If it weren’t for one other running back, Illinois’ Chase Brown would have the longest streak in the nation of consecutive games with at least 100 rushing yards.
That other running back happens to be Mohamed Ibrahim, who will be on the opposite sideline on Saturday when the No. 24 Fighting Illini clash with Minnesota in a Big Ten game in Champaign, Ill.
Brown has been a workhorse for Illinois (5-1, 2-1), eclipsing the 100-yard mark on the ground in seven straight games dating to last season.
With 879 yards, Brown is the nation’s leading rusher and averages the second-most rushing yards per game (146.5) in the FBS. He ran for 146 yards on 31 carries in the Illini’s 9-6 win over Iowa last Saturday, which extended their win streak to four games and propelled them into the Top 25 for the first time since 2011.
“When (the ranking) came through (Sunday), just sat there for a moment, kind of digested it and thought about. I thought it was a good thing,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. “It’s a product of what they’ve built and what they’ve tried to accomplish, but it’s definitely not our ending point. It’s hopefully just a catalyst in our future.”
However, Ibrahim is one step ahead of Brown — or six — considering he’s rushed for more than 100 yards in 13 straight games.
The Golden Gophers (4-1, 1-1) were without Ibrahim in last weekend’s game against Purdue, and they paid the price for it. Offense was hard to come by, as Minnesota fell 20-10 in its first loss of the season.
Although it wasn’t the result Minnesota was looking for, coach P.J. Fleck was still able to take some positives from the outcome.
“Anything that could have went wrong in that game went wrong. But again, that’s college football,” Fleck said. “This football team got a chance to see that you’re human, you’re going to keep fighting human nature, but that’s the hard part about college football is you’ve got to find a way to overcome the human nature piece of that.”
Fleck realizes facing the Illini won’t be easy, though.
“They do what they do extremely well,” he said. “They’re all on the same page. … They want to just beat you up, and they’ve done that to a lot of people this year.”
Illinois has outscored opponents 156-48 this season and has allowed more than 10 points just once. Its defense also has given up just one touchdown during its winning streak.
Defense will be all the more important on Saturday because it looks as if Illinois starting quarterback Tommy DeVito won’t play.
DeVito exited the game against Iowa with an ankle injury, and Bielema said Monday it isn’t realistic to factor him into this week’s game plan.
One of the leaders of the Illini defense has been linebacker Seth Coleman, who has 21 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks through his first six games.
“He goes to work every day. He has improved every game,” Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said. “Really proud of him and the work he’s put into it.”
–Field Level Media
