Sloppy play plagues Fighting Illini as they lose third Big Ten game
Illinois Coach Bret Bielema glances at the scoreboard during the fourth quarter against Nebraska Friday October 6, 2023 at Memorial Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — There’s no denying that Illinois is on a downward spiral this season, and after Friday night’s loss, Coach Bret Bielema has to pick up the pieces.
Nebraska invaded Memorial Stadium, and left with a 20-7 victory, which snapped a three-game losing streak in the series. The Fighting Illini continue to struggle offensively. It’s tough to argue against that when the Blackshirts held Barry Lunney’s offense scoreless in the first quarter and the entire second half.
There were very few offensive fireworks in front of the 46,703 fans in attendance. The Fighting Illini couldn’t even score inside the Huskers’ one-yard line, which Bielema thought was despicable.
“Very frustrating, in 15 years of coaching I’ve never been in this position where we can’t gain a half yard,” Bielema said. “It’s absolutely insane, so we’ll look at what we have asked our guys to do, we obviously got to change the equation and the answer cause we can’t afford these moments.”
Bielema knew his team had a slim margin for error, but the silly penalties and mistakes happened anyway. On top of that, Illinois was held to a season-low, seven points and 310 yards of total offense. Nebraska (3-3) led Illinois in yards, plays, first downs and time of possession. Bielema knows that’s a recipe for failure, and something he needs to get fixed before their next game.
He thought Illinois’ defense played well, especially in the second half. However, the defense was on the field for too many plays. It’s no mystery that the offense didn’t do the team any justice.
“We got to convert points bottom line, that’s what it is,” he said. “We can’t win any games doing this without scoring points, so we’ll really attack that as we have, and get different answers, and hopefully different results.”
Quarterback Luke Altmyer completed 29 of his 47 passes for 289 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Illinois couldn’t run the ball at all, and was limited to 21 yards on the ground. Wideout Isaiah Williams did his best to give the offense a spark though. He hauled in eight passes for 57 yards, and was targeted 11 times.
Bielema understands that his defense played well enough for the Fighting Illini to win. Defensive back Nicario Harper racked up a game-high, 17 tackles, including one for loss. Freshman Dylan Rosiek added 10 stops and broke up two passes. Illinois couldn’t get a full sack on Nebraska’s quarterback though. Bielema wants the defense to build on this performance.
“There’s a lot of guys doing good things, desire, attitude, and energy into this game was really at a high level,” the 53-year old coach said. ” I thought our guys prepared for the moment.”
Bielema needs to iron out all of the wrinkles in practice, which should be more intense following this loss. Being 0-3 in Big Ten play is not how Bielema imagined his third season to go.
“To be a 2-4 football team right now is a very painful thing, I wish I could give better answers other than we’ll make the adjustments, corrections, changes and hopefully move forward against Maryland.”
