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

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CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 16: Casey Washington #14 of the Illinois Fighting Illini runs the ball against Keaton Ellis #2 of the Penn State Nittany Lions during the first half at Memorial Stadium on September 16, 2023 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

2. Barry Lunney Jr. needs to adjust his play-calling

In the game of baseball, when a pitcher starts to lose velocity, he is done for the game. You don’t keep pitching him hoping for a different result.

This is the mentality Illinois had against Penn State. I wasn’t asking for offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. to pull quarterback Luke Altmyer from the game early on, but I was asking for Lunney to help Altmyer.

Throughout much of the first quarter, Altmyer was struggling to throw the ball. When your quarterback is having a hard time throwing the ball, you should probably start leaning on the run to take pressure off the struggling quarterback.

That didn’t happen, though. Lunney continued to throw the ball at a high rate. What was the result? Altmyer threw two interceptions in the first quarter followed by two interceptions in the third quarter.

All four of these interceptions occurred when Illinois was within two scores. This was a competitive game despite the interceptions, but Lunney continued to pass the ball and not pound the rock.

I was frustrated with Lunney’s playcalling against Kansas. I thought he called a bad game in Lawrence. I was frustrated with his play calling against Penn State as well. Honestly, at this point, I think he was lucky Illinois had a great defense and a Heisman Trophy contender running back in 2022. I am about done with Lunney as my offensive coordinator.

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