CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Asad Abdul-Khaliq and Laurence Maroney got No. 24 Minnesota out of a rut and continued the free fall at Illinois.
Abdul-Khaliq completed 12-of-15 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns and true freshman Maroney ran 22 times for 179 yards and two scores as the Golden Gophers rolled to a 36-10 triumph over the reeling Illini, who lost their seventh straight game.
Aaron Hosack had three catches for 112 yards and a touchdown and Jared Ellerson four for 88 and a score for Minnesota (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten), which blew a 21-point fourth-quarter lead vs. Michigan two weeks ago and came out flat in another home loss to Michigan State last week.
But this time, the Gophers began the game in fine form. Maroney opened the scoring with a six-yard run with 6:18 left in the first quarter. After a 31-yard field goal by Rhys Lloyd, Hosack caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Abdul-Khaliq to open up a 17-0 advantage with 12:28 remaining in the half.
Maroney, who had a nearly 90-yard run nullified by a holding penalty late in the third quarter, added a two-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter for the Gophers, who rushed for 336 yards.
"He visited here and we recruited him very hard, because he is a very good player," Illinois coach Ron Turner said of Maroney. "We would have liked for him to commit early, but we didn't stop recruiting him because he didn't commit early. Ever since he has entered the lineup for Minnesota, he has done a great job."
Marion Barber III rushed for 129 yards on 24 carries for Minnesota, which had lost seven of its last eight meetings here but improved to 4-1 against Illinois since 1999.
Dustin Ward completed 17-of-32 passes for 221 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Illinois (1-8, 0-5). Ward started in place of Jon Beutjer, who is out for the season with a back injury.
Trailing, 17-7, in the final minute of the first half, Illinois moved the ball deep into Minnesota territory but Ward was intercepted in the end zone by Justin Isom.
"I thought it was critical because momentum plays such a big factor," Gophers coach Glen Mason said. "Early in the game, credit Illinois - they stopped us a couple times on 3rd-and-short, and we turned the ball over. We left them in the game, and they were marching right before the half. If they can put seven points on there, it's a whole different ballgame. So we get the interception and went in (the locker room) feeling a lot better about ourselves."
"At the end of the half we had a chance to get a spark and get some momentum going, but we just couldn't do it," Turner said. "Our guys came out with heart and just seemed to wear down at the end."
The Illini were down, 23-7, with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter when Ward appeared to threw a touchdown to Mark Kornfeld, but it was nullified when the receiver stepped out of bounds before coming back into play to make the catch. Illinois had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by John Gockman.
"We're not hanging our hats up, and we're not looking ot point any fingers or anything like that," Illini senior safety Marc Jackson said. "Right now, we're not getting the wins. ... It's just not happening right now. We just have to look at it like we're lucky enough to still have three games to turn it around."
