Minnesota 32, Illinois 23

The Gophers knocked off Illinois 32-23 today in Minneapolis.  The Gophers improve to 5-6 on the season with this win.  This win ends Minnesota's 4 game losing streak.  The Gophers are still one win away from bowl eligibility with one game remaining.  It wasn't a pretty win, but with all of the injuries they are playing through, it was nice to see them find a way to get it done.  I'm guessing they are one of the better six loss teams in the country.  Next week is huge!

Observations:

• Coach Claeys is on the board!  Congrats on first official win! 
• Much better job at clock management by Claeys & company today.
• I loved the 2 point conversion late in the game by the Gophers. 
• The improvement from Mitch Leidner this season has been quite remarkable.
• That sure looked like a TD by Mitch Leidner to close the first half.
• Kiante Hardin sure did open some eyes today with his play. 
• What a day from Gopher true freshman RB Shannon Brooks.  
• Briean Boddy-Calhoun's draft stock is slipping by the week.  
• Rashad Still is such a large target, I like his future.  
• Turnovers:  Illinois 3, Minnesota 1
• Total Yards:  Illinois 433, Minnesota 343
• Third Quarter Yards:  Illinois 131, Minnesota 1 
• How about that true freshman class for the Gophers.  Impressive! 
• The interior of the Gophers DL was getting pushed around today  
• Pete Mortell struggled once again today.  Rough year for him. 
• Duke McGhee is another young guy who stepped up big time today. 
• It's nice to see Galen Elmore contributing along the DL.  
• It looked cold in Minneapolis today, for some at least. 
• Mason Monheim is a pretty impressive looking LB for Illinois. 
• Up Next?  Wisconsin in Minneapolis next Saturday for the Paul Bunyon Axe.