Writing Illini
Fansided

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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
LINCOLN, NE – OCTOBER 29: Head coach Bret Bielema of the Illinois Fighting Illini leads the team on the field before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on October 29, 2022 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE – OCTOBER 29: Head coach Bret Bielema of the Illinois Fighting Illini leads the team on the field before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on October 29, 2022 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

4. Goal line offense needs to improve greatly

I have touched on the predictability of the Illini on third downs. It has been painful to watch at times. I also want to mention the issues the Illini have when we get into the red zone.

I think Illinois does a decent job at moving the football from our territory into enemy territory. Chase Brown is running the ball like crazy, and Tommy DeVito seems to be able to hit his wide receivers with ease. But when we get inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, things seem to shut down.

For the season, Illinois has only been able to convert in the red zone 78.79% of the time. That lands them at No. 89 in the nation. It is hard to win football games when you can’t put points on the board consistently.

While the Illini converting 78.79% of their red zone attempts is bad, on Saturday, they said, “hold my beer.”

Illinois had four red zone trips against Michigan State. Out of those four attempts, the Illini only managed to get points one time. So, we converted just 25% of the red zone attempts on Saturday.

On the first attempt, Illinois had seven plays for 15 yards in the red zone and failed on fourth down. The second attempt was four plays in the red zone for a total of negative nine yards. The third attempt was three plays for 13 yards and a touchdown. The final red zone attempt resulted in two plays for zero yards and zero points, as we couldn’t convert on fourth down again.

Settling for field goals hurts your chances of winning games, but when you score a total of eight points on four red zone attempts, there is a near-zero chance of you deserving to win the game. We can’t expect to win with that type of red zone offense.

Home/Illinois Football