CHAMPAIGN, ILL. – The Gophers are so used to seeing David Cobb pick them up, they had a hard time reacting Saturday, when he finally let them down.
Cobb had helped rescue them from another sluggish start, giving the Gophers their first lead late in the third quarter with a 67-yard burst, followed by a 13-yard touchdown run.
The Gophers were closing in on their first 4-0 Big Ten start since 1967, but with less than 7 minutes remaining, they sent Cobb on another challenging run into a swarming Illinois defense.
T.J. Neal stripped the ball, V'Angelo Bentley scooped it up and raced 12 yards for a touchdown. The shell-shocked Gophers never recovered, and soon Illinois was celebrating a 28-24 homecoming victory before an announced 44,437 at Memorial Stadium.
Cobb's sad eyes gave away the pain he felt as he met with reporters.
"Aw man, I let the team down," he said. "I'll bounce back. Be all right."
The Gophers (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) had come back from an 11-point deficit one week earlier to defeat Purdue, and they were facing an opponent that was 1-18 in Big Ten games under coach Tim Beckman and entered this one ranked 111th in the nation in scoring defense. But the Illini led the Gophers 14-3 at halftime.
"I just think we came out a little flat, looking forward to the bye week, instead of handling the game," Cobb said. "And we paid for it."
After throwing for only 30 yards in the first half, Mitch Leidner started hitting some big passes in the third quarter, just as he did a week earlier.
Leidner threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Fruechte, trimming Illinois' lead to 14-10 early in the third quarter.
Illinois (4-4, 1-3) answered with a touchdown, but Leidner hit Donovahn Jones with a 46-yard pass, setting up another score. Cobb got his legs clipped but flipped into the end zone on a 1-yard run, trimming the lead to 21-17.
Cobb entered as the nation's fourth-leading rusher, but to that point, he had carried 16 times for 36 yards. Illinois ranked last in the Big Ten in rushing defense, but Beckman's squad had clearly made stopping Cobb the priority.
When Cobb delivered his 67-yard run and followed with the go-ahead score, it seemed like a backbreaker for Illinois. The Gophers defense had stiffened after giving up two touchdowns on the Illini's first three drives.
"I thought we had it in the bag, the way the defense came out playing in the second half," linebacker Damien Wilson said.
After two more defensive stops, the Gophers were half a quarter from being 7-1 with a bye week to prepare for their Nov. 8 showdown against Iowa. On third-and-14 from their own 16-yard line, they handed it to Cobb, as they have trying to close out several games the past two years.
Cobb hasn't had many fumbles, although he did lose one week earlier against Purdue.
"I promise you he'll bounce back, and we'll be ready to go," coach Jerry Kill said. "But I feel bad for him as much as anything because he busts his tail end off."
Added Wilson: "David Cobb's one of the best backs in the Big Ten, worth his weight in gold. But even the best backs in the NFL — Adrian Peterson goes out there and he drops one every now and then.
"But I'll take nothing away from that Illinois defense. They made a play when it mattered most."
The Gophers had chances to come back, but they went three-and-out on their next drive. They got the ball back with 3:36 remaining, and Leidner hit Fruechte on a 41-yard pass to the Illinois 26.
But Leidner followed with three incomplete passes — two to Fruechte and one to Williams — before getting sacked and fumbling on fourth down.
"I thought we were in a good position to score there," Leidner said. "Just didn't work out."
Leidner got one final chance from the Gophers 36-yard line, but his long throw downfield drifted out of bounds. He finished 12 of 30 passes for a career-high 240 yards and one interception.
"I feel bad for all of our seniors because we want to win the game for them," Leidner said. "We just have to bounce back."
Cobb finished with 22 carries for 127 yards, giving him 1,140 yards for the season.
Asked what Kill's message to the team was after the game, Cobb's voice cracked as he said, "I don't know. All I know is I've got to hang on to the ball."
