Illinois Football: 5 observations from the Illini win over Minnesota

2. Most efficient Illini game I have seen

Earlier this season, the Illinois football team had some issues with being efficient. The team had just come together with a new quarterback and some new offensive linemen, so it took some time to gel.

But at this point in the season, the Illini are playing some of the most efficient football I have seen in a very long time. Nearly every facet of the game is on point.

At the quarterback position, Tommy DeVito had seven incompletions on 32 passes. He had a 78% completion rate and didn’t throw an interception. That is one of his most efficient games of the season.

As a team, the Illini had 472 yards of total offense. That is a lot of yardage, and we managed to do that while coughing the ball up zero times. No turnovers the entire time Illinois had the ball is an impressive feat.

Illinois kicker, Fabrizio Pinton, was sensational on Saturday. He would go 4-of-4 from field goal range and made both of his extra points. Our kicking was the difference-maker against Minnesota, and having a great kicker like Pinton was amazing.

And, lastly, Illinois was able to dominate the time of possession. We had the ball for 40:04 in the game compared to Minnesota who had it for just 19:56. That is how you win a game.

Illinois was extremely efficient against the Golden Gophers. This is a major reason we won the game. If we can continue this efficiency for the rest of the season, there is no telling how high this team can go.