The last time the Minnesota Golden Gophers lost to the Illinois Fighting Illini, head football coach P.J. Fleck realized that a change needed to be made.
The 2018 version of the Illini rolled up 430 rushing yards on the 2018 version of the Gophers, averaging 12.3 yards per carry en route to a 55-31 blowout victory. The next day, Fleck announced that he was parting ways with second-year defensive coordinator Robb Smith and promoting defensive line coach Joe Rossi to interim coordinator.
The turnaround was swift. The following week, Rossi led the Minnesota defense to their best performance of the season, holding Purdue to a season-low 10 points and 233 yards of offense in a 41-10 win.