The hot seat Illinois coach Lovie Smith has found himself on lately cooled down a bit on Saturday as Illinois beat Minnesota 55-31 in a football game that saw some impressive and long scoring runs.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, announced Thursday that he will be resigning. Speaking on the Senate floor, Franken said serving in the Senate has been "the great honor of my life" and that nothing he has done as a senator "has brought dishonor" on the institution. But he said, "it's become clear that I can't both pursue the Ethics Committee process and at the same time remain an effective senator" for the people of Minnesota.

Kobe McCrary ran for 153 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Rodney Smith added 103 yards rushing for Minnesota as the Gophers beat Illinois 24-17 victory on Saturday.

A pair of early Illinois turnovers and a short punt gave Minnesota the ball at the Illinois 49-, 20- and 9-yard lines, and the Gophers turned each into a touchdown on the way to a 40-17 win. The turnovers, Illinois coach Lovie Smith said, swung the game hard and early for Minnesota. "It's hard to win the football game when you start like that," Smith said. "Those turnovers put us in a hole."

The Illini coasted to an easy victory in Wednesday night's opening game of the tournament.  Champaign native Michael Finke finished with 17 points.  Illinois (14-18) moves on to play No. 5 seed Iowa Thursday.