A week ago, Illinois traveled to Happy Valley Pennsylvania, and beat then No. 7 Penn State 20-18 in nine overtimes because their offensive and defensive lines won the line of scrimmage consistently through regulation and the overtime periods.

This week, against Rutgers, Illinois didn’t win either side of the trenches and it led to their demise against the Scarlet Knights, falling 20-14.

Illinois went into halftime leading 14-10 and starting quarterback Brandon Peters had found some momentum in the passing game with two touchdown passes, including a 52-yard bomb to Isaiah Williams. But Illinois’’ offensive momentum seemed to disappear after halftime. Not only did the Illini fail to score in the second half they gained just 74 yards.

“Really it’s my responsibility to get this group to play a four-quarter game,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “And obviously we came out in the second half and laid an egg in certain aspects we have to be better and that’s all on me. …. Just utterly disappointed in our performance in the second half.”

The Illini ran it for 357 yards last week against Penn State but only ran it for 107 yards against Rutgers. Defensively, the Illini allowed just 62 rushing yards against Penn State, but they allowed 230 rushing yards against Rutgers on Saturday.

“You could see by the way they were playing they were going to do everything to make us take the ball outside,” Bielema said. “We have to learn a little bit of taking advantage of what they give us and adjust in the mode of that. The game was going to be won up front and unfortunately, we didn’t do that.”

In 2019, when the Illini upset No. 6 Wisconsin it felt more like a fluke. They were outgained and Wisconsin owned the time of possession. But Illinois won the turnover battle 3-1 on that day, so they were able to stay in the game.

The win over Penn State wasn’t a fluke. Illinois won the line of scrimmage and they were able to impose their will against a more talented team. But the Illini team that showed up against Penn State was nowhere to be seen against on Saturday versus the Scarlett Knights.

“Without a doubt, consistency is a great word. It has to be essential for us to grow,” Bielema said. “When we have setbacks it’s sometimes something that can be self-inflicted, execution, it might be a call. As a head coach, I have to take complete understanding and responsibility that any setbacks that we have to make sure we understand why they happen.

“We can’t just say, ‘oh this happened.’ Well, why did this happen? What are we saying, what are we doing, what are we coaching, seeing on film? And that’s the part that is frustrating. At times, it feels like they make a step forward and get very excited about it, they deserve it, they deserve pats on the back but on the same account this is very frustrating to be in the position we are in today and not capitalize.”

While Illinois is a roster that has loads of experience – they have more super seniors than any other roster in the country – many of those players don’t have the talent to win the one-on-one battles on every play. That makes it difficult for Illinois to find the consistency that Bielema and his coaching staff desire.

“Just keep plugging away,” Bielema said. “It’s a challenge that I really enjoy and I think our staff embraces it. It’s obviously not one we love the results of. We get everything in this program by what you put into it and what you earn. Nobody is going to give you anything in this league.”

Now, for Illinois to make it to a postseason bowl game, they will have to win their final three games against Minnesota, Iowa and Northwestern, with the first two being on the road in tough environments.

But what the win against Penn State showed is that when this team gets a consistent performance for four quarters, they can play with some of the nation’s best. How they are able to find that is the biggest question in the final three games – but Bielema hopes that his team is able to learn from their mistakes while now turning their focus to Minnesota.

“This is a pretty resilient group and learn more from their moments and hopefully get it focused back on track for a trip to Minnesota,” he said.