Illinois Football: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Purdue

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – OCTOBER 13: Purdue Boilermakers quarterback David Blough (11) looks to pass during a Big Ten Conference college football game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on October 13, 2018, at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. This was the perfect mismatch

There have only been two games this season where the team Illinois was playing had a quarterback who was the main priority for the program. Those two games were against Penn State and, yesterday, against Purdue.

In the Penn State game, the defense struggled throughout the first three quarters, but the offense managed to keep up. When the offense stopped scoring and gave Penn State more chances in the fourth quarter is when the game got out of hand.

The same basic thing happened with Purdue. Their quarterback, David Blough, is pretty good. He has the ability to pick apart a good defense, let alone one with very little depth and experience like Illinois. This was a recipe for disaster from the beginning.

On top of the defense getting shredded, the Illini offense couldn’t keep up. After their first drive, which resulted in a touchdown, the Illini failed to score the rest of the game. This had to do with a combination of things.

At the end of the day, this was not a team I wanted Illinois to play. Purdue made a bowl last season and will probably make one this year too. Blough is a good quarterback and this Illini secondary isn’t ready for that. Illinois also doesn’t have the offense to keep up with a team who can score 30 or more points.

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