Minnesota vs Illinois: Where do the Gophers have the advantage?

The Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-3, 3-2) will look for their fourth straight win on Saturday afternoon against the No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini in Champlain. As both teams put the finishing touchces on their gameplans, Gophers Nation takes a look at where each team has the advantage heading into Saturday's matchup.

Minnesota's offense vs Illinois's defense

The Golden Gophers offense this season has been high powered at times but overall the offensive numbers have been quite pedestrian.

Their 27.9 points per game ranks 67th nationally, however, their 334.4 yards per game rank 111th out of 134 programs. The offense this season as Gophers fans know by now has been severely hampered by a rushing attack that has struggled to gain any sort of consistent momentum. The Gophers, despite a talented running back duo of Darius Taylor and Marcus Major, are averaging just 108.0 yards per game this season, best for 119th nationally. Their 3.6 yards per carry as a team ranks 109th nationally. From a passing perspective, Max Brosmer and the Gophers receivers have done a quality job this season especially as of late, throwing for 226.4 yards per game and completing 68.8% of all passing attempts, a top-10 rank nationally.

The Illinois defense this season has done a good job of limiting points overall, allowing just 20.6 points per game, a near top-30 rank in the country but this defense overall is exploitable. The Illini have allowed 367 yards of total offense per game this season and are allowing nearly 6.0 yards per play this season. They can be beaten on the ground quite consistently, as well, allowing 4.5 yards per carry and 155.8 rushing yards per game this season. Their pass defense is a quality one, allowing just 211.2 passing yards per game. They'll allow a heavy amount of completions, however, with opposing quarterbacks completing 62.1% of their passes this season.

Where the Gophers may have the biggest advantage on Saturday is on third downs. The Gophers have done a great job this season on third downs, converting at a 44.3% clip while Illinois's defense struggles to get off the field, allowing opponents to convert at a rate of 47.1% this season.

One area of intrigue, however, is how the Golden Gophers offensive line will be able to handle the Fighting Illini's front seven in the pass rush. The Illini are getting out the quarterback consistently this season, with 20 total sacks and average of 2.5 sacks per game. The Gophers offensive line this season has allowed its fair share of pressures though they've avoided Max Brosmer getting jarred around too much for the most part.

Overall, the stats indicate that Illinois's defense has a slight advantage over the Golden Gophers and we would tend to agree with that assessment. That being said, the Gophers should be able to move the ball throughout Saturday's game, but they'll have to finish off their scoring drives instead of relying on Dragan Kesich to get them on the board, the defending Big Ten Kicker of the Year has had significant struggles this season.

ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT ILLINOIS

Illinois's Offense vs Minnesota's Defense

Based on the first eight games of data for both sides, Minnesota has a significant advantage when it comes to their defense going up against the Fighting Illini's offense. The Minnesota defense has been great this season and as you can see below, is amongst the best in the nation in a handful of categories including points per game and yards per game.

On the other side, the Illinois offense has been much like their defense, good but not great. The Illini are only averaging 24.4 points per game this season and don't move the ball a whole lot, averaging less than 340 yards per game. The Illini have had quality success in throwing the ball this season and have done so efficiently but that plays right into the Gophers' strength as a defensive unit. Heading into this weekend, the Gophers have one of the top 10 pass defenses in the country and are intercepting over 6% of all opposing passing attempts. Not to mention, the Illini could be without star wide receiver Pat Bryant this weekend as he's considered a game time decision. Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer has rarely made mistakes this season, throwing interceptions on less than 2% of all attempts but the Gophers will likely need to nab an interception or two in this game to maximize their chances of coming out victorious.

Earlier this season, the Minnesota run defense was a concern but against similar offenses this season, the Gophers have been able to have success in minimizing the opposing rushing attack.

Like with the roles reversed, Illinois has the advantage on third down coming into this game. The Gophers have struggled repeatedly this season getting off the field on third down, allowing over 46% of all opposing third down conversion attempts to be successful. Illinois is successfully converting their own third down attempts at a rate just slightly over 42%.

ADVANTAGE: HEAVY MINNESOTA

SPECIAL TEAMS

According to ESPN's Bill Connelly and the SP+ rankings, Illinois has a huge advantage on special teams. The Illini have the fourth best special teams unit this season according to the SP+ while the Gophers rank 110th. Notably, Minnesota's Dragan Kesich is just 9-for-15 this season in field goal attempts while Ililnois's David Olano is 13-for-16 this season, an 81.3% make rate.