SoMnFan
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CHAMPAIGN, ILL. - Too bad there's no handing-out-roses or tossing-oranges tradition around the Meineke Car Care Bowl, or some way to invoke the hallowed history of the Heart of Dallas Bowl. If there was, the Gophers definitely would have been juggling car parts or wearing cowboy hats Saturday, because there was no missing the excitement in the Gophers' voices after their 17-3 victory over Illinois.
"It's unbelievable," said freshman quarterback Philip Nelson. "We've been talking about this all year long."
No, it's not going to be Pasadena. But the Gophers are going to a bowl game, and for a team that for the past couple of years has performed as all-around dreadfully as -- well, as the Illini did Saturday, for instance -- the destination isn't the point. It's the milestone that matters.
"It shows that we're getting better," said tailback Donnell Kirkwood, whose 152 yards and two touchdowns provided all the offense the Gophers needed. Minnesota's sixth victory -- as many as they have recorded in the past two seasons combined -- is proof of his point. So was the way Kirkwood and his teammates dismantled the Illini, keeping them out of the end zone, making a handful of big offensive plays when necessary, and avoiding the critical errors that have dogged them during the Big Ten season.
"We played old-fashioned football," said Gophers coach Jerry Kill, and their reward is one that seems out of the distant past: A trip to a bowl game. The Gophers won't know for two more weeks where their holiday destination will be, but Houston (for the Meineke) and Dallas, which own the sixth and seventh pick of Big Ten qualifiers, appear likeliest.
Too bad they can't play a bowl game here in Memorial Stadium, where the Gophers have now won four consecutive visits.
This one, though, doubled as Kill's first Big Ten road win, after six straight losses, and the tone for it was set by a goal-line stand on Illinois' very first possession. The Illini marched 89 yards and had two shots at the end zone from the 1, but the Gophers stuffed tailback Donovonn Young on the first try, and quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase on the second. Illinois kicked the field goal -- and never really threatened again.
In fact, Illinois' next nine possessions resulted in six punts, two lost fumbles and a turnover on downs. Forget the end zone -- the Illini, who became the first Gopher opponent to fail to score a touchdown since Purdue in a 17-6 loss in 2008, didn't even reach the red zone again until five seconds remained in the game.
Nelson had his worst day of four career starts, completing only nine of his 15 passes for 78 yards. But with a stout defense and an effective running game, they didn't need him. Kirkwood picked up 152 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, his third 100-yard game of the season.
Kirkwood's longest run was a 38-yard burst along the left sideline in the second quarter. But his most important run, late in the third quarter, was far shorter. As the center point of the Gophers' three-back "diamond" rushing formation, Kirkwood took a handoff and followed Mike Henry through a small hole in the Illinois line, easily stepping three yards into the end zone.
That turned out to be the game's decisive touchdown, though Kirkwood added another, a 12-yard romp to put the game away in the game's final two minutes.
Glad they touched on the Ilini's incompetence.
Pretty glaring. But you still gotta win 'em.
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