No. 20 Illinois (10-3) is feeling good after defeating No. 15 South Carolina (9-4) in Orlando on Tuesday. A hard-fought battle ended in a win, and as a proper send-off to the 2024 Illinois football team, there are good grades to go around.
Quarterback (B+): It wasn’t junior quarterback Luke Altmyer’s best game of the season, but he played well. He hit a couple of tough passes and extended plays when necessary. Most importantly, the SEC transfer got a sweet taste of beating his former conference.
“Been hearing all this talk about SEC, SEC in the playoff and things like that,” Altmyer said. “I’m just tired of the disrespect. Illinois has been a disrespected program for a long time … I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”
He encountered a tough and physical defensive line, which gave him problems on the first drive. He recovered with a good short passing game and excelled at getting the ball out quickly. Altmyer’s interception was rough, but aside from that, it was a solid game and exactly what Illinois needed.
Running backs (A+): A rare perfect grade for a position, but it was earned. Junior running back Josh McCray and sophomore running back Aidan Laughery combined for 181 yards on 29 carries. Each complemented the other perfectly and beat down South Carolina’s run defense late in the game.
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Laughery was good early, using his speed to navigate the holes his line provided. His quickness slowed the Gamecocks down and allowed McCray to step in late. The more physical back slashed the Gamecocks’ defense right down the middle. It took a toll, and to ice the game, McCray dived up the middle for 60 yards.
Wide receivers (B+): A few receivers made big-time plays in this game. Junior wide receiver Hank Beatty had the first good gain of the day, taking an option slant over the middle for 59 yards. The pickup was already his season-high for receiving yards, and he finished the biggest game of the year with 90 yards on four catches.
Another Illini who stepped up was senior wide receiver Zakhari Franklin. He drew much attention from the Gamecocks defensive backs and was as good of a route runner as ever. He tiptoed the sideline for Illinois’ only passing touchdown of the day, diving for the pylon for the score.
Offensive line (B+): Arguably the most important group coming in, the offensive line started pretty terribly. The opening drive featured a two-yard run, a hurried pass and a sack. The Gamecocks were in the backfield on all three plays, and it looked like they would have their way.
What followed was an impressive response. Illinois took the first drive personally and played well the rest of the way. A ranked SEC defensive line is not easy to go up against, but Illinois stood its ground.
Altmyer had a clean pocket for most of the rest of the game, but the line shone in the run block. Gaping holes were made for the rushers, and much credit goes to the boys up front.
Defensive front seven (A-): The box score may be misleading with only one sack, but five tackles for loss are impressive. Most of all, they did what they were asked. Redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers is most known for his legs, but the edges were set, and the rush never broke down.
The contain was solid from the line, but the linebackers helped clean up any messes as well. The middle of the Illinois defense flew hard, looking to hit anything wearing white. South Carolina averaged only 3.9 yards per carry and never got much going outside of its first long touchdown run.
Secondary (A-): How about that Aaron Henry defense? A unit that struggled early in the year looked absolutely lock-down against a team that was in the playoff discussion, and the secondary also played a big role.
The Illinois secondary thrived on man-to-man coverage for most of the year but disguised some good zone looks on third-down plays in the bowl game. The disguises messed with Sellers’ rhythm, and even when the coverage wasn’t perfect, they resulted in some inaccurate throws.
Sophomore safety Matthew Bailey also had a great game but not in a typical position. Bailey was all over the field, making plays in coverage, rushing the passer and filling holes to stop the running back. He enjoyed his freedom and hopes to utilize his abilities in this role more next season.
Special teams (D): The only poor unit of the day was special teams. Illinois was fortunate to survive some ugly punts from junior punter Fabrizio Pinton and will need to figure out its punter situation in 2025.
Pinton averaged 36.7 yards per punt, with none landing inside the 20. The air yards were even worse, and he needed some good bounces to get to the 36.7 average. At the end of the day, the blunders did not matter, as everyone else stepped up and led Illinois to a win.
@benfader7
