For the 13th consecutive season the Illinois football team failed to win its Big Ten season opener.

Despite holding Iowa scoreless for two quarters of the game, the Illini dropped their 10th straight Big Ten game with a 24-7 loss to the No. 14-ranked Hawkeyes on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

“I told the team it’s going to hurt and it does hurt,” head coach Ron Zook said. “But we’re going to come back and work and there really was a lot of improvement made. We just have to build on the good things that happened.”

Freshman quarterback Juice Williams got the nod from Zook after last week’s performance against Syracuse, making him the first freshman to start at quarterback since Kurt Kittner back in 1998.

However, Williams took a step backward from last weekend’s two touchdowns and 227-yard passing performance. Williams was just 9-of-32 for 161 yards with three interceptions, but many of his passes were dropped and he did show improvement late in the game, connecting on a 31-yard touchdown with junior Jacob Willis.

“(Juice) did a good job for this being his first Big Ten game,” Willis said. “He’s a natural born leader and I’m proud of him. He’ll continue to improve as he gets more time on the field.”

While Williams struggled a little, Iowa quarterback Drew Tate showed why he is one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten. Tate improved on his career statistics against the Illini, throwing for 191 yards on 17-for-27 passing with one touchdown.

But despite Tate’s performance, the Illini defense kept Illinois in the game, holding the Hawkeyes scoreless in both the first quarter and the third quarter.

Iowa’s offense proved it can be productive late in the first half, scoring on three consecutive possessions to go up 21-0.

“It’s really tough when we’re playing with a short field,” junior safety Kevin Mitchell said. “But it’s our job to stop the offense. We just have to continue to play.”

Mitchell led the way for the Illini defense that held Iowa to just three points in the second half and 344 yards of total offense. Mitchell finished with 10 tackles and the Illini’s lone sack and interception.

“There are a lot of bright things that came out of the game,” Mitchell said. “It’s just unfortunate that both sides of the ball didn’t click at the same time. But we believe in them and I saw improvement on the offensive side as well.”

The Illini had opportunities to put points on the board on numerous occasions but missed field goals and dropped passes cost them.

Junior kicker Jason Reda failed to connect on two 46-yard field goal attempts, and for the second straight week the Illini dropped several passes, including one by sophomore Derrick McPhearson in the third quarter that would have resulted in a touchdown.

“The drops are frustrating and it gets irritating,” Williams said. “But it’s something that can be corrected and we just have to capitalize on our opportunities.”