Illinois coach Bret Bielema will strive to maintain his stranglehold over Minnesota when the No. 24 Fighting Illini host the Golden Gophers on Saturday in Champaign, Ill.
Bielema is 10-0 in his coaching career against Minnesota, including a 3-0 mark since he took over at Illinois in December 2020. He went 7-0 against Minnesota as Wisconsin’s coach, while he never faced the Golden Gophers during his coaching stint at Arkansas.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Bielema and what he does,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “He always has a hard, smash-mouth, tough football team no matter where he’s been — Wisconsin, Arkansas, Illinois. It’s his DNA.”
Illinois (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) is looking to bounce back from a lopsided loss at No. 1 Oregon a week ago. The Fighting Illini fell behind 35-3 by halftime and lost 38-9.
Now, Illinois returns to its home field, where it is 5-0 this season.
“We’re a program that’s on the rise,” Bielema said. “It’s a program that’s building, and we’re going to get better at every opportunity. … I promise you that we’ll get better this week.”
Bielema challenged the Fighting Illini’s fans to make it tough on Minnesota.
“I hope you’ll be there and be loud,” he said. “You’ve got an 11 a.m. (local time) kickoff. You’ve got to get that first beverage, whether it’s a coffee, a mimosa, a bloody, a Red Bull — whatever you got going, man — just get up and get it going and get here and get seated by about 10:30 and get ready to be a part of a really good Big Ten football environment.”
Minnesota (5-3, 3-2) would love to spoil the mood among the Illini faithful. The Golden Gophers are going for their fourth straight win after knocking off then-No. 11 Southern California, UCLA and Maryland over the past three contests.
One more win would make Minnesota bowl-eligible.
Fleck wanted no part of that hypothetical as he prepared for Illinois.
“We’ve got to play our best football against a ranked opponent on the road,” he said. “We’ve got to D.I.B. — do it better.”
Quarterback Max Brosmer leads Minnesota with 1,776 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. His top target in the passing game is Daniel Jackson, who has 51 catches for 568 yards and three touchdowns.
Golden Gophers running back Darius Taylor also will look to build upon his impressive season. He has 513 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in seven games.
Illinois’ offense is led by quarterback Luke Altmyer, who has passed for 1,667 yards, 15 touchdowns and three interceptions. Top wideout Pat Bryant has 34 catches for 510 yards and seven touchdowns, but his status is uncertain this week because of a concussion. Bielema said Monday that Bryant is expected to clear concussion protocol and play Saturday.
With running back Kaden Feagin out for the rest of the season with a hip injury, the next top rushers are Aidan Laughery (268 rushing yards) and Josh McCray (258 rushing yards, three TDs).
Minnesota leads the all-time series 40-33-3, although Illinois has won the past three.
