The Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-2, 4-1) host Illinois on Saturday, when defending Chase Brown will become their top priority. Brown is third in the Big Ten in rushing, with two 200-yard games already on his resume this year. Only three other players in the FBS have done that in 2021.

New coach Bret Bielema is back where he belongs in the West Division, bringing the same smash-mouth offense he fostered at Wisconsin a decade ago. The Illini used that to win at Penn State two weeks ago in a nine-overtime slugfest.

Minnesota is second in the conference and eighth in the FBS with an average of 93 rushing yards allowed per game, but the work has just begun.

The Illini (3-6, 2-4), like the Gophers this season, lean on an experienced offensive line. They like their blockers so much they even rolled out a seven-lineman package against Penn State.

The Gophers have a confident group, too, having clearly moved past the mess their run defense was in 2020. Gibbens and Mariano Sori-Marin have solidified the linebacker spots. The defensive line is as deep as it’s been in years, with Clemson transfer Nyles Pinckney playing a vital role at tackle.

Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan, one of several starters from the 2019 team, mentioned those losses as a lesson for the Gophers entering this final stretch. This time, they start November against Illinois and travel to Indiana between the game at Iowa and the finale against Wisconsin.

Illinois quarterback Brandon Peters, who lost the starting job and regained it when Art Sitkowski broke his arm against Penn State, went 14 for 19 for 190 yards and two touchdowns last week against Rutgers. 

The Illini had their final drive halted at the 34-yard line with 1:08 left in the 20-14 defeat by Rutgers. In three other losses, the Illini also had the ball at the end within one score but came up short against UTSA (37-30), Maryland (20-17) and Purdue (13-9).