CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois football team is back on the road for the second time in two weeks with a trip to Minnesota on Saturday. The game is set for 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.

Illinois (3-6, 2-4 Big Ten) will look for its second straight road upset after taking down #7 Penn State in nine overtimes in their last road trip two weeks ago. The Illini dropped a 20-14 decision to Rutgers at Memorial Stadium last week when a potential game-winning drive stalled at the 34-yard line with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter.

Minnesota (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) is one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten with four straight victories to move the Gophers to the top spot in the Big Ten West. Minnesota has lost three running backs for the season - Mohamed Ibrahim, Trey Potts, and Bryce Williams - but its running game has not slowed down as the Gophers have back-to-back games with 300+ yards on the ground. Both Mar'Keise Irving and Ky Thomas recorded 100-yard rushing games for the second straight week last week against Northwestern.

ESPN2 has the television broadcast from Minneapolis with Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Kelly Stouffer (analyst) and Lauren Sisler (reporter) on the call. The Busey Bank Illini Sports Network will have the radio call featuring Brian Barnhart (play-by-play), Martin O'Donnell (analyst), and Michael Martin (sideline).

PRESS CONFERENCE

ILLINOIS STATS AND NOTES

BACK ON THE ROAD

• Illinois heads to Minneapolis for its second road game in a three-week span.
• The Illini are looking for their first win at Minnesota since 2009.

DEFENSE STEPS UP

• Illinois has held opponents to 24 points or fewer in six straight games for the first time since an eight-game stretch that spanned the final five games of the 2002 season and the first three games of the 2003 season. Last year's Illini team allowed 24 points or fewer twice in eight games.
• Illinois' defense has made a 10+-point improvement from last season (34.88 ppg to 23.33 ppg).
• Illinois is 11th in the nation and first in the Big Ten in fumbles recovered (8).
• Illinois is fifth in the Big Ten in takeaways (13).
• Illinois is sixth in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+0.56).

LATE LOSSES

• Illinois is coming off a 20-14 loss to Rutgers in which the Illini had the ball with a chance to win in the final drive, which was stopped at the 34-yard line. Four of Illinois' six losses have come when Illinois had a chance to win on its final drive.
            » vs. UTSA - Drive stopped at the 30 with 0:00 left while trailing by 7
            » vs. Maryland - Loss on a 32-yard field goal with 0:00 left
            » at Purdue - Drive stopped at the 19 with 0:40 left while trailing by 4
            » vs. Rutgers - Drive stopped at the 34 with 1:08 left while trailing by 6

CHASE BROWN CHASES HISTORY

• Chase Brown's 223 rushing yards at Penn State were the most ever by an opponent at Beaver Stadium and the fourth-most ever against Penn State.
• Brown's 223-yard game marks his second game of the season with 200+ yards (257 vs. Charlotte). He joined Howard Griffith (1990) and Rashard Mendenhall (2007) as the only players in Illinois program history with multiple 200-yard rushing games in a single season.
• Brown is the first Illini in history to run for 220+ yards twice in a career. He did it in the span of three games.
• Brown eclipsed the 100-yard mark in the first half (134) at Penn State. By halftime, Brown's 134 yards were already the most given up in a game by Penn State this season.
• Brown led the nation in yards after contact in Week 8 with 145 at Penn State, according to PFF. He has led the nation in yards after contact twice in a four-week span in October and he is the only running back to lead the nation in yards after contact twice this season.
• Brown is one of four players in FBS to have two 200-yard rushing games this season.
• Brown is 17th in the nation and fifth in the Big Ten in yards per carry (6.34) .
• Brown is 21st in the nation and third in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (100.6)
• Brown has 1,262 rushing yards for his career at Illinois. He is the 46th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career yards and now sits at No. 33 on the list. Brown also tallied 352 yards as a freshman at Western Michigan, giving him 1,614 for his collegiate career.

LOWE, PALCZEWSKI BREAK STARTS RECORD

• Illinois offensive linemen Vederian Lowe and Alex Palczewski broke the Illini record for career starts against Rutgers. They both have 49 career starts, breaking the record previously held by QB Nathan Scheelhaase (2010-13), C Ryan McDonald (2005-08), and OL Tim Simpson (1988-91), who all had 48 career starts.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Illinois is seventh in the nation in net punting (43.75).
• Illinois is 13th in the nation in kickoff return defense (15.0).

