Goal one for the Illinois football team on Saturday was to take down the Purdue Boilermakers.
At one time, that goal seemed to be on shaky ground. The Illini didn’t look good to start the game, but we forced some turnovers and changed the momentum.
By the time Purdue could get any momentum going again, Illinois had gained control of the game and never let off the gas. A 43-27 win over the Boilermakers was the result.
This type of win was exactly what the Illini needed. We couldn’t play a close game with Purdue because that would have looked bad to the College Football Playoff committee. Illinois needed to come out and take care of business, and we did just that.
The first goal was complete, but there were a handful of games that I had my eye on outside of the Illinois game. There were quite a few contests that could help Illinois in both the future College Football Playoff battle and in the AP Top 25 that is released weekly.
All of the chips fell in favor of the Illinois football team on Saturday
So, in the five games I highlighted heading into Saturday, four of the teams I wanted to lose ended up falling.
Cincinnati beat No. 14 Iowa State. No. 3 Miami beat No. 18 Florida State. No. 6 Texas A&M beat Mississippi State. And the shocker of them all, and I thought this could happen based on the defense, Florida took down No. 9 Texas.
All of those losses are great for Illinois’ College Football Playoff hopes. I think we will see the Illini jump Iowa State, Florida State, and Texas in the AP Top 25 on Sunday, too.
There was also some unexpected damage that I took joy in watching. The biggest upset of the day, and maybe even the season, was UCLA beating No. 7 Penn State. This one blew my mind. I didn’t think there was a chance, but sure enough, the Bruins pulled out a 42-37 win.
Penn State has now lost back-to-back games and is 0-2 in the Big Ten. They are going to tumble from the No. 7 spot. Honestly, I could see Illinois jumping the Nittany Lions in the AP Top 25.
I wasn’t quite sure what we would see in the Alabama vs Vanderbilt game either. Having the Crimson Tide win by 16 points is probably a good thing, considering that it will drop Vanderbilt down a bit. I think Illinois will be ahead of them when the polls are released on Sunday.
Important teams lost for Illinois’ chances at the College Football Playoff. The more losses for these programs, the better chance the Illini resume is picked when it is all said and done. On top of that, I think we could jump at least five teams in the most recent AP Top 25. That would put us at No. 17 in the country heading into a battle with No. 1 Ohio State.