Chase Brown finished with 233 yards from scrimmage as No. 24 Illinois beat Minnesota 26-14 on Saturday at Champaign, Ill.
Brown rushed for 180 yards on 41 carries and also hauled in three receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown to lead the Fighting Illini (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) to their fifth straight win.
Illini quarterback Tommy Devito threw for 252 yards and a touchdown on 25-of-32 passing, and Isaiah Williams had nine catches for 62 yards.
Mohamed Ibrahim eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the 14th straight game, finishing with 127 along with a TD on 15 carries for the Golden Gophers (4-2, 1-2).
Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan struggled to get the passing game going, completing just 4 of 12 passes for 21 yards and an interception before exiting the game in the fourth with an apparent head injury.
Ibrahim scored on Minnesota’s first offensive play of the second half after Quentin Redding returned the opening kickoff 92 yards to the Illinois 8. A horse collar tackle moved the ball to the 4, and Ibrahim punched it in for a 14-13 advantage.
The quick score didn’t faze the Illini as they answered with a seven-play, 75-yard drive in just 2 minutes, 49 seconds that ended with Devito’s 5-yard touchdown on a keeper.
Fabrizio Pinton added a pair of fourth-quarter field goals to seal the victory.
Illinois wasted no time getting on the board, as Devito found a wide-open Brown on a wheel route, and he scampered up the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown. Brown accounted for 64 of the 75 yards on the nine-play drive to open the game.
Pinton kicked a 31-yard field goal at the beginning of the second quarter to extend the Illini lead to 10-0.
The Golden Gophers responded on the ensuing drive, going 80 yards in eight plays to pull within 10-7. Ibrahim’s 44-yard run set up a 9-yard scoring rush from Morgan, which was the first TD that Illinois has allowed at home this season.
Pinton made good on a 23-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the first half to send the Illini into the break with a 13-7 edge.
–Field Level Media