OFFENSIVE LINE

• Illinois is 10th in the nation in run blocking grade, according to PFF (80.3)
• Doug Kramer is the No. 41 graded center in the nation according to PFF (68.6) (min. 300 snaps). Kramer has the No. 25 run blocking grade in the nation among centers (72.3).
• Alex Palczewski is the No. 36 graded tackle in the nation according to PFF (76.8) (min. 300 snaps), although he played guard against Penn State and Rutgers. Palczewski has the No. 12 run blocking grade in the nation among tackles (87.1).
• Vederian Lowe is the No. 32 graded tackle in the nation according to PFF (77.7) (min. 300 snaps). Lowe was the highest graded offensive lineman in the nation in Week 5 against Charlotte (93.7).

ALL-TIME SERIES

ILLINOIS vs. MINNESOTA

• Series: Illinois trails, 30-40-3
• Last: Minnesota 41, Illinois 14 (11/7/2020)
• Streak: Minnesota W2
• at Minnesota: Illinois trails, 11-23-2
• Saturday's game between Illinois and Minnesota will be the 74th meeting between the two teams.
• Last season, a short-handed Illinois team fell 41-14 at home against the Gophers.
• During their last trip to Minneapolis, the Illini scored two defensive touchdowns but was outscored 24-7 in the second half of a 40-17 loss. Dele Harding had a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown to give Illinois a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and Milo Eifler had a seven-yard fumble return for a touchdown after a Jake Hansen strip sack in the third quarter.
• John Sullivan set Illinois' single-game tackles record of 34 vs. Minnesota 11/12/1977
• Rich Kreitling set Illinois' single-game yards per catch record of 41.5 (4-166) at Minnesota 10/18/1958
• Dike Eddleman set Illinois' single-game punt return average record of 51.0 vs. Minnesota 10/18/1947
• Illinois' most rushing yards vs. Minnesota: 315 Robert Holcombe 11/16/1996, 213 Reggie Corbin 11/3/2018, 206 Robert Holcombe 11/18/1995, 205 J.C. Caroline 10/17/1953, 201 Rashard Mendenhall 11/3/2007
• Illinois' most receiving yards vs. Minnesota: 188 David Williams 11/5/1983, 181 Arrelious Benn 10/11/2008
• Illinois' most passing yards vs. Minnesota: 462 Juice Williams 10/11/2008, 343 Jeff George 10/29/1988
• Illinois' longest rush vs. Minnesota: 77 Reggie Corbin 11/3/2018, 72 Reggie Corbin 11/3/2018, 72 Dre Brown 11/3/2018
• Illinois' longest pass vs. Minnesota: 83 Hickey to Kreitling 10/18/1958, 80 Eason to Martin, 10/2/1982
• Longest Illinois winning streak vs. Minnesota: 5 (1981-1984, 1987)
• Longest Minnesota winning streak vs. Illinois: 7 (1900-1903, 1911-1913)
• Illinois offensive coordinator Tony Peterson was the co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and eventually the passing coordinator at Minnesota from 1999 to 2006, where quarterback Bryan Cupito set the school's all-time passing mark.
• Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck is a native of Sugar Grove, Illinois, and went to Kaneland High School. Fleck    was coached by Illinois wide receivers coach George McDonald at Northern Illinois.
• Illinois wide receivers coach George McDonald served as the wide receivers coach for two seasons (2007-08) at Minnesota.
• Illinois offensive line coach Bart Miller coached the offensive line at Minnesota during the 2016 season.
• Minnesota running backs coach Kenni Burns is a native of Springfield, Illinois, and went to Sacred Heart Griffin.
• Illinois chancellor Robert J. Jones had a 34-year career at the University of Minnesota, where he began as a plant physiologist in the department of agronomy and plant genetics and rose through a series of academic administrative appointments, serving as senior vice president for academic administration at the University of Minnesota System from 2004 to 2013.
• Illinois head football athletic trainer Jeremy Busch was a graduate assistant athletic trainer with the Minnesota football program and graduated from Minnesota with a master's degree in sports management in 2005.
• Illinois' Travis Perry worked for Minnesota's football staff for four years as the Gophers' full-time graphic designer/recruiting assistant before coming to Champaign. Perry's wife, Brittany Perry, is Illinois' Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Nutrition and was a four-year hockey letterwinner for the Gophers.