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Illinois Football: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Nebraska

By Rees Woodcock

Oct 6, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer (9) is tackled by Nebraska Cornhuskers linebacker John Bullock (5) during the first half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 6, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer (9) is tackled by Nebraska Cornhuskers linebacker John Bullock (5) during the first half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 23, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Kaden Feagin (3) runs the ball against the Florida Atlantic Owls after a game at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 23, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Kaden Feagin (3) runs the ball against the Florida Atlantic Owls after a game at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Illinois abandoned the run

I realize that Nebraska had a good run defense coming into the game on Friday night. They were giving up 86.8 yards per game on the ground, which ranked No. 13 in the country. That doesn’t mean you abandon the run, though.

This season, I have had issues with the Illini not being a running team. This program is built to run the football, but offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. seems to want to pass the ball frequently. It hasn’t been working.

In the game against the Cornhuskers, I feel like everything came to a head. Illinois wasn’t out of the game besides for late in the fourth quarter, but we threw the ball the entire game like we were down 50 points.

Quarterback Luke Altmyer ended the game with 47 pass attempts. You have to go back to November 2016 to find the last time an Illinois quarterback threw the ball that much. Wes Lunt had 54 attempts in a 42-21 loss to the Northwestern Wildcats that day.

Again, Illinois wasn’t out of the game. Nebraska was up 17-0 after some mistakes were made, but we were only down 10 points in the third quarter. Illinois had every chance to pound the rock but failed to do so.

While Altmyer was throwing the ball 47 times, Lunney only called 12 carries for the Illinois running backs. Reggie Love III had seven carries and Kaden Feagin finished with five carries.

To me, it is unacceptable for the Illinois football program to only hand the ball off to our running backs 12 times in a game. This is bad preparation and even worse execution.

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