Illinois Football: 4 observations from the Illini win over Minnesota

Illinois football did what they do best on Saturday and took down a ranked team on the road.

For the second time this season, the Illini went on the road against a ranked big ten foe and came out victorious. No. 20 Minnesota was rolling, winning four straight games and six out of seven heading into the matchup. Illinois was a 14.5-point underdog as well.

This didn’t shake the Orange and Blue, though. Illinois looked great offensively for the first few drives and scored all of the points they needed, as the Illini defense came up huge only giving up six points. Despite not scoring in the second half, Illinois still came away with the win, 14-6.

Here are four observations from the Illinois football win over Minnesota.

1. A bowl game is still in reach

The roller coaster season is still going on as the Illini took down No. 20 Minnesota on Saturday. This great victory is the second ranked win in a three-game span and the first time since 2007 that the program has beaten two ranked teams in a season.

What this victory also does for the Orange and Blue is keep them alive for a bowl game. Moving to 4-6 on the season, Illinois just needs to win their final two games to be a lock for a postseason berth.

The toughest game is going to be on the road against No. 22 Iowa. The Hawkeyes have Illinois’ number as they have won the last seven contests, and only two of those games have been single-digit losses. Since 2003, Illinois is 1-12 against Iowa. If there is a good time to change the tides of this matchup, it is on November 20.

Illinois then, obviously, finishes with Northwestern. The Wildcats are a very beatable team, but this is a great rivalry, so who knows who will come out with a victory. But Illinois can win this game. Hopefully, we can knock off both teams and move to 6-6 and lock in a bowl game. That would be exceeding my expectations for the 2021 campaign.