Football
Illinois Football: Key takeaways after thrilling win over Rutgers
Crazy Finish in the Illinois Football win over Rutgers
Greg Schiano called a timeout to ice Illinois before a 53-yard FG attempt. Illinois saw the kick had no chance, so after the timeout it decided not to kick the FG and go for it on 4th and 13.
Then this happened.pic.twitter.com/if3bDQKixD
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) November 23, 2024
Coaching staff question marks
If the Illini had come up short in this one, there would have been a lot of negative heat surrounding the coaches. The Illini played undisciplined football on both sides today wracking up 11 penalties. Meanwhile, the Illini defense allowed a Rutgers offense that ranks 75th in total yards to wrack up 387 yards and 31 points.
The Illini have struggled all season against mobile quarterbacks. Athan Kaliakmanis took advantage of that today scoring two rushing touchdowns. He also added 84 yards on the ground.
I thought for the most part offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr had a good day. However, on the last drive, he called a head-scratching play. It looked like QB Power and Altmyer was only able to get three yards on the ground. The problem was it forced Illinois to burn their last time out, not in field goal range. That was pretty awful clock management play-calling. Illinois got away with one in New Jersey.
Is Illinois Football Citrus Bowl bound?
We heard multiple times on the broadcast that the Illini could be the Big Ten representative in the Citrus Bowl. The Citrus Bowl is one of the most watched non-playoff bowl games because it is on New Years Day in Florida. They would also matchup with a team from the SEC. It looks like the only thing standing in the way of that happening is the Northwestern Wildcats at Wrigley Field. On paper, the Illini is the better team, but Northwestern will surely look to play the spoiler since they are not bowl-eligible. Hopefully Illinois football is not looking ahead to vacationing in Florida and can take care of business by winning their ninth regular season win.
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