The Orange Runs Out of Juice
In my October 9th Illinois preview I ended the post with the following comment:
Besides an improved Gopher defense, there is one other wild card statistic that could give the Gophers hope. The Gophers have a turnover margin of + 10 while the Illini are only + 1. What does that mean? The Illini are far more likely to throw an interception or fumble away possession than the Gophers. If Juice Williams could just throw a few interceptions or if the Gophers could recover a few fumbles…anything could happen.
The turnover margin ended up determining the outcome of this game and facilitated a historic win for Tim Brewster that will likely be a turning point for the Minnesota program. The Illini gave up three turnovers versus one surrendered by the Gophers. One of those turnovers, a fumble by Juice Williams, translated into a touchdown for linebacker Simoni Lawrence. Another was an intercepted Juice Williams pass by Ryan Collado with 1:10 left in the game.
A few things were proven today:
- The Gopher defense is now the real deal. Ted Roof has them playing aggressive, hard-hitting football.
- Bowling Green, Florida Atlantic, and Indiana were not playing flat on offense against Minnesota. They were facing a tough defense.
- Tim Brewster, in one year, has transformed the Gophers into a winning program with an exciting offense, a solid defense, a new look, and a zelous hope for the new TCF Bank Stadium in 2009.
- Gopher Nation is going BOWLING…now it’s just a matter of which bowl.
Tags: Fighting Illini, Gopher Football, Gophers, Illini Football, Illinois Football, Juice Williams, Minnesota Illinois, Ryan Collado, Simoni Lawrence, Tim Brewster, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota
