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Illinois Football: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Michigan State

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 05: Tommy DeVito #3 of the Illinois Fighting Illini catches the hiked ball during the first half against the Michigan State Spartans at Memorial Stadium on November 5, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 05: Tommy DeVito #3 of the Illinois Fighting Illini catches the hiked ball during the first half against the Michigan State Spartans at Memorial Stadium on November 5, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 05: Jer’Zhan Newton #4 and Calvin Hart Jr. #5 of the Illinois Fighting Illini make the sack on Payton Thorne #10 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at Memorial Stadium on November 5, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 05: Jer’Zhan Newton #4 and Calvin Hart Jr. #5 of the Illinois Fighting Illini make the sack on Payton Thorne #10 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at Memorial Stadium on November 5, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

3. The defense line for the Illini is still incredible

There is a lot of negative to take away from the loss to Michigan State. It hurts my soul to see such a great opportunity wasted because these players have worked so hard to get here. But there were some bright spots on Saturday.

I love what the defensive line brings to the table each and every game for the Illini. Coming into the matchup against the Spartans, the Illini defensive line was giving up just 77 yards per game on the ground, which ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Michigan State couldn’t get much going in the running game. While they did finish with 112 yards on the day, those yards came on 29 carries. So, the Illini were only giving up 3.86 yards per carry, which is only slightly over the 2.9 yards per carry average we are giving up this season.

I thought the entire Illinois defensive line played a masterful game against the Spartans. It seemed like Johnny Newton was in on every play, and half of them seemed to be in the backfield. He would finish the game with 8.0 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks.

This was one of the better games that I have seen out of Calvin Avery as well. He was a disrupter as the nose tackle for the Illini. Avery would finish with four tackles on the day. I always love what Keith Randolph Jr. brings to the table as well. He had three tackles and one tackle for loss.

The Illinois defensive line is special. They will continue to be a force to be reckoned with moving forward. In my opinion, we have multiple NFL-caliber players in the front three on our defense.

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