3. The offensive line got corrected in a big way
There were many noticeable improvements for the Illini from last week to this week. The entire team played pretty badly against Indiana, but most position groups came through in a big way against the Trojans.
The one position that really stood out to me was the offensive line. The Hoosiers tore us apart in that game, and there was nothing the offensive line could do. Indiana kept getting the edge, and our tackles couldn’t keep them off Luke Altmyer’s back.
I would imagine practice this week was intense. Illinois’ offensive line went from being one of the worst I have seen to actually having a really good game against USC.
Altmyer didn’t have to worry too much about pressure. The biggest play the Trojans made was having a free rusher who Altmyer didn’t see. The hit was horrible, but Altmyer got back up and won us the game.
Illinois’ offensive line got a tremendous push in the run blocking game. They would bowl the USC line off the line of scrimmage, which allowed our running backs to find massive holes.
If the offensive line didn’t improve from the Indiana game, then USC would have beaten us on Saturday. Thankfully, the Illinois offensive line made adjustments and had arguably the best game I have ever seen from them since Bret Bielema took over the program.