Illinois football should have looked rejuvenated on Saturday, but it was the complete opposite.
The Illini didn’t look like they wanted to be in the game against Purdue. The Boilermakers showed up and wanted it more than the Illini.
There was a little bit of hope for Illinois at the end of the first half. We scored a touchdown going into the halftime locker room to bring the score to 13-7 in favor of Purdue. That is the closest the game would get, though.
Purdue came out and scored a field goal. Illinois couldn’t get anything going on offense, and this put the defense in a bad position. By the final whistle, Purdue ended up winning the game 24-17.
Here are five devastating observations from the Illinois football loss to Purdue
1. Ryan Browne continued his success against Illinois
Coming into the game on Saturday, my biggest worry was Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne.
Browne has had plenty of success against Illinois in his career. He had a combined 599 yards and four touchdowns against the Orange and Blue heading into the contest on Saturday.
Illinois once again made Browne look like a good quarterback. He threw for 255 yards and one touchdown on a 66.7% completion rate. That is a good game for a below-average quarterback.
Browne has 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in his career. Five touchdowns and zero interceptions are against Illinois alone. The Illini have zero answers for him, and it showed again on Saturday.
2. Illinois got too pass-heavy
I know the passing game is fun, but when you have someone like Aidan Laughery in the backfield, Illinois should run the ball more.
Illinois has dealt with this before when we had Rod Smith as the offensive coordinator. Illinois’ defense wasn’t good, but the offense didn’t help the defense by controlling the clock. The Illini offense we are seeing today is doing the same thing.
For some reason, Illinois threw the ball 37 times on Saturday. Our running backs only had 18 carries. This includes just 12 carries for Laughery, who was averaging 4.1 yards per carry.
Instead, Illinois allowed Katin Houser to throw the ball around to the tune of a 56.7% completion percentage. Toward the end, we had to throw the football, but we shouldn’t have been in that situation. Run the ball more. Control the clock. It is not a complicated concept.
3. This was the most disappointing Katin Houser outing
To piggyback off the previous section, Illinois passed the ball too much, and it led to the worst game of Houser’s career with the Illini thus far.
Houser has a good arm. He can throw an out route with great precision. But he laid an egg at the worst possible time.
Illinois was coming off a rough week when we parted ways with our defensive coordinator. Houser coming out on Saturday and putting up a number would have been nice to hush some of the critics. Instead, the noise hasn’t been louder in the Bret Bielema era.
Houser finished the Purdue game with 225 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. The interception was the backbreaker. Illinois was down 14 points and needed a touchdown. We had it near midfield, and then Houser let the ball fly and got it picked off.
There is no one to put the cape on. We used to have that in the past with Luke Altmyer. Illinois doesn’t have that anymore. Houser had his worst game with the Illini at the worst time possible.
4. Parting with Bobby Hauck didn’t change defensive personnel
The topic of conversation throughout the week was Illinois changing defensive coordinators. It was needed, too.
Bobby Hauck wasn’t working out, and the Illini needed to change course. I brought up the fact that Illinois didn’t have the players to play the 3-3-5, and some fans pushed back.
Well, here we are.
I said it once, and I will say it again. Illinois could put prime Buddy Ryan in as the defensive coordinator, and he would struggle. The Illini don’t have the talent on defense to play well. We just don’t.
I like a few of our pieces, but Bielema wasn’t aggressive enough on defense in the transfer portal. We focused on the Altmyer replacement, but we slept through getting defensive talent, and it shows today.
You can change defensive coordinators all you want. Illinois came in with Roger Cooper calling the defense. We played the same 3-3-5. That doesn’t work. Stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole.
5. Illinois’ front lines had zero juice against Purdue
If Illinois wanted any chance to slow down the Purdue offense, we were going to have to put some pressure on Browne.
Sadly, that didn’t happen. The Illini front lines couldn’t do anything against a below-average Purdue squad. It was an embarrassing outing for the defense, and a lot of the blame lies with the defensive line.
For the game, Illinois had zero sacks again the Boilermakers. We only had three tackles for loss, too.
Browne had all the time in the world in the pocket. He would sit back there and pick apart the Illinois secondary. There is no reason the Illini shouldn’t have brought more blitzes to help the defensive line a little bit.
Illinois’ offensive line was disappointing, too. They aren’t getting a pass. Houser was sacked, and he was getting pressured frequently. The Illini offensive line got healthier, but they didn’t impress me on Saturday.
A program needs to be built from the inside out. Having good front lines is extremely important. This should be priority No. 1 in the offseason.
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