BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In the No. 9 Illini’s Big Ten opener against the No. 19 Indiana Hoosiers, one of the team’s most glaring downfalls was the play of the offensive line.
This season, all five of Illinois’ starting offensive linemen returned for another season of protecting quarterback Luke Altmyer and anchoring the run game.
In Saturday night’s game, it would be the Hoosiers’ front seven that looked like the group of savvy veterans, however, as they infiltrated the Illini’s backfield all night long.
Indiana’s defense combined for a total of seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss on the night, all of which helped hold the Illinois offense to just 10 points.
In one of the more crucial sequences of the first half, with the Illini offense pinned at around their own one-yard line, senior offensive lineman Melvin Priestly committed a holding penalty that negated what would’ve been a first-down pick-up.
Illinois ended up punting two plays later, something that seemed to become a common theme for the game.
Senior punter Keelan Crimmins was called upon nine times over the course of the game, the most action he’s seen all season.
One of those punts was blocked by Indiana’s junior defensive back D’Angelo Ponds, who managed to also scoop it up and bring it back for the first touchdown of the evening.
While Altmyer took his fair share of hits and the Illini’s passing attack struggled, the running game suffered more.
Running backs Kaden Feagin, a junior, and Ca’Lil Valentine, a sophomore, combined for 29 yards on 11 attempts. Altmyer’s final total for rushing yards was -27.
It felt as though the Indiana defensive line was able to meet the two RBs with rapid speed each time, giving neither of them much of a chance to leave the backfield.
An offensive line unit that was tabbed to be a strength for this Illini team has had a rough start to the season, something that continued in Saturday’s blowout loss.
With an absolute gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule ahead and the fate of the season hanging in the balance, another tough task and ranked opponent lie ahead, as Illinois will host No. 25 USC for its Homecoming game on Sept. 27.
