What a dumpster fire of a Saturday for the Illinois football program.
This was about as ugly as you can get, and I watched the Illini take on Indiana a few weeks ago. That game had some reason behind the blowout. What we watched against Washington was inexcusable.
Illinois got into a 14-3 hole early on, and the defense continued to give up points. No matter how hard the offense fought, the Illini defense had massive gaps in it, which allowed Washington to put up over 40 points.
This loss to the Huskies ended all hope for the College Football Playoff. The defense let us down to the tune of a 42-25 loss to Washington.
Here are five painful observations from the Illinois football loss to Washington
1. Luke Altmyer was on an island
If you look at the box score, you will think Luke Altmyer struggled. If you watched the Washington game, you will know that none of the bad that is in Altmyer’s stat line was due to him.
Altmyer had a really good game against the Huskies. He threw for over 200 yards and had a couple of touchdowns. He was the reason Illinois wasn’t down double-digit points heading into halftime.
The touch and finesse that Altmyer put on his passes were those of an NFL player. He stayed strong in the pocket and took hits to help move the ball down the field. Altmyer put his body on the line for the sake of the program and a shot at the College Football Playoff.
Don’t look at the two interceptions. Those mistakes came later in the game when Illinois was down and the offense was trying to push the ball up the field because of the score. Washington was able to either sit back in coverage or bring the house due to their knowing Illinois had to pass the ball.
Zero blame for this crushing defeat lies at the feet of Altmyer. He was on an island against the Huskies, and if anything, I applaud him for his performance.