Illinois football has a big game on Saturday against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
This is the first time the Illini have played a game in the AP Top 25 since 2011. Hopefully, this won’t be the last time we see the Orange and Blue represented in the rankings. A big win over Minnesota could mean a climb into the top 20 next week.
Here are three key numbers for the Illinois football team to beat Minnesota.
#3 vs #9
Heading into the game on Saturday, the Illini are looked at as one of the best defenses in the country. We have players who are consistently getting the job done every week.
One of the specialties is the Illinois run defense. This season, the Illini are only giving up 67.4 yards per game on the ground, which is an insane number. In fact, there are only two teams, James Madison and Clemson, who are ahead of Illinois in run defense.
But the Illini will also be going up against another tough run defense on Saturday in Minnesota. The Golden Gophers can hold their own, as they are only giving up 93 yards per game on the ground. Minnesota ranks No. 9 in the country in rush defense.
So, the No. 3 rush defense is going up against the No. 9 rush defense. This is a big number because the winner of the game will likely be the team that can break through the other’s front seven.
This is Big Ten football at its finest. I will be curious to see how running backs Chase Brown and Mohamed Ibrahim do in the backfield. I give the upper hand to Brown because he has played a top 50 rush defense in each of the past two games in Wisconsin and Iowa. Brown went for 129 yards and 146 yards, respectively.
2.2
Piggybacking off of the previous slide, Illinois’ defense has been tremendous this season in various forms. Yes, the rush defense has been great, but they are more than just a run-stopping unit.
The Illini have been doing everything right on the defensive side of the ball. I love what we are doing in the pass defense game as well. In fact, the Illini pass defense has created a lot of opportunities for the Illinois offense in 2022.
One of the big numbers I am going to be eyeing heading into the Minnesota game is 2.2 takeaways. That is how many turnovers we are forcing each game this season. That is going to be a huge number on Saturday against the Golden Gophers.
If we can get at least two turnovers against Minnesota, then Illinois will be in a great position to win the game. But it hasn’t exactly been that simple for the Orange and Blue.
Despite the Illini forcing 2.2 turnovers per game, which ranks No. 10 in the country, we only have a +0.2 turnover margin per game, which ranks No. 47 in the nation. That means we are giving up the ball at a high rate to go along with our forced turnovers.
Illinois has relied on turnovers to change the momentum in games this season. This Saturday will be no different. If we can get around that 2.2 takeaways mark, then we should be able to beat Minnesota.
32.8
This is a defense-heavy article because the defense is what has carried and will continue to carry the Illinois football team for the 2022 campaign.
On Saturday, the Illini are going up against a tough Minnesota team that can do everything well. They are 4-1 with their only loss to Purdue, but Minnesota was without their starting running back in that game.
This season, the Golden Gophers have had an offense that can put up points. In fact, they are one of the best offenses in the country. Minnesota is averaging 32.8 points per game in 2022, which ranks No. 34 in the nation. Illinois cannot give up nearly that many points, and that is why this is a key number for the game.
Minnesota is honestly a one-trick pony, though. Their pass offense is sub-80 in the nation, but their run offense is great with Mohamed Ibrahim leading the way in the backfield. He is the reason they are in the top 40 in scoring.
The Golden Gophers are going up against a tough Illinois defense, though. The Illini are only giving up 9.6 points per game, which ranks No. 2 in the country.
No matter what, Minnesota needs to be held to fewer than 32.8 points. I believe Illinois needs to hold them to fewer than 20 points if we want to win the game. This is going to be a tough task, but I trust this Illinois defense to come through.