5. I don’t blame Luke Altmyer, but even he had a bad game
Every position group let us down on Saturday night against Indiana. We had the opportunity to have a big win, and we wet the bed.
Illinois’ special teams weren’t immune to the bad play either. Actually, the blocked punt started the snowball rolling. I would argue the player who had the best game was Luke Altmyer, and he, too, was bad against the Hoosiers.
Altmyer threw for 146 yards and one touchdown with a completion percentage of 63.6%. Here is the thing. In Altmyer’s third series of the game, he was 2-of-2 for 63 yards and a touchdown. Every other series, he was 12-of-20 for 83 yards. Think about that for a second. He had a total of 83 yards passing outside of that one drive.
If you noticed, Altmyer didn’t throw an interception. Let me tell you, he should have. There were multiple passes that easily could have been picked off. Thankfully, the Indiana defensive backs have oven mitts for hands. This game could have been even uglier.
The Illinois offensive line had a lot to do with Altmyer being ineffective. He didn’t have time in the pocket. On Saturday night, everything failed for the Orange and Blue, and that is how you get beaten 63-10.