FanHouse Rejus Benn

If the Minnesota Golden Gophers aren't the most improved team in college football this season, who is? Through seven weeks of play, Tim Brewster's squad is enjoying the sort of success that always seemed to elude his predecessor Glen Mason. The Gophers are now 6-1 with a signature road win over Illinois and their sole loss coming in Columbus.

Nobody was complaining about the Gopher offense last season. They just weren't up to the task of bailing out the nation's worst defense week after week. Statistically this season's Gopher offense is mid-pack by almost any measure. The difference is on the other side of the ball.

It's not that the Gophers have moved way, way up. It's that the Gophers had nowhere to go but up. Their defensive statistics this year aren't the stuff of dreams, but the Gophers are allowing, on average, about 130 fewer yards and 19 fewer points per game than they were a year ago. New defensive coordinator Ted Roof didn't work out as a head coach at Duke. Both Duke and Minnesota are happy for that.

Anybody can post good results against a squishy schedule, however. The Gophers hung in against their most challenging opponent to date (Ohio State) but failed to win. That raises the question of whether the Gophers can stand up against the other challengers in the Big Ten.

We all know that Ron Zook can recruit. I mean, if the number one wide receiver in the country choosing to go to Illinois over every other school doesn't tell you that, then you're blind. The question with Zook has always been whether or not he can ever turn all that talent into wins.

Well, if his players could last an entire scrimmage without suffering an injury, it would make it a lot easier.

Scary moment at the Illini football scrimmage Saturday night at Rantoul High School. Rejus Benn, the heralded wideout from Washington, D.C., went down in what appeared to be a lot of pain and suffered a right shoulder injury.

By the time Benn could walk off the field, the training and medical staff had bandaged his right arm tightly against his body. He later returned to the sideline in a sling but, on Ron Zook's orders, he was taken in a car back to the Camp Rantoul headquarters.

Zook said after practice that he doesn't believe Benn's injury is serious, but the team will be re-evaluating it today. As if Benn's injury wasn't enough, his backup Chris James also had to leave practice on crutches and in a leg brace with what the team hopes is only a sprained knee.

Here's hoping that Zook can recruit some doctors for next season.