SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 10, 2012
Minnesota 17, Illinois 3: Donnell Kirkwood rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns as visiting Minnesota defeated Illinois to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2009.
Kirkwood scored on a tiebreaking 3-yard run with 2:31 left in the third quarter as the Golden Gophers (6-4, 2-4 Big Ten) won a conference road game for the first time in seven such outings under second-year coach Jerry Kill.
Illinois (2-8, 0-6) lost its seventh straight game and suffered its 12th consecutive Big Ten defeat.
Kirkwood scored from 12 yards out with 1:34 remaining to put the game away. The touchdown came three plays after Minnesotaกฏs Derrick Wells recovered a fumble by Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase and returned it 12 yards to the Illini 19-yard line.
The teams traded 20-yard field goals in the first half. Nick Immekus booted one for Illinois midway through the first quarter and Minnesotaกฏs Jordan Wettstein knocked his through the uprights with 3:30 left in the half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Golden Gophers leading receiver A.J. Barker missed his second straight game with an ankle injury. กญ Illinois had allowed an average of 41.0 points over its past six games before playing relatively well against Minnesota. กญ Kirkwood has 819 rushing yards and is the first Minnesota running back since Amir Pinnix (1,272) in 2006 to top 700 yards.