5 huge observations from the Illinois football win over Michigan State

4. A healthy Josh McCray is extremely dangerous

When it is all said and done and the dust settles from the 2024 campaign, the one player who is going to fly under the radar as far as importance goes is Josh McCray.

In 2021, McCray busted out as a freshman and looked great. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry, and I remember thinking we had something special here. The following two seasons were rough, though.

McCray dealt with injury troubles, and when he did step on the field, he was slow and not game-ready. I remember thinking to myself and probably typing it quite a few times, that McCray shouldn’t even be in the top three strings of the depth chart. I thought he was done at Illinois.

I was completely wrong. McCray is finally healthy after multiple years, and he continues to impress me each and every game. He looks game-ready, and his quickness has been incredible for the Illinois offense.

McCray put the Illinois running game on his back on Saturday against Michigan State. He had nine carries for 61 yards and three touchdowns. That is an eye-popping 6.8 yards per carry. The Spartans couldn’t stop him on the ground.

While McCray isn’t going to blow by defenders with tremendous speed, he does have a sneaky quickness. He can make little moves to get around defenders and make them miss. Now that he is healthy, he can make those moves well.

On top of McCray looking good and being healthy, he has also been a big-time savior for the Illinois backfield. With Kaden Feagin getting surgery, we needed someone to step into that role. McCray has helped lead Illinois at this position. His contributions to this program have been huge.