strive for?

There are many ways I take the term must-win. I do think this is a must-win game, but every game is that for the Illini. This one game isn’t going to determine whether or not Lovie is the head coach of this team moving forward. But this is a must-win game for the confidence of the fanbase and the hopes of going bowling this season.

Illinois should have beaten both Eastern Michigan and Nebraska. These two games were winnable games and we failed to close out. But we aren’t that far away from being 4-0 right now. The biggest boost to the confidence I have with this team is the fact we aren’t getting blown out in games.

In 2018, Illinois fell to Nebraska by 19 points and it wasn’t even that close. This season, the Illini clearly showed improvements. We had the Cornhuskers on the ropes but just couldn’t put them away. That is the type of improvement I wanted to see from this team.

Now we are going up against a Minnesota team we punished in 2018. We travel to the Golden Gophers this season, though. This still should be a win. If we can get to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten, there would still be hope of getting to a bowl game. We would just need three more wins, but where are those wins?

I would say at Purdue and home against Rutgers and Northwestern would be the three games Illinois could win, in addition to Minnesota, that would make us bowl eligible. This would be a huge step forward for the program. The other four games on the schedule are all against ranked opponents. It might be too much to ask for the Illini to knock off one of those teams.

Next. Illini trying to bolster DB’s with offer to Jakorian Bennett. dark

Overall, this weekend is big for the Orange and Blue. A victory would show the Illini fanbase that this program continues to head in the right direction. We are so close to being 4-0 this season. Let’s show the world that the close game against Nebraska wasn’t a fluke. Let’s show people that this team is ready to be a solid contender in the Big Ten.

Home/Illinois Football