Chase Brown rushed 33 times for 150 yards, and the Illinois defense delivered six sacks and two interceptions of Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan on the way to a 14-6 victory on Saturday.

Kerby Joseph picked off Morgan at the Illini 45-yard line with 38 seconds left to halt the too-little-too-late rally by the Gophers (6-3, 4-2), whose four-game winning streak that catapulted them into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West Division was stopped cold.

Morgan scored on a fourth-and-1 bootleg with 4:56 to go after going 7 for 8 for 68 yards on that drive to pull the Gophers within one score.

Brandon Peters attempted a season-low nine passes for the Illini (4-6, 3-4), but he was as sharp as he needed to be with seven completions for 80 yards and a score to help keep a bowl game in play.

The Illini finished the game with seven consecutive punts, except for a kneel-down at the end of each half, but Brown moved the chains with a 7-yard run off left tackle on third-and-4 near midfield around the 3-minute mark. Blake Hayes pooched his last punt to land it at the 2, leaving only 1:12 remaining and no timeouts for Morgan and the Gophers.

After a 38-yard strike to Dylan Wright, Morgan was taken down for an 11-yard sack by Isaiah Gay so hard the Illini linebacker hurt himself on the play.

The damage was already done by the Illinois defense, which frequently pressured Morgan and forced him out of the pocket to throw on the run when he wasn’t sacked.

The Gophers never found their usual rhythm, netting a season-low 89 rushing yards after racking up 634 yards on the ground over the previous two games. They crossed the 30-yard line without scoring three times, including a sack by Owen Carney Jr. on fourth-and-6 at the 22 in the third quarter.