The last time Minnesota played Illinois, the Gophers suffered a loss that could have derailed their season. On Wednesday night, they showed the Illini just how well they've responded.
The ball bounced right to Charles Matthews, who dribbled once and squared up to shoot as the game clock — and more importantly, the shot clock — neared zero.
Known for his catchphrases, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck had one for his defense that he repeated often in the week after firing defensive coordinator Robb Smith: sound, simple fast.
The hot seat Illinois coach Lovie Smith has found himself on lately cooled down a bit on Saturday as Illinois beat Minnesota 55-31 in a game that saw some impressive and long scoring runs.
Freshman Anthony McFarland ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns, Tre Watson returned an interception for a score and Maryland breezed past previously undefeated Minnesota 42-13 Saturday.
Zack Annexstad threw two short touchdown passes to Tyler Johnson, and freshman Bryce Williams had 176 yards total offense as Minnesota beat Miami (Ohio) 26-3 on Saturday.