Illinois Football: 5 observations from the win over Kent State

2. The suspended players let us down

I don’t mean to harp on this too much, but I kind of do. The players who were suspended before the game on Saturday clearly didn’t care about winning or the team when they were doing whatever they did. I don’t know what the suspension was for, but I support a strong coach who doesn’t take any ‘B.S.’

There are multiple layers to this suspension as well. The first layer is the feelings I expressed above. I am saddened by some of these suspensions because we needed these players. The second layer is how bad their absence hurts this team.

With Bennett Williams and Nate Hobbs suspended for at least this past game, the Illini secondary struggled immensely. They were just getting shredded the entire game and even the interception in the secondary was a little bit of luck. The pass was tipped by the wide receiver and the defensive backs looked lost at the time. Not having these two players on the field killed this program.

Illinois was also missing a pass-catching tight end presence as well. Daniel Barker did his best, but not having Louis Dorsey out there on the field hurt this offense more than people realize. He had a chance to be an All-Big Ten tight end this season. Illinois didn’t have that on the field and it hurt the offense.

I would have also liked to see Carmoni Green and Deon Pate playing too. They both would have brought a lot more depth to their positions. Illinois needs more depth and their absence also hurt the program.

These five players did something that wasn’t smart and now they are paying for it. I would rather have a coach who is too tough than not tough enough. These players nearly cost us a game against Kent State.