Quarterback Max Brosmer, named conference offensive player of the week on Monday, completed 26 of 33 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-23 rout of Maryland on Saturday. He’s on a three-game run in which he has completed 78.8% of his passes for 682 yards and six TDs with no interceptions. He also rushed for three TDs, all in the 24-17 upset of No. 11 USC.
Safety Koi Perich was named freshman of the week after intercepting a pass and returning it 45 yards against Maryland. That gave the true freshman from Esko, Minn., four picks in the past three games and a Big Ten-leading five for the season. He’s also a threat on punt returns, leading the Big Ten with a 14.2-yard average that included a 60-yarder in a comeback at Michigan that came up just short in a 27-24 loss.
Brosmer’s passing and Perich’s all-around play could be keys in counteracting an Illinois team that features quarterback Luke Altmyer, who averages 208.4 passing yards per game and has 15 TD passes against three interceptions. Altmyer has a knack for extending plays with his feet, too.
“He’s really, really cool, calm under pressure in the pocket,” Fleck said of Altmyer, who went 24-for-31 for 212 yards and three TDs against the Gophers last year. “… He’s very accurate as he’s being hit, but he’s a really good runner, too.”
A victory at Illinois, where Minnesota last won in 2020, would gain the Gophers a chance to play in a bowl for the sixth time in Fleck’s eight years in Dinkytown. It also would give them their second win over a Top 25 team this season. The last time that happened was in 2019, when they topped No. 5 Penn State in Minneapolis and No. 9 Auburn in the Outback Bowl on the way to an 11-2 record.
