It was a great week one for the Illinois football team, as we trounced Eastern Illinois.
This was a game for about five minutes. The Illini eventually took over on both sides of the ball and dominated.
I was impressed by nearly every facet of the Illinois football team. We were clicking and the chemistry was the best I have seen in years. This program looked even better than I had imagined.
While I was surprised by how Illinois looked on the field, there were also a few other surprises that caught my eye.
Here are the five biggest surprises from the Illinois football win over Eastern Illinois
1. Aidan Laughery got the start
Coming into the season, I would argue that one of the few guarantees was that Kaden Feagin was going to get the starting nod at running back in every game this season if he is healthy.
Well, that guarantee was busted early. Illinois didn’t start Feagin on Thursday. Bret Bielema went with Aidan Laughery at running back to begin the game.
In the grand scheme of things, this literally doesn’t matter at all. I imagine the mindset was, Eastern Illinois thinks we are going to start Feagin, so let’s throw them a curve ball and go with Laughery.
Throughout the game, the carries settled into about what I thought they would. Feagin led the way with 16 carries and Laughery finished with 10 carries. That is about the ratio I thought they would have to begin the season.
It was just a shocker to see Laughery out there as our starting running back in game one. I imagine that won’t be the case moving forward. But even if it is, Illinois has the luxury of two great running backs with the ability to carry the football. I am good with either player touting the rock against Kansas.