Coming off one of their biggest wins in program history, the Illini couldn’t seem to get any momentum going against Rutgers on Saturday. 

Despite the best game of Brandon Peters’ season thus far, the running game did not play up to the level that it did against Penn State. Peters was able to throw for 190 yards and two touchdowns on 73% completion percentage, but the running game was only able to tally 107 total yards.

On a fourth-and-1 play late in the fourth quarter, offensive coordinator Tony Petersen called a pitch to the left to Chase Brown, who lost a one-on-one battle with a defender. That ultimately ended the game, and continues fans’ questioning of Petersen’s playcalling. 

TD BP

It is worth noting that Peters may have had the best game of anyone on the team, or at least on the offense. After struggling the whole year and getting injured multiple times, Peters came in today and was able to finally get something going.

He finally looked like he was making multiple reads, was accurate and his play of the day was a 52-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams. He actually made just about every type of throw you could think of.

Unless Illinois wins out, Peters will have three games left as an Illini, but it would be nice for him to finish out his up-and-down college football career on a high note. 

(N)o-line

The inconsistency of this offensive line has been super frustrating to watch this year. There is a lot of talent there, but it’s been hard for them to play up to the level they’re capable of in every game this year.

Julian Pearl had a very costly 15-yard penalty on what would have been a first down in the second half, killing what could have been a promising drive. The offensive line in total was just never able to open a hole for anyone in the running game to make a meaningful play.

I know they aren’t Bret’s own guys, and we’ll see who Bielema is able to get in the coming years, but the offensive line was supposed to be the best part of the team this year, and we just haven’t seen that. 

Offense: C-

This is relatively high for only scoring 14 points, but I almost blame the play-calling more than I do the offense in itself. The passing game was good, but the running game struggled to get going all afternoon. 

I thought after Peters had two first-half touchdown passes that Petersen would gain a little bit more confidence in the passing game, especially with the rushing game getting nothing going.

That wasn’t the case. I look back at when the Illini started on their own 1-yard line and didn’t pass once. Not great.

Credit to Peters. He found Williams on the longest play of the game for a touchdown and also found his read on the designed play for Daniel Barker, which got called back last week on a penalty. Happy for Peters, but 14 points against Rutgers doesn’t cut it. I blame Petersen more than anyone.

Defense: B+

Once again, the Illini defense held a team to 20 points or less. There is nothing wrong with that, especially in a conference game late in the year.

There were no turnovers in the game, and Rutgers had three long drives, but that’s what you’re gonna get in a four-quarter Big Ten game. Ryan Walters continues to impress by keeping teams away from big scoring games.

The defensive line and linebackers could have done a better job keeping an eye on Rutgers quarterback Noah Vedral, who broke away for some nice quarterback runs, but I liked everything else I saw. Good job, Walters.

Special teams: D

Blake Hayes actually didn’t punt very well. He had a couple line drives that allowed the Scarlet Knights to have some good returns, and he just never had that pinning punt that he usually does. He actually got outplayed by Rutgers punter Adam Korsak, who had a great day.

McCourt was 2/2 on extra points and didn’t get a field goal attempt.

@JPietsch14

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