Before Saturday, the Illini were favored by more than 20 points over the Boilermakers. From the looks of the first half, it appeared the Illini would be able to achieve a win. However, they nearly lost to one of the worst football programs in the Big Ten, managing to slip away with just a one-point win in overtime.
While fans are relieved the Illini left with a win, it shouldn’t have happened in this fashion. Much of the mess was due to the defense’s inability to stop Purdue for most of the second half. The Illini held the Boilermakers to three points in the first half; in the second half, the opponent scored an additional 46 points. It was a close one for sure, but a near-loss like this cannot happen again, especially with the challenging opponents the Illini has up next.
Quarterback (A-): What a game for junior quarterback Luke Altmyer. After a bye-week from a loss against the Nittany Lions, Altmyer came back with a vengeance. His performance led him to two quarterback honors this week: the Davey O’Brien Great 8 and the Manning Award Stars of the Week. With a career-high throw of 379 yards and a total of four recorded touchdowns, including one he scored himself, there’s no denying he had an impressive game.
Receivers (A-): Against Purdue, three Illinois wide receivers come to mind: seniors Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin and redshirt freshman Collin Dixon. While Dixon did not score any touchdowns, he had a solid performance. A combined total of 69 yards for the two passes he caught makes him a noteworthy receiver for the Illini. As for Franklin, he has been one of the most talked about receivers this season. This previous NCAA active receiving leader and transfer to Illinois has been a huge asset to the team. Against Purdue, he scored his first touchdown as an Illini and completed a total of 60 yards with four passes caught. And who could forget Pat Bryant? He’s been on a hot streak and continues to get national recognition. In addition to his 104 yards and four passes caught, Bryant made the game-winning touchdown in overtime to retake the lead.
Running backs (B): With Kaden Feagin out on an injury, freshman Ca’Lil Valentine and junior Josh McCray were the standout running backs against the Boilermakers. Valentine has been on the rise lately for the Illini. Despite not scoring any touchdowns, Valentine came close twice on top of his 15 receiving yards. McCray, however, scored three out of the six touchdowns — an essential part of Illinois’ victory against Purdue. An honorable mention goes to none other than Altmyer, who had 60 rushing yards himself.
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Offensive line (B-): For the most part, the offensive line protected Altmyer well on pass plays. They put up walls against the Boilermaker’s defense and allowed Altmyer to stay clean for most of the game. However, the interior linemen struggled against Purdue, and the opponents managed to sack Altmyer five times throughout the game. Illinois is fortunate to have skilled guys like McCray who can avoid tackles when the linemen are slacking. The team has struggled with running the ball all year, and having inconsistency in blocking doesn’t help with this.
Defensive line (D): Illinois’ defensive line failed to generate any pressure on Purdue. It’s disappointing to see the home team’s quarterback get sacked five times: It’s even more disappointing to see Purdue’s backup quarterback only get sacked once.
Illinois’ run defense has consistently let fans down, especially this weekend. On Saturday, the Illini allowed the Boilermakers to pick up 239 rushing yards. On average, the Boilermakers run for about 156 yards per game, so the fact that they obtained so many more yards on their feet goes to show that our run defense was simply not there, especially in the second half. Boilermaker Ryan Browne rushed for 118 yards himself; the line can barely stop anyone. If the team wants any shot of beating Michigan this weekend, they need to completely change the way they defend the run game.
Secondary (D): Sure, junior defensive back Xavier Scott being out for the game didn’t help the Illini. However, it also shouldn’t mean the rest of the backfield should fall apart. Their coverage was lacking and they got beaten out by Boilermaker tight end Max Klare numerous times. They allowed the Boilermakers to get behind them too easily on certain routes and did not defend strongly enough.
One of the most shocking differences from this game came from Purdue’s passing yards in the first versus the second half. In the first two quarters, Illinois only allowed nine passing yards by Purdue. Things completely turned around out of the locker room. The defensive backs failed to succeed on aerial coverage, and Purdue grabbed 288 passing yards in the second half. This was an absolute dagger to Illinois’ ego and ultimately led to overtime.
Special Teams (B): Sophomore kicker David Olano has been one of Illinois’ most reliable guys all year and went three-for-three in his field goal attempts this weekend. He also came in clutch with a 38-yarder to save the team and go into overtime.
However, one very crucial error from Illinois’ special teams got them this grade. With less than two minutes left, Purdue recovered its onside kick to regain possession. Purdue took its first lead of the game to stun the crowd at Memorial Stadium. For future onside kicks, Illinois’ special teams must be on their a-game to prevent any disasters like that from happening again.
