Illinois Loses to Missouri After Promising Start, 23-13

I watched the first half of the Illinois football game and was quite impressed. The Illinois defense held the Missouri team to only a field goal while the offense showed life like I had not seen for sometime. In fact I was put in mind of the Illinois teams of 1983-1984 with so much different rushing. In fact I was so excited that I was comfortable enough to move over and watch the Cubs who were playing the New York Mets. I should have stayed put.

Illinois has posted an article at their website titled "Illinois Falls to Mizzou in Season Opener, 23-13." Keep in mind when I left the game at halftime Illinois was up 13-3 and completely in control of the game. Further at the end of the half they got a 52-yard field goal and had all the momentum.

The Illini also have a redshirt freshman names Mike Leshoure who is a really good player. He had 112 yards on 20 carries.

The Illinois team took advantage of a two-play sequence to work towards their lead. However the game was decided in the second half. Blaine Gabbert brought the Tigers back from the 10-point deficit in the second half. This was accomplished by two touchdown passes and completed by an end-of-game field goal.

The saddest part of the game however, was that Illinois was held to no points in the second half. This was after such a great offensive start.

The "blanking" was from the inability of the Illini to get passes completed and to maintain the running game they had so effectively maintained in the first half.

It looked to me like the Illini used a format somewhat similar to a "Wildcat" offense and it was very effective. They got first down after first down but not so in the second half. As is often the case the last Illinois drive ended on a catch ruled out of bounds.

The Illinois finished the season 3-9 last year. In the second half in this game they only got 85 yards and four first downs.

If they maintain this type of work they can't expect to finish this season much better.

References:

University of Illinois Website, "Illinois Falls to Mizzou in Season Opener, 23-13"

Personal Experience