Minnesota has received criticism this year for what some have considered a "fluff" non-conference schedule against Tulsa, Troy State, Ohio and Louisiana-Lafayette.

The Golden Gophers won all four contests to enter the Big Ten season unscarred.

"You look at them a year ago, they were a team that was very young. For a very young football team, their schedule helped them to develop confidence," said Illinois head coach Ron Turner. "Get some wins, get some confidence, feel good about what they're doing. Then they did OK in conference. Now this year, they're a year older and again their schedule helped them."

And so, despite a two-game losing streak from trouble against Michigan and Michigan State, the Gophers (6-2, 2-2) travel to Champaign sitting solidly in front of bowl-game status.

That's an enviable position for the Illini, who struggled to non-conference losses against Missouri, UCLA and California before losing four conference games and all bowl hopes.

"If you're a young team and lost a lot of guys and are maybe in a transition period ... to play a tough schedule — teams from BCS conferences and Big Ten-type teams — sure it complicates things and makes things obviously a lot tougher," Turner said.

Tough is something this 1-7 Illinois team can attest to. Still, the Illini said they'd take their schedule against traditionally tougher teams this year.

"I don't want to play any cupcake teams. I want to play teams that are going to be in bowl games," Illini fullback Carey Davis said. "You should challenge yourself. It's not fun to go out there and play somebody you know you're going to beat up on.

"If we had won those games, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I wouldn't say it's unfair, that's what they chose to do."

The Illini can't do much about non-conference scheduling anyway. Non-conference schedules typically start to come together five to 10 years in advance. Illinois schedules up until the 2012 season have already been started, Turner said.

And so, this year, the Illini are left with only the thrill of an upset over a somewhat unproven Minnesota team, which has just two conference wins over Big Ten basement dwellers Penn State and Northwestern.

"We're not really playing for anything else, maybe just to mess other people's seasons up kind of selfishly," Davis said. "But just have fun out there and do what we do."

Here's a quick look at this week's target, the Golden Gophers:

Look out for...

A stampede. The Minnesota running game leads the Big Ten with 279.2 yards a game, third in the country, which spells trouble for the Illini's struggling rushing defense. The Golden Gophers also lead the Big Ten in scoring with 40.2 points a game to Illinois' 18.6 points a game.

"Their running game is unbelievable," Turner said. "Their offensive line is really good. They've got three, four very talented backs. And two outstanding blocking tight ends."

Leading the Gophers' charge is sophomore tailback Marion Barber III, who averages about 95 rushing yards a game and leads the Big Ten in all-purpose yardage.

But Barber is not alone in the attack.

Tailbacks Thomas Tapeh, Laurence Maroney and Terry Jackson II chip in a total of 140 more yards a game.

And even quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq can run, adding 36 yards a game to go along with his middle-of-the-Big-Ten 184 passing yards a game.

"Really, you have an extra running back in the backfield, kind of like when we had to play Indiana when (Antwaan) Randle El was there," Illini safety Marc Jackson said. "It's a double threat. He'll take off and run on you ... It just shows the kind of ability he has. It's another challenge this week. We'll just try to keep him under wraps."

Series standings

Minnesota holds a 29-26-3 edge over Illinois in the all-times series standings, and the Golden Gophers have won four of the last five meetings. Last year in Minneapolis, the Gophers' 31-10 win capped a low point in the Illini season as they dropped to 1-5.

Turner's take

"Offensively, they're a very explosive team. They can run the ball as well as anybody in the country. And they have a very athletic quarterback that can make plays ... The offense gets all the credit and publicity, and rightfully so because they're as good as anybody in the country, but defensively, I think they do a real good job."

Homecoming festivities

This Saturday will be the 93rd Illini homecoming, and weekend festivities will kick off today with the homecoming parade at 6 p.m., followed by a pep rally at 7 p.m. on the Quad.

As a special weekend feature, tickets to the Illini homecoming football game can be used to gain free admission to Saturday's women's volleyball contest against Indiana (7 p.m. at Huff Hall) and Sunday's Illini women's soccer game against Wisconsin-Green Bay (2 p.m. at the Illinois Soccer Stadium).