Piscataway, NJ – Illinois ended a drought on Saturday with a 24-7 victory at Rutgers. It had been a long 42 days since the last win, a 49-point blowout victory over lowly Murray State from FCS. After the initial rush of adrenalin from that first victory and a sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium the following week, the four straight disappointing losses brought the Illini and their fans back to Earth.
The North Carolina defeat could be understood. The Tar Heels are still fighting for a division championship in the ACC, so it’s easy to overlook that one after Illinois took the game into the fourth quarter. The dominating loss the following week against Western Michigan was a hint this was no quick fix.
The Nebraska loss? No big deal. The Cornhuskers are a contender for the Big Ten west division championship. But a bad one to bottom feeder Purdue was hard for even the most diehard Illini fans to endure.
Blowing the chance for a win at Rutgers would have set the Illini back, perhaps left Illinois last in the division and made it even a more long recovery. It’s only one win, so let’s not get too carried away.
But this is the first Big Ten win during the Lovie Smith Era. Was it the first of many to come or just taking advantage of one of the worst program’s in the league? During the previous two weeks, Rutgers lost 58-0 to No. 2 Ohio State and 78-0 to No. 4 Michigan. Illinois (2-4 overall, 1-2 in the Big Ten) won’t get picky when it comes to posting wins in the inaugural trip through the Big Ten footprint with Lovie at the wheel.
“We feel good about winning the football game, about this one game,’’ Lovie said. “You have to celebrate every game to feel good about it. Sense of relief? Yeah. You can give it a few different descriptions. There definitely was a lot of excitement. There’s nothing like seeing a locker room after a big win, and that’s what we had today. We want it to become more than an every once-in-a-while thing.
“For us, we go in thinking every game is a winnable game. It was about us eliminating some of the mistakes whether it be penalties and not finishing a football game. The last couple of weeks, we had opportunities to win against a top 10 team and last week at home. It was about finishing today. We finished today.’’
There’s no need to sugarcoat it. Finishing against Rutgers is different than finishing against Michigan. Nevertheless, it’s time to remember this is a work in progress, so enjoying the process is part of the process.
“It takes a while to build a program,’’ Lovie said again. “That’s where we are. We found things out each week. We have gotten better each week. Eventually if you continue to get better and do some things right, eliminate some of things that are bad that you are doing wrong, you win football games.’’
Heading into the season, the Illini thought the most important weapon on offense would be quarterback Wes Lunt’s right arm. Instead, it’s been the running game spearheaded by Kendrick Foster and Reggie Corbin, two guys who climbed past Ke’Shawn Vaughn on the depth chart. Foster earned the first start of his college career at Rutgers, then scored a pair of touchdowns. He rushed for 5 yards for one touchdown and scored on a 5-yard pass.
Quarterback Chayce Crouch received his first start in place of Wes Lunt, who was out with a back injury. Evidently, Lunt suffered the same kind of injury a year ago against Penn State, and the hit against Purdue a week ago aggravated the injury. Is it a bulging disk? If so, that could be a longer recovery. Crouch didn’t pile up the yards on the ground, but Lovie again pointed to the sophomore’s hard-nosed play. With Crouch at quarterback, do the Illini have the same upside on offense, or is there a lower ceiling?
The Illini rushed for 228 yards against Rutgers, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt.
“I think we started to be confident in our scheme and ability to run the ball, especially with Chayce being another threat to run the ball and his ability to pass the ball as well,’’ Foster said.
Some other emerging underclassmen give Illinois hope for the future. Strong safety Patrick Nelson has posted double digit tackles the last three games since taking over as a starter. Defensive tackle Jamal Milan forced two fumbles on Saturday. Both are redshirt freshmen. And sophomore guard Nick Allegretti is fast becoming the Illini's most reliable run blocker.
Illinois also grabbed five turnovers against the Scarlet Knights, including a pick six by Darius Mosley. The 78-yard interception return for a touchdown doused Rutgers’ momentum and sealed the victory early in the fourth quarter.
“Chayce kind of picked up where he left off from last week,’’ Lovie said. “Just tough play from the quarterback position. We didn’t score as many points as we wanted. We’ll keep building with him.’’
Unable to stick with Nebraska in the fourth quarter on the road, then losing in overtime to Purdue, Illinois avoided a bad loss with Mosley’s return after he started for the first time in the nickel.
“We wanted to put our foot on the gas pedal,’’ Foster said. “We have been hurting ourselves in the fourth quarter, and we knew we were a better team that what we were (putting) out on the field.’’
In the back half of the schedule, there are no teams struggling like Purdue and Rutgers. Sure, Michigan State has fallen out of the elite and dropped to 0-3 in the Big Ten for the first time in 10 years, but the Spartans are still different than these two back end programs. Home games against Minnesota and Iowa will also be difficult.
Don’t expect Michigan to take it easy on the Illini. Wisconsin showed us how good they are against Ohio State, and Northwestern is always tough for the Illini. A bowl game for the Illini? That’s out of reach now, barring a string of upsets.
This is a process, so let’s just enjoy the process.
John Supinie is a columnist for Orangeandbluenews.com. During the day, he’s an Audi Brand Specialist at Green Audi in Springfield. Call or text him at 217-377-1977 if you’re looking for an Audi, Volkswagen, Toyota or preowned car. Ask for the Illini deal.
