2. Horrible showing from the Illini offensive blockers
The third drive of the game for Illinois went well. We threw a bomb to Collin Dixon, and it looked like we were going to be in a shootout with Indiana.
That is when everything fell apart. Honestly, it all started with the offensive line. The front five on the offense completely failed, and Illinois’ running backs didn’t do us any favors.
All game long, Indiana’s front seven was able to get whatever they wanted. They didn’t have to rush anyone extra and still could get to Luke Altmyer.
The offensive line had some costly errors, too. There was a big possession early in the game that could have helped cut down Indiana’s momentum. Illinois was able to get a first down, but it was called back due to a pointless Melvin Priestly holding call.
When the Illini would send a running back in to help block, that would go south quickly. While Kaden Feagin is a nice big body, he isn’t much of a blocking running back. He had trouble picking up a free rusher, and this made Altmyer throw quickly or get sacked.
Yes, Illinois’ defensive backfield was decimated, but there were big issues with the rest of the team as well. Only scoring 10 points had a lot to do with bad offensive blocking.