Defense redeems itself a bit

The Illini yielded 309 yards of total offense and Tim Banks' unit had the team in position to win the game until the Illini turned it over at their own 19 late in the game to set Minnesota up with a touchdown.

"I think the guys played hard, I really do," Banks said. "A lot of credit goes to our seniors. It's been a rough year, to say the least, but at the end of the day I thought they came out and they kept us in the game for the most part and gave us a chance to hopefully pull it out."

Marcus Jackson