The Minnesota Golden Gophers enter Week 10 with a 5-3 record and now will turn their attention to the Illinois Fighting Illini. If the Gophers hope to extend their winning streak to three games, they'll have to execute on these three keys to victory.
1. Keeping Luke Altmyer in the pocket
This season, we have seen the Gophers struggle with quarterbacks who have dual-threat capabilities. In week one against Nebraska, then Cornhuskers starting quarterback Jeff Sims ran for 91 yards across 19 carries. Against Michigan, J.J. McCarthy was able to garner 17 yards on four carries and found the endzone twice.
While Altmyer doesn't look to take off more than needed he does have some dual-threat ability. This season he's totaled 301 rushing yards and 3.6 yards per carry. This season he has games of 69, 70, and 100 yards, the latter coming this weekend against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Gophers will have to be aware of Altmyer in passing situations and the potential holes in the middle of their defense that he could potentially escape into. We don't expect Altmyer to put up 100 yards like he did last week but the Gophers will have to be especially aware of him in third and medium and third and long situations.
2. Creating and controlling chaos
Chaos is the name of the game when it comes to playing winning defense and this season, the Golden Gophers have a decent job of doing just that. Not only has the front seven been better at getting into the backfield and getting to the quarterback, but the Gophers have been very good at forcing turnovers this season.
In their eight games, the Gophers have forced turnovers in seven games. They're 5-2 in those seven games. When forcing multiple turnovers, the Gophers' chances of winning this season increase dramatically, going 4-1 this year with their only loss coming to North Carolina. Over the last two weeks, the Gophers have caused five turnovers, including three interceptions.
This weekend they'll face an Illinois team that is prone to turnover with 14 in eight games. Notably, a five-turnover game against Penn State has inflated their numbers a bit, but this is still an Illini team that can struggle with turnovers. They've turned the ball over in seven of eight games this season and have multiple turnovers in four of eight. When turning the ball over multiple times, they've collected a 1-3 record, including an 0-3 record against Power Five programs.
A big reason for the Illini's recent play with wins over Maryland and Wisconsin has been keeping the turnovers to a minimum by just turning the ball over once. They'll look to continue to play that brand of careful, smart football this weekend against the Gophers. If Joe Rossi's defense can continue to force turnovers at a strong rate against the Illini, the Gophers have a great chance of walking away with the win on Saturday.
3. Don't lose track of Isaiah Williams
There are not too many players on this Illinois offense that keep opposing defensive coordinators up late. That being said, there are several players to be aware of, one of those is wide receiver Isaiah Williams. The former four-star prospect and quarterback is among the top wide receivers in the Big Ten this season with 46 receptions for 562 yards and one touchdown.
Williams is coming off his quietest game of the season against Wisconsin, totaling four receptions for 16 yards. Rarely is Williams kept quiet for multiple weeks in a row, the Gophers secondary is going to have to keep track of Williams throughout the game, expect Justin Walley or Tre'Von Jones to be matched up against the former Rivals250 prospect on Saturday.
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