Illinois Football Week 10 Grades: How the Illini Fared Against Minnesota

Saturday was supposed to be a new beginning for No. 24 Illinois, but Minnesota and coach P.J. Fleck didn’t receive the script. Before the Illini (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) move on to Week 11 and a home matchup against Michigan State, let’s take a glance at how they fared and identify some areas of improvement.

Running back Josh McCray (72 rushing yards on just seven carries vs. Minnesota) is the only Illini ball carrier right now who can make something out of nothing. Too often, that’s exactly what he’s left to do. The Illini continue to produce decent-to-good rushing numbers – but almost in spite of themselves, rather than as a matter of dedication or execution. Based on the design of this team, Illinois is reliant on a steady, reliable run game. Just maybe don’t hold your breath.

Pat Bryant likely wasn’t himself. Zakhari Franklin got banged up. Minnesota uncharacteristically dialed up its blitz packages, and although Illinois’ pass protection was at times fantastic, it made quarterback Luke Altmyer skittish on the plays when it wasn’t. But these aren’t excuses that good teams make for themselves. Too little consistency and too many missed opportunities.

There are bright spots – Bryant is a beast in this phase, for example – but they are mostly random and inconsequential when they aren’t put together on a consistent basis. It sounds overly simplistic to say that the Illini need to put helmets on helmets to create more and better ground gains on first and second downs, which would help their efforts to keep Altmyer upright, but it really is that simple. Illinois is just getting beat up front too often.

Throw out a couple of big running plays for Minnesota and Illinois did a bang-up job here Saturday. Unfortunately, those big plays – like Gophers running back Darius Taylor’s 29-yard touchdown run – still count. The Illini D is always going to perform better against the run when it has leverage (notably, fresh legs and a lead), but you can’t always get what you want.

All things considered, this area was a highlight for Illinois in Week 10. Defensive back Xavier Scott was injured in the second half, but the Illini secondary (almost) didn’t miss a beat while he convalesced – and they did it with little help from the pass rush. One wonders what the results would look like if defensive coordinator Aaron Henry sent extra pressure more often, especially with Illinois’ offense struggling to create enough big plays of its own.

The Illini continue to excel here, particularly whenever kicker David Olano takes the field. That’s no knock on Ethan Moczulski, who gave it the old college try on a booming 55-yard field-goal attempt (which had the leg but missed wide) at the end of the first half. Nor is it an implication of punter Hugh Robertson, whose hang times have been down lately but who pinned Minnesota’s offense at its own 2-yard line with a 53-yard punt and stuck another inside the 20. Cover teams were rock-solid as usual.

Harsh? Maybe. But consider it a compliment that the bar has been raised in Champaign. Bielema and his staff had some bright moments Saturday, including when the head coach successfully argued his case against a timeout that was inaccurately called on Illinois in a key moment and on well-managed drives to end both halves that scraped together scoring chances out of chicken scratch. But the Illini needed this game to recover from the Oregon loss and, ultimately, to get where they believe they’re going. But neither the play-calling nor the execution were up to snuff. Everyone on the home sideline came up at least a little short Saturday.

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