5 painful observations from the Illinois football loss to Penn State

4. Kaden Feagin saw success against Penn State

There weren’t a lot of highlights or success on the offensive side of the ball for Illinois. Putting up seven points in a game is a bit disheartening.

The one bright spot for the Illini on Saturday night was running back Kaden Feagin. He played well and was a big part of the Illinois offense on numerous occasions.

Feagin saw success against a tough Penn State defense both on the ground and through the air. He finished the game with 13 carries for 64 yards. He also had two catches for 12 yards.

Penn State was mainly focused on getting to Luke Altmyer all game long, and when Feagin did get the ball, he made the Nittany Lions pay. His bruising style of running and physical gifts are fun to watch.

It isn’t a surprise that Feagin ran well against Penn State. While they have one of the best run defenses in the country, Feagin had four carries for 15 yards against the Nittany Lions last season. That was his freshman year, and he wasn’t fully trusted yet in the backfield.

According to Pro Football Focus, Feagin’s game against Penn State was his best performance this season as well. He finished with a grade of 74.3, topping the first game of the season against Eastern Illinois when he graded out at 73.2.

Feagin is a good running back. In hindsight, maybe to take some pressure off of Luke Altmyer, Illinois should have run the ball a little more. That would have forced Penn State to focus more on the run and less on blitzing Altmyer.