Three and Out (of contention): Illinois outplayed by Purdue in Big Ten West clincher
Sophomore wide receiver Pay Bryant attempts to catch the ball during the game against Purdue on Saturday.
November 12, 2022
Three and out: Illini title hopes on hold after Purdue upset
Carson Gourdie and Ben Fader provide analysis after Illinois’ 31-24 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers.
After the Indiana game, you could make a very strong argument that the Illini probably should’ve held on for victory that game, as they outgained the Hoosiers in yards and had costly mistakes in goal line situations.
After the Michigan State game, you could also make an argument that the game could’ve flipped if the Spartans were granted short-field positions in the 2nd half and if the Illini were just a tad more creative on short yardage situations.
I can’t possibly think of an argument that says the Illini should’ve beat the Boilermakers. Purdue outplayed the Illini in nearly every facet.
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I credit Bielema for giving Tony Petersen the boot last season and replacing him with Barry Lunney Jr., who coordinated one of the most lethal balanced attacks last season at UTSA. However, this season, maybe Lunney doesn’t think he has the personnel to run a similar style, but the play calling has been conservative.
Chase Brown is fantastic, of course, but defenses have figured out that stacking the box and daring DeVito to throw is a successful formula. Brown getting 100 yards is a cool milestone, but if it takes 30 carries to get there, that isn’t productive.
Illinois ran for 350 yards against Penn State last season, but the team could still only muster a single touchdown. An offense in today’s game needs to have some unpredictability. You need to be able to move the ball through the air on a consistent basis. Most defenses know that on first and second down, Brown running up the middle is likely.
You could make the argument that maybe the Illini don’t currently have the personnel to have a productive deep passing game. However, even if you don’t trust DeVito to hit Pat Bryant down the sideline, wouldn’t you trust Isaiah Williams in the short passing game?
After 98 yards and two touchdowns against the Spartans, Williams had only three touches against the Spartans.
The offense would benefit from more balance, and dishing it out to Williams at the flat or on a screen pass seems like a low hanging fruit for the Illini offense.
