Illinois came into Iowa City Saturday coming off a bye week but, despite a fast start, fell to No. 17 Iowa, 33-23. 

The Illini got off to a hot start, receiving the ball to start the game and scoring on their first possession, a controlled drive finishing with a Brandon Peters touchdown pass to Luke Ford. Illinois then stopped Iowa, gained great field position off a muffed punt and kicked a field goal to go up 10-0.

After that, Illinois’ offense was completely shut down and was unable to score another touchdown until garbage time, and the Hawkeyes’ offense began to look like the 17th ranked team in the country that it is.

Bye week mess

He may be known as Bye Week Bret, but the Illini coach tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week and was unable to coach his team on Saturday. 

He has an impressive record coming off a bye week, including Illinois’ road upset victory over Penn State earlier this season, but his absence was felt this week as the offense had a poor week, and the defense gave up its most points since its third game of the season.

Wide receivers/assistant head coach George McDonald acted as head coach and did a fine job, but at the end of the day, Bielema was less active with his team all week and during the game, and the Illini suffered.

200+

This number refers to the number of yards quarterback Brandon Peters threw for, which was only the sixth time he’s done so as an Illini. He ended the day with 248 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, his last score coming in garbage time.

His above 200-yard performance is encouraging for the end of this season, but it may be too little too late. Even with the 200+ yard performance, the offense had a lot of trouble getting going in the second half.

Peters also missed multiple key throws in the middle quarters, costing Illinois several potential scores. If he is able to pass the ball effectively next week, the Illini may be able to score the ball better against a struggling Northwestern team.

Offense: C-

The first two drives were really encouraging. The run game was working, the pass game was led to a strong start by Peters and the Illini found themselves up 10-0. Then things went south.

Receivers dropped balls, Peters missed throws and, ultimately, a very talented and well-coached Iowa defense adjusted to the Illinois rushing game, as the Illini only totaled 64 rushing yards, which is supposed to be the strongest part of their offense.

Yes, they scored a garbage time touchdown and set up kicker James McCourt for three field goals, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t good enough, and there were too many dead positions. Tony Petersen’s weird play-calling, passing the ball on a third-and-1 in the fourth quarter specifically, didn’t help. 

Defense: B-

Not great, but definitely not bad. They kept the Illini within one score until late in the fourth quarter, and that was with the awesome field position Iowa seemed to have the entire second half.

I know things got away in the latter part of the fourth quarter, but the field position and time on the field made it OK. They even had an interception in the middle of the fourth that put the Illini in a position to tie the game.

33 points is their most allowed in a game since they played at Virginia, and Iowa’s offense has been struggling all year. So it wasn’t the best performance, but it kept Illinois in the game and held its own against a ranked team in a very tough environment to play in. 

Special teams: B-

This would have been an A, but the kick returned for a touchdown for Iowa’s first score wasn’t good. That was very uncharacteristic for Illinois’ special teams, and things could have ended very differently if it weren’t for that play.

However, everything else was solid. Blake Hayes had a pretty good game , pinning Iowa decently back, and would have done so more if it weren’t for some very frustrating penalties by the special teams squad. He’s the best punter in the country.

McCourt was great, going 3/3 on field goals, his longest being a 53-yard make.

@JPietsch14

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