In a low-scoring affair in West Lafayette, Illinois fell to Purdue, 13-9, after failing to find the end zone and producing all its scoring on three field goals.

“Very frustrating day, obviously,” said head coach Bret Bielema. “For me as a coach, I’m responsible for everything in this program, from the time we left Champaign to where we are right now, so there’s a lot of things I gotta get better at, to give us direction, to get where we need to be.”

Illinois looked shaky early, with the defense allowing a big drive to open the game. Despite Purdue star wide receiver David Bell missing the game due to an injury, the Boilermakers looked comfortable throwing to Broc Thompson and Milton Wright. After driving down the field and getting down inside the Illini 6, Purdue couldn’t find the end zone, converting a 23-yard field goal despite quarterback Jack Plummer going 9/11 for 67 yards on the drive.

Brandon Peters and the Illini offense never got going, and on their first drive of the game, the team went three and out while losing 13 yards on a strip sack that Vederian Lowe pounced on.

The Boilermakers marched down the field once again and extended their lead with a 30-yard field goal, and Illinois had no answers. After a combined six straight punts, Illinois finally found itself in business, in large part due to Josh McCray, who had 11 carries for 56 yards in the first half. 

James McCourt, after setting the program record for 50-plus yard field goals earlier in the season, nailed a 51-yard field goal late in the second quarter, the team’s only score of the first 30 minutes of play.

In his second game back from injury, Brandon Peters got few opportunities to throw the ball in the first half, as he went 4/8 with 17 yards while the team had a total of 19 rushing attempts. At halftime, Illinois had 58 total yards of offense but trailed by just 3 points.

Illinois’ offense looked energized and reinvigorated out of halftime, and the unit put together its best drive of the game thus far. Peters looked comfortable in the pocket, taking the offense 58 yards down the field and setting up a game-tying 35-yard James McCourt field goal.

The defense also came to play in the second half, forcing a three and out on its first drive of the second half. 

But the Illini couldn’t capitalize, and another promising drive resulted in a missed 54-yard James McCourt field goal.

Purdue opted to switch things up at quarterback after Jack Plummer continued to struggle, and Aidan O’Connell made an immediate impact, finding Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen for a 43-yard completion. 

But after getting to the red zone, O’Connell’s pass was picked off in the end zone by Kerby Joseph, halting an otherwise dangerous drive.

The offense got right back to work, with McCray continuing his career-best performance with a 38-yard run, which tied the longest carry of his short college career. Despite missing a field goal on the previous drive, McCourt drilled the 45-yard field goal to give Illinois its first lead of the game.

Illinois’ defense once again made a big play, with Tony Adams somewhat luckily finding the ball in his hands after the pass from O’Connell was bobbled, the Illini’s second interception of the afternoon.

After getting down to the Purdue 34, Illinois opted to punt instead of going for it, and the decision came back to haunt them. The Boilermakers drove 94 yards down the field and scored the first touchdown of the game on a 14-yard pass from O’Connell to TJ Sheffield with just under six minutes left to play.

Bielema says the decision to punt in that situation is one he would make “100 times over.”

“I think everybody that talks about going for it, they’re thinking about ‘they’re getting it.’ They don’t think about what happens if you don’t get it. I’m trying to win a game, not lose a game, and I know that sounds silly because we just lost it, but it’s the decision that I would make 100 times over.”

On the ensuing Illinois drive, Peters took the team efficiently, finding freshman Pat Bryant three times and relied on his running backs to get into the red zone.

But Illinois couldn’t find the end zone, falling 13-9 and picking up its fourth straight loss.

In the defeat, McCray tallied a career-best 156 yards on 24 carries, while Brandon Peters completed 53.8% of his passes for 100 yards.

The Illini now sit at 1-4 on the season, including 1-2 in Big Ten play, and will return to Champaign to take on Charlotte next weekend.

@JacksonJanes3

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