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5 stressful observations from the Illinois football win over Purdue

At one point, I thought Illinois football was going to cruise to an easy win, but then we came back down to Earth.

By Rees Woodcock

Oct 12, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini linebacker Luke Zardzin (42) recovers a fumble in the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
Oct 12, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini linebacker Luke Zardzin (42) recovers a fumble in the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
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4. Illinois was torched by Ryan Browne in the second half

Ha, you thought I was just going to do more happy slides. Nope. The Illinois defense was way too bad to just bunch it into one slide. I mentioned their putrid rush defense in the first slide, but let’s not forget how bad the secondary was in the second half.

I firmly believe that the Illinois football team came out of the halftime locker room thinking this game was in the bag. We looked terrible on defense. In the first half, Illinois only gave up three points, and Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne had a total of nine yards passing.

What I would give to go back to that point in time. After the first half, everything changed. Illinois’ secondary was torched in the final 30 minutes. In the second half, Browne was 14-of-19 for 288 yards and three touchdowns. That is a great stat line for a full game, let alone in just one half of football.

Illinois’ secondary couldn’t stop Browne. We tried to bring a blitz to get Browne off his game, but he would scramble and throw a dart. If we dropped back into coverage, our defensive backs couldn’t stay with the Purdue wide receivers.

During the quick comeback from the Boilermakers, Illinois’ cornerback Torrie Cox Jr. had his ankles broken by an out and up. The wide receiver broke free and had an easy touchdown.

It was one of the worst defensive performances I can remember by an Illini squad. This was arguably one of the most disappointing defensive showings of my lifetime.

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