Oct. 3, 2002

Final Stats

Minnesota tops Illinois in the Big Ten showdown.
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Video courtesy ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS -- Terry Jackson II rushed for a career-high 159 yards and Thomas Tapeh added 113 yards and a touchdown to lead Minnesota past struggling Illinois 31-10 Thursday night.

Asad Abdul-Khaliq completed 15 of 27 passes for 144 yards, an interception and a touchdown, plus had another one on the ground for the Golden Gophers (5-1, 1-1).

Brandon Lloyd caught five passes for 139 yards for the defending Big Ten champion Fighting Illini (1-5, 0-2), who replaced quarterback Jon Beutjer late in the third quarter with Dustin Ward.

The Illini had switched from Ward to Beutjer for the home opener against Arkansas State, their lone victory, after the offense scored just two touchdowns in losses to Southern Mississippi and Missouri.

A sign that, again, it wasn't Illinois' night: Ward hit Lloyd for a 49-yard pass on his first drive to the Minnesota 8, but fullback Carey Davis fumbled on the next play and the Gophers recovered.

Beutjer was 14-for-29 for 165 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He fumbled three times, losing one of them.

The Gophers, who surpassed last season's victory total of four, were missing defensive captain Mike Lehan, their best defensive back, to a deep thigh bruise against the conference's top passing offense.

But Beutjer wasn't sharp -- the Illini punted on their first six possessions (five in the first quarter) and the offense didn't score until Walter Young's 16-yard touchdown reception midway through the second quarter.

Beutjer's ball on the 2-point conversion attempt was tipped, but Young snagged it and got one foot in the end zone before he fell out of bounds to tie the game at 10.

Eugene Wilson intercepted Abdul-Khaliq on the next possession, the Illini's first pick of the season after 185 attempts by their opponents. But after driving Illinois 73 yards in 10 plays to the Minnesota 2, Beutjer fumbled as he was sacked by Bradley Vance.

Mike Losli fell on the ball for the Gophers with 2:10 left before halftime. Tapeh capped an 86-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run on the half's final play to put the Gophers up 17-10.

The momentum stayed with Minnesota in the second half. The Gophers took the opening kickoff and drove 73 yards in nine plays, finishing with Abdul-Khaliq's 11-yard scramble for a touchdown.

Making up for a special-teams gaffe in the first quarter (Peter Prudden's snap went through Preston Gruening's hands and through the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Illinois lead), Minnesota's Jermaine Mays blocked Matt Minnes' punt and recovered it in the end zone to make it 31-10 with 7:40 left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was completely uneventful, except for a scramble early in the period by Abdul-Khaliq that appeared to reaggravate a right ankle sprain he suffered last week against Purdue. On crutches on the sideline, Abdul-Khaliq watched backup Benji Kamrath run the offense the rest of the way.

With a 23-yard field goal in the second quarter, Dan Nystrom became Minnesota's all-time leader in field goals with 58 -- passing Chip Lohmiller.

Only 32,663 fans showed up for the game, moved up two days because the Minnesota Twins are using the Metrodome Saturday for Game 4 of their AL division series against Oakland. This was Minnesota's smallest crowd for a Big Ten game since 31,293 watched the Purdue game on Oct. 9, 1993.