Minnesota 17, Illinois 3

The Gophers knocked off the Illini 17-3 today in Champaign, IL to move to 6-4 on the season.  It wasn't pretty but a road win in the Big Ten isn't easy to come by so you'll hear no complaints from me.  This wins makes Minnesota bowl eligible!  They've now doubled their win total from Jerry Kill's first year.  They're still a work in progress but they are on the right trajectory, I like what I'm seeing.  

Observations:

• Heckuva game for the Gopher defense.  
• It was a windy day, it seemed to have a big impact on offensive strategy.  
• Not surprisingly, Illinois was doing a lot of blitzing against true freshman Philip Nelson. 
• The Gopher WR's were having a hard time getting separation. 
• Nice game for Donnell Kirkwood.  152 yards rushing & 2 TD's. 
• D.L. Wilhite has had a heckuva senior season.  
• The Gophers were only 2 of 10 on third down, they need to do better. 
• Roland Johnson may have had his best game as a Gopher today.  
• No Gopher turnovers and only 5 penalties.  They are playing disciplined football.  
• The Gopher play calling today was very conservative.  
• Only 78 yards passing today for Philip Nelson, there will be growing pains.
• True freshman DE Alex Keith was making his presence felt today. 
• Mike Rallis wore Gary Tinsley's rotating number 51 today. 
• Up next?  @ Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers.