This was supposed to be an easy game, but the Illinois football team made it a little more interesting.
Western Michigan had a lot of energy coming into the contest. They had a chance to take down a top 10 team in the country. While the game was close at one point, the Illini weren’t going to allow a MAC program to ruin our season.
Under the bright lights of a night game, the Illini didn’t look great in the first half. Western Michigan kept things close, but they couldn’t get on the board. The second half turned quickly, though. Illinois snapped back to reality, and we started to put points up in a hurry. One thing led to another, and the Illini came away with a 38-0 win over Western Michigan.
Here are the five intriguing observations from the Illinois football win over Western Michigan
1. Illini running back due handled the load
Heading into the game against Western Michigan, Illinois' starting running back Aidan Laughery was questionable. He was a game-time decision, and that decision ended up being resting him.
That was a smart move by the coaching staff. There is no reason to risk getting the injury worse by playing Laughery in a game where Illinois was going to win, especially with the horses we have in the stable at running back.
When it comes to Illinois’ running back situation without Laughery, I wasn’t too worried. I knew we had two great ball carriers in Kaden Feagin and Ca’Lil Valentine, and the duo performed incredibly well against the Broncos.
It is fun to watch both running backs play, too. Feagin had so many runs where he literally carried three Western Michigan players another five yards after contact. He is so hard to bring down. Feagin’s 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown were very impressive just because of his physical power.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have Valentine. He is the quick, shifty running back. Valentine is always on the cusp of popping a big one, and Western Michigan had a hard time bringing him down at the line of scrimmage. He had 10 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown.
At the end of the day, Illinois’ two big-time running backs averaged 5.0 and 6.3 yards per carry. That is exactly what I want out of that position with our starter out.