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University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Back On The Road at Illinois Saturday
11/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Minnesota Game Notes - at Illinois
MINNESOTA BACK ON THE ROAD AT ILLINOIS SATURDAY
The University of Minnesota football team will look to snap its nine-game losing streak Saturday, when the Gophers visit Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
Minnesota plays at Illinois, which enters the game with a 5-4 record and a 3-3 mark in the Big Ten. Illinois lost a heart-breaking, 69-67, triple-overtime decision to Michigan last week.
Minnesota leads the series with the Illini by a 32-28-3 count. Minnesota has won seven of the last 10 meetings with Illinois. The Gophers are 3-1 in Champaign during that 10-game stretch. The Gophers fell to Illinois 35-32 in Minneapolis last season, but won 27-20 in their last trip to Illinois.
The Big Ten Network will air the game. Tom Hart, Anthony Herron and Lisa Byington will call the action. This week’s game will also air on Sirius/XM satellite radio (91/196).
QUICK HITTERS
> Minnesota is 32-28-3 in its history vs. Illinois and has won seven of its last 10 vs. the Illini.
> Minnesota is in its 127th season of college football in 2010. Only three other schools -- Rutgers (141), Michigan (131) and Navy (130) will have played more at the end of this season.
> Wide receiver Da’Jon McKnight has hauled in nine touchdown passes in 10 games this season. He is just two away from tying the Gophers’ single-season record.
> Despite a school record time of possession of 45:34 in the season -opener, the Gophers have slipped to No. 5 in the Big Ten in average possession time after ranking No. 1 through the first six weeks.
> Quarterback Adam Weber became just the fifth Big Ten signal-caller to pass for 10,000 career yards earlier this season.
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
A total of 20 Golden Gophers have made the first starts of their college football career this season. Fifteen of those student-athletes who have made their initial appearance in the starting lineup this season are on the defensive side of the ball.
TWO-TIMIN' MAN
Both of Minnesota’s lines are extremely depleted. They are so depleted that blocking tight end Curtis Hughes was designated as an emergency backup on the offensive line. On the defensive side, Hughes actually saw action on the line in goal-line situations.
WORLD WIDE WEB-ER
Adam Weber became just the fifth quarterback in the history of the Big Ten to pass for more than 10,000 career yards three weeks ago. Weber joined Iowa’s Chuck Long (10,461), Northwestern’s Brett Basanez (10,580), Purdue’s Curtis Painter (11,163) and Purdue’s Drew Brees (11,792) in that exclusive club. He passed Long to move into the No. 4 position last week.
G.T.-OH!
Junior linebacker Gary Tinsley holds the team lead in tackles with 74. He has been in double digits four times this season. Tinsley has recorded at least five tackles in each of the Gophers’ last nine games. He recorded the first sack of the season for the Minnesota linebacking corps last week at Michigan State. It was just the fifth sack of the season for the Gopher defense.
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