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University of Minnesota Athletics
Game 11: Illinois at Minnesota
11/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
| Illinois (5-5, 2-4) at Minnesota (4-6, 1-5) | |||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, November 14 | ||||||||||
| Time | 11 a.m. Central | ||||||||||
| Location | TCF Bank Stadium (52,525) | ||||||||||
| Television | ESPNews / Watch ESPN | ||||||||||
| Radio | KFAN / Gopher Radio Network | ||||||||||
| Internet | Listen Live / I Heart Radio App | ||||||||||
| Live Stats | |||||||||||
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Illinois | Press Conferences | ||||||||||
| Social Media | @GopherFootball | Facebook | Instagram | ||||||||||
FIVE THINGS YOU NEED YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. Minnesota welcomes Illinois to TCF Bank Stadium for an 11 a.m. game on Saturday. The Gophers have played three straight night games and have not played an 11 a.m. game since Oct. 3 at Northwestern. Minnesota's last home 11 a.m. game was against Kent State on Sept. 10. Minnesota leads the all-time series 35-29-3 against the Illlini, but Illinois upset the Gophers 28-24 last year in Champaign, Ill. (Minnesota won 17-3 at Illinois in 2012). Saturday will mark the third time that Illinois will visit TCF. Minnesota beat the Illini 27-7 at TCF Bank Stadium in 2011, but lost 35-32 in 2009.
2. Saturday's game against Illinois will be Minnesota's first game against an unranked opponent since it hosted Nebraska on Oct. 17. Illinois will be the sixth and final (based on current AP poll) unraked team that Minnesota will play this year. The Gophers are 4-1 against non-ranked teams this year, as they have posted wins at Colorado State, against Kent State, against Ohio and at Purdue. Minnesota's lone loss to a non-ranked team was to Nebraska. The six unranked teams are the fewest that Minnesota will play in a season since it played five unranked teams in 1990 (Minnesota played only 11 games that year).
3. Minnesota is in the midst of playing 10 of 16 games against a ranked team in the AP Top 25 (poll started in 1936) for only the second time in school history. It could be said that Minnesota - according to AP voters - is therefore playing its most difficult schedule ever right now. The Gophers previously played 10 ranked teams in a 16-game span, which included the final three games of the 1990 season, the entire 1991 season and the first two games of the 1992 season (highest ranked team in that stretch was No. 4 Michigan). This year, Minnesota has played No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 TCU, No. 8 Iowa, No. 15 Michigan and No. 16 Northwestern. Minnesota is also scheduled to play No. 21 Wisconsin. The Gophers ended 2014 with four straight games against No. 8 Ohio State, No. 21 Nebraska, No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 16 Missouri.
4. Mitch Leidner is putting together one of the best seasons ever for a Minnesota quarterback. Leidner has completed 187 passes (tied for 10th all-time in a single season with Tim Schade, 1994), attempted 315 passes (tied for 12th all-time in a single season with Asad Abdul-Khaliq, 2002) and thrown for 2,167 yards (Marquel Fleetwood is 15th in the single-season record book with 2,168 yards) this year. He has completed 59.4% of his passes, which currently places him fifth in the single-season record book. Leidner is also 91-of-160 for 1,110 yards and five touchdowns against five ranked opponents this year. He has also rushed for 80 yards and two scores in those games.
5. KJ Maye has 56 catches (tied for 13th all-time in single-season history at Minnesota) this year for 630 yards and four touchdowns. Thirty-six of his receptions have resulted in a first down or touchdown and 17 of those have come on third or fourth down. Maye, who is averaging 5.6 catches-per-game, has a chance to set the Minnesota record for catches by a senior. That record is held by Ernie Wheelwright who made 66 receptions in 2007 (also third most all-time in a season behind Eric Decker's 84 in 2008 and Decker's 67 in 2007). Maye's 56 receptions are the most by a Gopher since Decker's 84 in 2008. For his career, Maye has 90 catches (15th in school history) for 1,047 yards and five touchdowns. Maye caught a career high 11 passes against Nebraska, which is a TCF Bank Stadium record for a Gopher. Maye caught 34 passes (one TD) in 39 career games prior to this year.
