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5 biggest surprises from the Illinois football win over Kansas

Beating Kansas was huge for the Illinois football program, and there were some big surprises throughout the game.

By Rees Woodcock

Sep 7, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini cornerback Xavier Scott (14) celebrates his team’s lead over the Kansas Jayhawks during the first half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
Sep 7, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini cornerback Xavier Scott (14) celebrates his team’s lead over the Kansas Jayhawks during the first half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
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Illinois football welcomed No. 19 Kansas and beat them in incredible fashion this past Saturday.

This victory over the Jayhawks came as a surprise. I wasn’t sure the Illini were going to beat them, and I even predicted a loss in my preseason game-by-game prediction for the 2024 campaign.

Illinois proved me wrong, though. We came out and took down a top-20 program. Now the Illini are on the cusp of the top 25, and another win this weekend would likely put us over the edge.

Winning the game wasn’t the only surprise, though. There were a few other things that surprised me throughout the Kansas contest.

Here are the five biggest surprises from the Illinois football win over Kansas

1. Lack of ball distribution

Game one this season against Eastern Illinois was impressive. Luke Altmyer was able to step back and pass the ball all over the field.

In that game against the Panthers, Altmyer had 19 completions to 10 different players. He didn’t focus too much on one pass-catcher, and everyone ate.

That didn’t end up being the case against Kansas, and it was a bit of a surprise. I know Kansas has a tough defense, but I figured they would put an extra man on someone like Zakhari Franklin so he couldn’t catch the ball.

Altmyer didn’t spread the wealth in the passing game nearly as much against the Jayhawks. He had 16 completions to five different players. There was also a heavy dose of Franklin in this game, as he had nine receptions, which is over half the completions for Altmyer.

I expected more short passes either across the middle or out wide. There were a few of those, but most of the passes were downfield to either Franklin or Bryant. Tanner Arkin also had a nice 16-yard grab.

Altmyer got the job done against Kansas. I fully expect more wide receivers to get involved moving forward, though.

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