10/4/2018 1 Comment Illini Football: Weeks 1-4Before every football season there is one thing Illini fans always think "Maybe we will be better this year", and then the season starts...
The Illini are off to the usual 2-2 start that we have been accustomed to the past 5-6 years. Starting off with Kent State and Western Illinois should always be an easy first two wins but these games still proved a challenge for the Illini. In week 3 the team played a slightly tougher Southern Florida team and was winning most of the game until an absolute choke at the end of the fourth quarter to allow the USF to take the home the win. Week four was an expected loss against a tenth ranked Penn State team, however it was a somewhat close game till the 4th quarter. Here's a short recap of the first 4 games: Kent State: Kent State should always be an easy first win of the season for the Illini, and although the team got the win it was not the fashion that most fans would have liked. Starting off they went down 3-7 in the first quarter, and then 3-17 going in at the half. At that point of the game all the fans started to realize the team will likely have the same loosing pattern that it has had for so many years. However, in the second half the team actually showed up. With nine minutes left in the 3rd quarter Ravon Bonner had an 8 yard run for the first Illini touchdown of the game. The team went on to score four straight touchdowns to seal the game at 31-24. Even though the outcome of the game was a win, there was one big loss, one of the teams best wide receivers and 5th year senior Mike Dudek's season and career as an Illini was ended with an injury. Western Illinois: Going into week two everyone was hoping for a more solid win than the prior week. But that hope was put in jeopardy when the Leathernecks scored on their first drive of the game. Then early in the first quarter the starting quarterback for the Illini, AJ Bush, was injured in a play that resulted in a roughing the passer penalty. He was replaced with MJ Rivers and didn't return. As the first half went on fans were getting more and more concerned until halfway through the second quarter when Edwin Carter, a true freshman wide receiver, caught two touchdown passes to bring the score to 7-14. However, he suffered a scary leg injury during the second play and left the game. The rest of the game was pretty smooth for the Illini, and special teams had a punt block touchdown by Stanley Green to put the score to 7-24. After this the game was pretty slow and Reggie Corbin finished out the game early in the fourth quarter with a 3 yard run to finalize the score at 14-34. Southern Florida: After a loss last year to Southern Florida, the Illini came into this game ready to win, but as usual that wasn't the case. The team got off to a quick start with a big 43 yard touchdown run from Mike Esptein, but USF answered quick with their own running touchdown. The rest of the game was field goals, with four coming from Illini kicker Chase McLaughlin. The score was 19-7 going into the fourth quarter, and this is where it all went downhill. The Illini allowed 18 points in the last 15 minutes to let USF walk away with an easy win. Penn State: Everyone expected this game to be a blowout, which is how it ended up, but the Illini fought hard for the first three quarters. In the first quarter the Illini only allowed one score and had a score of their own from Reggie Corbin. Penn State answered quickly with two touchdowns of their own to bring the score to 21-7. However the Illini didn't quit and Ricky Smalling caught a 6 yard touchdown pass, followed by a field goal from Chase McLaughlin to close the gap to just 21-17 at the half. In the third quarter the Illini got their first lead of the game with a 17 yard pass to Ricky Smalling and put the score at 21-24. The slight gleam of hope seen by Illini fans was quickly dashed as Penn State went on to score 7 touchdowns in a row to win the game 63-24. The Illini's next game against Rutgers could be their first Big 10 win of the season, and quite possibly their only, but only time will tell.
1 Comment
Alec Mickel
10/11/2018 11:09:53 am
As a fellow college sports fan I am very excited to read your blog throughout the year. Although I am not a University of Illinois fan I would still like to know how they are doing in all of their sports, and reading it from a fellow classmate would make it even better. I know that U of I has struggled in recent years in football as well as basketball, but i know nothing about their other sports, so i will be interested to read about how they do in those.
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