Illinois Football: 5 observations from the Illini loss to South Florida

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CHICAGO, IL – SEPTEMBER 15: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Lovie Smith looks on in action during a game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the South Florida Bulls on September 15, 2018 at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL. The South Florida Bulls defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini by the score of 25 to 19. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Okay, it is the following day and the Illinois football loss to South Florida still stings the same.

The Illini were about a two-touchdown underdog entering the game against the Bulls on Saturday. Not a lot of people gave this Illinois team a chance, including some of the fan base. But, through almost four quarters, the Orange and Blue had the lead.

South Florida ended up giving a massive gut punch to Illini Nation when one of their wide receivers got loose along the sidelines, and the inexperienced Illinois defensive backs didn’t cover the guy. This lead to a wide-open touchdown to take the lead and ultimately win the game.

Illinois did have a chance to come back down and win the game, though. They managed to get the ball close to the South Florida red zone only to throw it out of the end zone on the final play to end the game.

There are so many things you can take away from this game with the Illini, both good and bad. There were plenty of good things we saw from this team. They are really starting to come together and play well. But, the bad is truly bad. While they are coming together, they need to close out big games like this.

Here are five observations from the loss to South Florida.

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