The Minnesota Golden Gophers will look for win No. 6 of the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon against the No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini. If the Gophers are going to come out on top for the fourth-straight game, they'll have to hit on each of these three keys to victory.
1. Win the third down conversion battle
This should be an intriguing battle to watch within the game itself on Saturday as it features two of the best offenses this season when it comes to converting third downs against two of the worst defenses at getting off the field on third down.
The Golden Gophers' offense this season is converting on third down at a 44.3% rate, an advantageous position for them heading into the game as Illinois's third down defense ranks 120th this season, allowing 47.1% of all attempts to be converted.
With the scenario flipped, it’s almost identical. The Illini are converting on 42.3% of their third down attempts this season while the Gophers are allowing 46.4% of third-down attempts to be converted, ranking 116th nationally in the category.
If both defenses struggle to stop the opposing offense from converting on third downs, this could end up being a quick and low-scoring matchup as both of these offenses are among the slowest in the country. Whoever wins the third down battle is going to give themselves a strong upper hand in winning the game.
2. Finishing off drives
It would've felt insane to say coming into the season, but the Golden Gophers can't trust Dragan Kesich this season to be a reliable kicker from attempt to attempt.
Against Maryland, he had his best game of the season, going 2-for-2 in field goal opportunities and 6-for-6 in extra points. That being said, the level of trust in Kesich still has to be a bit of a question mark coming into this weekend, no matter what P.J. Fleck may say publicly. With that, finishing off drives against Illinois is going to be crucial for Minnesota when it comes to pulling out a victory.
There's a strong chance this one is going to be a low-scoring matchup; finding a way to get into the end zone on those long, extensive drives in which the Gophers find their way deep into Illinois territory could be the deciding factor between a win and a loss.
3. Gophers offensive line must step up their game
The Golden Gophers' offensive line play this season has been up-and-down. Last week, they did a good job keeping the Terrapins away from Max Brosmer but, for the most part, struggled to get the needed push in the run game. This week, the Illinois defense will present one of the Gophers' biggest challenges in terms of pass rush this season. The Illini have totaled 20 sacks on the season and are averaging 2.5 sacks per game. Notably, they have struggled to stop the run this season, allowing 171 yards per game. Additionally, when the Gophers have totaled over 100 rushing yards in a game this season, they're 4-0. When kept under 100 yards, they're 1-3. If the Gophers offensive line wins in the trenches on Saturday, they'll have a great chance at picking up win No. 6.
============================
- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.
- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @RivalsDylanCC
- SUBSCRIBE to Gophers Nation
