The Illinois Fighting Illini finally managed to dent the scoreboard against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Big Ten regular season finale, but you have to wonder if it might be too little, too late.
Starting out at their own 20-yard line, Illinois put together what is easily their best drive of the day, going 80 yards in 12 plays and taking 4:34 off of the clock in doing so. The key play on the drive was a gutsy call by Illinois coach Ron Zook as he called for a fake punt on 4th-and-8 from the Illinois 22-yard line. However, the call was a successful one, as Jay Prosch took the snap from the up back position and ran for nine yards to squeak out a first down and keep the drive alive for the Illini.
The drive concluded with an 11-yard touchdown run for Troy Pollard, finally putting Illinois on the scoreboard, though they still trail 27-7.
Time is winding down at TCF Bank Stadium, as we have a little more than four minutes remaining. Barring a pretty sizable collapse by Minnesota, they should match their win total from 2010 and send their senior class out with a victory.