Illinois Football: Three observations in loss vs Penn State

The Illinois Football program went on the road to Happy Valley on Saturday Night to take on Penn State. Illinois Football fell to 4-1 on the season after losing 21-7 in the top-20 Big Ten clash. Let’s dive into how it happened.

Downhill after a bad snap

The Fighting Illini strike first!

Luke Altmyer and Carson Goda connect for six.

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— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 28, 2024

The game sat a 7-7 tie for most of the first half but the Illini had a chance to take the lead right before halftime. They went on a 12-play 50-yard drive down to the Penn State two-yard line. Unfortunately for the Illini, center Josh Kreutz snapped the ball over Altmeyer’s head for a nine-yard loss. The Illini had to settle for a 45-yard field goal kicker from David Olano after a false start penalty and an intentional grounding on Altmeyer. Olano missed the field goal and we went into the half with a 7-7 tie. So technically, the Illini had a chance to be up at least 10-7 at the half.

The Offensive line struggled heavily in the second half. They likely became fatigued given their lack of depth and the overall power of the Penn State Line.

Illinois Football Defense needs some dudes.

For the most part, I thought the Illini defense played great. They had a solid bend but don’t break philosophy in this one. They allowed the Penn State defense to run all over them. The running back duo of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton combined for 196 yards and two touchdowns.

I don’t think the Illini wanted to allow over 240 total rushing yards in the game. However, if you were to tell them you would hold this Penn State offense to just 21 points before the game started, I believe Aaron Henry’s crew would be pleased with the performance. They made Penn State have to go on long drives to score. Penn State had to go on at least eight-play drives to score the football. They had two other drives that ended field goal misses. This Penn State game showed us that Illinois Football must upgrade at Defensive line and linebacker.

Just a small blip in the road.

Some final thoughts from me are that I am still encouraged by what I have seen from this Illini football team. This Illinois squad was able to compete against a top-10 in a ruckus environment. They still sit at 4-1 on the season and are heading into one of their by weeks. After the bye week, the Illini will be taking on the struggling Purdue Boilermakers.

The Illini still have an opportunity to get to 9 wins and showed they should have a chance to win each week.

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