Illinois Football: Good and bad from Illini first half against Northwestern

The Illinois football team is down 10-7 against Northwestern at halftime.

This was not what Illinois fans were looking for in this game. But there were some bright spots to go along with some of the struggles we have seen.

Good

Caleb Reams

The catch that Caleb Reams made on the sideline for 29 yards was one of the top five catches I have seen from the Illini this season. Some people think I am overreacting, but the difficulty level of that catch was through the roof.

Reams have to completely torque his body around because the ball was thrown on his outside shoulder. He then had to catch the ball in the rain with the ball wet in midair. He then not only got one foot down, but I believe he got both feet inbounds, and he held onto the ball. It was a great catch.

Bad

Illinois running game

Illinois hasn’t had the ball a lot in this game. We have only run nine rushing plays the entire game for one total yard. This is not at all what I expected from this Illini offense. We can’t get anything going on the ground.

This has a lot to do with the lack of blocking by the offensive line. They are struggling right now. But Reggie Corbin as 3 carries for -4 yards. Dre Brown has been the start in the backfield with 2 carries for 11 yards and 1 touchdown. We need to run the ball better in the second half.

Good

The secondary

I have been extremely impressed with the Illinois secondary so far in this game. They are hawking the ball and creating turnovers. In my opinion, they are not the reason the defense is struggling. I think they are the reason we aren’t down double-digits right now.

Stanley Green has impressed me the most. He is bringing a level of intensity that is much-needed today. I also love what freshman Devon Witherspoon has done too. He was just thrown into playing time.

Bad

The front seven

Wow, the front seven for the Illini on defense has struggled today. They can’t make a tackle and they continue to be gouged by the Northwestern running attack.

There were so many times a solid tackle would have gotten the Illini the ball back, but the front seven failed to do so. They need to start wrapping up or the Wildcats could continue controlling the ball in the second half.