Missed opportunities lead to deflating Illinois loss to Purdue
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
CHAMPAIGN, Ill – In a sold out Gies Memorial Stadium during homecoming week, fans were not treated to the usual Illinois, Purdue shootout that we’ve seen in recent years. Instead they got a low scoring game with no real excitement until near halftime.
Illinois had laid claim to the Cannon trophy two seasons in a row, but after the 24-17 loss, Purdue is now in possession of it for the time being.
Saturday evening, all eyes were, of course, on the defense. After last week’s loss to No. 7 Ohio State, defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck let head coach Bret Bielema know that he would be departing the program after just four games.
Linebacker coach Roger Cooper took over the defensive play calling duties in this game. Cooper, in his first season with Illinois, was brought in alongside Hauck from Montana, and head coach Bret Bielema is confident that he can keep the 3-3-5 formation as competitive as possible.
“If anything wasn’t ever where Bobby couldn’t call it, I would go to Coop naturally. Brought him in, made sure he was good with the plan,” Bielema said. “I think we’ll continue to make some modifications, some tweaks on defense, but for us right now just stay healthy.”
The Illinois defense wasn’t spectacular in this one, but it showed flashes in the first half by getting timely stops in the red zone and forcing field goals. It definitely wasn’t perfect though. Early in the second, WR Asaam Waseed broke free for a 61-yard catch and run after a blown coverage from the Illini secondary.
The defense was able to settle in a bit after a flag pushed Purdue back, and got off with just a field goal allowed. This foreshadowed the touchdown to come later in the quarter as WR Tra’Mar Harris broke down his man and brought in a 21-yard TD, the first of the game.
It was Illinois’ offense that was uncharacteristically quiet the entire game. The Illini didn’t score until the 0.21 second mark of the second quarter. And who else but WR Colin Dixon to get the ball rolling for the Illinois offense.
The much needed score energized the entire stadium. In a four minute drive, QB Katin Houser and the Illini were able to find success in short yardage passes and rushes.
To keep the drive alive on 3rd and 2, and to put Illinois in the red zone, Houser ran it himself for 14 yards and the first down. What followed was the 7 yard Dixon score, giving him his eighth of the season and just two away from tying the single-season record.
The success on offense was very short lived though.
Missed opportunities prove costly
Some bizarre playcalling and unfortunate penalties caused multiple missed opportunities for the offense. The most puzzling moment in the game happened with just 13 seconds left in the third quarter.
A solid drive put the Illini in the red zone with a chance to make it a one score game. Instead, on 3rd and 3, offensive coordinator Barry Lunney decided to call a Jordan Anderson rush, which got immediately shut down for a loss of two yards.
Instead of taking the field goal, the offense stayed on the field on 4th and 5 which resulted in an incomplete pass. The offense has been keeping the Illini afloat all season, but Bielema knows execution in critical moments needs to be better.
“Our offense has done a lot of really good things,” Bielema said. “But, Duke, Ohio State and this game, our three losses, the inability to make some 4th-down plays or some 3rd-down plays when we were in 4-down territory or 4-down scenarios , has been the tell of that.”
To add insult to injury, early in the fourth, Illinois put together a good drive in which a deep ball to Dixon resulted in a pass interference, putting the offense into Purdue territory. What followed was a 34 yard catch and run from WR Ty Robinson for the touchdown.
The fans’ excitement was very short lived, as a holding penalty nullified the touchdown and backed Illinois up even farther. The cherry on top, Houser was sacked for a loss of 9 yards, ending the promising drive on 4th and 20.
“I think it just comes down to executing. We felt really good about our plan, we just didn’t get it done execution wise, which I feel like is a common theme for us this year,” Dixon said. “Like after a lot of the games we look back it’s like we didn’t execute and this is the result.”
Illinois missed out on 10 points, which could have easily shifted the tide in the game. The nail in the coffin, Houser’s third interception of the season. Bielema knows this could have been handled better, but notes Houser is capable of growing this.
“Even when they scored a touchdown to make it the 2-score game again, we have 3.5 minutes, 3 timeouts and we don’t need to throw a ball down the middle of the field there desperation-wise,” Bielema said. “It’ll be a really good learning moment for Katin, for our offense.”
Check this out:
Despite the relatively low scoring affair, there were still some highlights that are worth checking out.
RB Antonio Harris rushes up the middle to give Purdue a 24-10 lead. This essentially sealed the game for the Boilermakers.
Katin Houser throws his second TD of the game, this time to Ty Robinson. This made it a one score game, but it was too little, too late.
Stat Stuffers:
- Ryan Browne: 18-27 passing, 255 yards, 1 touchdown
- Asaad Waseem: 3 receptions, 98 receiving yards, 61 yard catch
- Colin Dixon: 10 receptions, 116 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
What’s next:
Illinois now sits at 2-3 and is below 0.500 for the first time this season. Some serious discussions will have to be had about the future of this team. Can the defense readjust to the departure of Hauck? Will the offense bounce back? Its next opportunity to bounce back is Oct. 10 against Michigan State.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos