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SAD NEWS: minnesota gophers football key man collapse during match…..
SAD NEWS: minnesota gophers football key man collapse during match…..
The Gophers have played three-fourths of their regular season and find themselves in an odd position with nine games completed. They’ve yet to qualify for a bowl game. With their sudden collapse in the fourth quarter against Illinois, when the Fighting Illini went 85 yards in three plays to score the winning touchdown with 50 seconds left, the Gophers fell to 5-4. They have only three more chances to secure a fifth bowl trip in coach P.J. Fleck’s seven years at Minnesota.
They need a win either at Purdue on Saturday, at Ohio State on Nov. 18 or at home against Wisconsin on Nov. 25 to reach the six wins needed to attain bowl eligibility. College football is entering the 10th week of its season. This is the longest the Gophers under Fleck will have played without getting a sixth win since the 2018 season, when they topped Wisconsin 37-15 in Madison in the regular-season finale to secure a bowl trip.
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On Saturday, Nov. 4, the Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-3) will face the Illinois Fighting Illini (3-5) at Huntington Bank Stadium at 2:30 p.m.
Big Ten Network will broadcast the game.
The Fighting Illini have had a roller coaster month. After starting the season 2-2, Illinois fell to Nebraska at home on Friday, losing a fumble, throwing an interception, missing a field goal, and turning the ball over on downs three times. The Fighting Illini bounced back.
with a 27-24 away victory over Maryland, hitting a game-winning 43-yard field goal as time expired. Then, last week, it appeared that Illinois had Wisconsin on the ropes. They led 21-7 into the fourth quarter before giving up 18 unanswered points to the Badgers in a shocking setback.
The Fighting Illini have defeated the Gophers twice in a row, including a 26-14 defeat at Champaign last season. Bret Bielema, the head coach of Illinois, is 9-0 versus Minnesota in his career.
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