Brilliant play calling highlights Illinois football’s big first half against Purdue

Illinois Football just had a good first half against the Purdue Boilermakers.

At times, Purdue looked good. They were able to move the ball on the floor offensively, but the Illini defense bent but didn’t collapse.

The Illinois offense was able to close the gap and score on all but one drive in the first half. This led to a solid 24-3 lead at halftime.

This season has been impressive for Luke Altmyer. He continued his great play against Purdue on Saturday.

The game has slowed down significantly for the young gunslinger. He did an excellent job of avoiding the rush on several occasions and this led to longer plays. I was also impressed with Altmyer’s ability to cycle through his progressions.

Altmyer had over 100 yards passing in the first quarter alone against Purdue. This number continued to rise in the second quarter. He sees the field well and I expect him to tear the Boilermakers apart in the second half.

When Barry Lunney became the Illini’s offensive coordinator, I was hard on him. I don’t think he was making the right plays at times.

But Lunney has won me over this season. He’s made some impressive plays, and he can’t get away from what they do well.

In the first half against Purdue, Illinois made some smart plays. We weren’t in a hurry to score, nor were we too conservative. The Illini had nice balance. This included great deflections that opened up a pass catcher in the flat. I love what I saw from Lunney and the Illinois offense in the first half.

Heading into the game against Purdue, Illinois’ defensive weakness was its run defense. We gave up 153.8 yards per game on the ground, which ranked 69th in the country.

The Boilermakers took advantage of this weakness in the first half. Running back Devin Mockobee tore us apart, Reggie Love III thrived on the ground and Illinois struggled to contain quarterback Ryan Browne.

At this point I don’t think it matters much, but it would be nice to see Illinois’ defense block Purdue more in the second half when it comes to the run game. I think we all know what we’re working on in practice this week.