2 weeks Ago
CHAMPAIGN — Just like the great “Carl Spackler” in “Caddyshack,” Bret Bielema seems to have a license to kill Gophers. At least, the Minnesota kind. Not actually kill, but defeat them on the football field.
Yes, that’s what I mean. Bielema has dominated Minnesota during his head coaching career, going 7-0 while in charge at Wisconsin and 3-0 at Illinois. His first game in the Wisconsin-Minnesota series was the most lopsided, the Badgers winning by 36 at home in 2006.
He also won by 29, 25 and 18. Does the Illinois coach have an explanation for the dominance he’d like to share? “You know what, I don’t even remember them all,” Bielema said during a Thursday press session at the Smith Center ahead of Saturday’s 11 a.m.
kick with the 24th-ranked Illini (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) hosting Minnesota (5-3, 3-2) at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. “Obviously, a lot when I was at Wisconsin. I’ve got tremendous respect for them.
” The fourth-year Illinois coach quickly dismissed his part in the streak. “My personal record, just like really in the Michigan game, I didn’t really talk about it,” Bielema said. “I don’t ever really talk about that because it kind of takes away from what the moment is.
” And to be fair, as player at Iowa, Bielema was not perfect against Minnesota. His teams went 1-3. The Hawkeyes were 5-3 in the Floyd of Rosedale rivalry when he was a member of the Iowa coaching staff.
The history tells a story. At Wisconsin, Bielema had three wins against Minnesota decided by a touchdown or fewer, winning by seven, three and three points from 2007 to 2009. Two of the games were in Minneapolis, including 2009 at then-new Huntington Bank Stadium.
Makes you think he’s got the Gophers’ number. Before he took over as Wisconsin head coach in 2006, Bieleama spent two seasons with the Badgers on Barry Alvarez’s defensive staff. Wisconsin and Minnesota play every year for Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
“We didn’t have the Axe when I got there (Minnesota won 37-34 in 2003), so we won it my first year as a defensive coordinator,” Bielema said. “It really made a huge impression on me.” Why? Because what the Axe meant to the players on both teams.
“I saw some guys that weren’t from Minnesota and weren’t from Wisconsin go sprinting across that field to go get that Axe,” Bielema said. “I’ll never forget that moment. A guy by the name of Dan Buenning and a guy named Scott Starks, a player from St.
Louis. I’m like, ‘If guys from states that weren’t involved in this growing up, think that much of it, there must be something to it.’” Illinois and Minnesota don’t play for a trophy.
But the schools are linked as former members of the Big Ten West and because of the ties between Bielema and Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck.
“We recruit against Minnesota a lot,” Bielema said. “P.J.
stands for a lot of the same things we do in academics, integrity, the people they are. There’s a lot to this one.” At Illinois, Bielema has continued the success in the series.
In two games at Huntington Bank Stadium, Illinois won 14-6 (2021) and 27-26 in 2023. More on that in a bit. Bielema’s breakout 2022 Illinois team beat the Gophers 26-14 at Memorial Stadium.
Now-Bengals running back Chase Brown ran 41 times that day for 180 yards and also caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from current Giants backup quarterback Tommy DeVito. If you believed in hexes or jinxes or curses — I don’t — the 2023 Illinois-Minnesota game would be all the proof needed that Bielema has a special hold over the Gophers. Illinois was nearly done.
Down five, Luke Altmyer had been knocked out of the game and backup John Paddock came in. Before that drive, he had thrown 23 passes as an Illini. No problem.
The grandson of Illini great John Wright Sr. needed just three passes to move his team 85 yards. The winning touchdown came on a perfect throw to Isaiah Williams.
It is a victory Illinois fans will talk about for decades. Not a lot of games against the Gophers on the favorites list, but Paddock’s miracle makes the cut. If Bielema was ever going to lose against the Gophers, that was the game.
The loss ruined Minnesota’s season. The Gophers dropped their next three and limped into a bowl despite a 5-7 record. Saturday’s early November matchup against Minnesota will be the last for Illinois until a 2027 visit to Minneapolis.
The earliest they could meet after that is 2029. A long time to wait. Best bet for more frequent matchups: another expansion of the Big Ten, then a splitting of the conference into “classic” and “new” divisions.
That isn’t likely to happen for at least a decade. If ever..
