The Gophers played a perfect October (3-0), and now head into November with a chance to get bowl-eligible with one more win, and build their recent success.
New quarterback Max Brosmer is certainly a big part of the team's success and he's coming off of one of the team's best passing performances in a long time Saturday in a win over Maryland. Brosmer was 26 of 33 for 320 yards and 4 touchdowns. Just as important? No turnovers.
"It finally came together for a full 60 minutes this past weekend against Maryland," Brosmer told WCCO's Drivetime with DeRusha this week. "It was something nobody expected to click-through and it did. So we're happy that it came to fruition but we're excited to keep challenging ourselves and get better every weekend."
Brosmer's success is bringing some national attention as well. He was named to the Davey O'Brien QB Class of 2024 this week. The class consists of 35 standout quarterbacks and is the starting point for the Davey O'Brien Foundation as it selects its winner for the Davey O'Brien Award. It is the nation's oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award and he's one of six Big Ten QB's on the list.
Brosmer has been quick to praise his teammates and coaches, but he has definitely brought something new to the Gopher offense.
Fleck says his quarterback is being humble but doing great things.
"There's not much that he doesn't understand," Fleck explains. "But I think that when your quarterbacks and your coordinator, when they see things very similarly, I'm talking about alignment, our quarterback and quarterback room are all aligned in what we can and cannot do. And what's too much. How can we keep defenses off balance? How can we be able to use as many weapons as we can to diversify the ball into playmaker's hands?"
Fleck adds all teams are trying to do the same thing but it's the consistency that Brosmer is bringing to the Gophers that is giving them offensive success.
As for Illinois, they have given the Gophers fits. In their last three games against the Illini, Minnesota QBs have only completed 47% of their passes. Brosmer is completing what would end up being a school record 69.5% of his passes so far this season, so something has to give.
Fleck says Illinois presents a new set of problems however.
"I think they have one of the most unique schemes in college football and it's really hard to peel back the onion and dissect it. And find tendencies," says Fleck.
GAME PREVIEW
Minnesota (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) at No. 24 Illinois (6-2, 3-2), Saturday, 11:00 a.m. (FS1)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Minnesota by 3.
Series record: Minnesota leads 40-33-2.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
After losing 38-9 last week to No. 1 Oregon, the Illini risk dropping out of the AP Top 25 with a home loss to Minnesota. The Gophers had a perfect October, beating then-No. 11 Southern California, UCLA and Maryland, and will become bowl eligible with a win over Illinois. Minnesota hasn’t beaten two Top 25 teams during the regular season since 2000.
KEY MATCHUP
Illinois QB Luke Altmyer vs. the Minnesota secondary. Altmyer is seventh in the Big Ten in passing yardage (1,667), seventh in passing efficiency (143.9), fourth in TD passes (15) and tied for first for fewest interceptions (3). He’ll be tested by the Gophers, who have allowed just five passing TDs this season. CBs Justin Walley and Ethan Robinson shut down Maryland’s dangerous passing attack last week.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Illinois: DB Xavier Scott. Named this week one of 15 semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award that honors the nation’s best defensive back, Scott is tied for third in the Big Ten with three interceptions and has 29 tackles, two tackles for losses, a sack, two pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Minnesota: WR Elijah Spencer. In his second season with the Gophers after transferring from Charlotte, Spencer finally had a breakout game against Maryland last week with six catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. He gives the Gophers another downfield threat in addition to Daniel Jackson, who had nine catches for 117 yards and TDs vs. Maryland after a career-high 10 catches two weeks earlier against UCLA.
FACTS & FIGURES
Illinois has been ranked for seven consecutive weeks, the most since the 2001 Big Ten championship team was ranked for 10 straight weeks ... The Illini are the only Big Ten team with three wins over ranked teams this season. Their only losses are to No. 1 Oregon and No. 3 Penn State. ... The Gophers beat Maryland 48-23 last week. It was the most points they’d scored in a conference game since 2019, when they beat Maryland 52-10. The 25-point margin of victory was their largest in a Big Ten game since a 31-3 win over Northwestern in 2022. ... Minnesota safety Koi Perich leads the Big Ten and is No. 2 in the nation with five interceptions. The freshman also leads the conference with an average of 14.2 yards per punt return. ... The Gophers last had a four-game Big Ten winning streak in 2021 — a streak ended by the Illini with a 14-6 win at Minnesota.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.