5 painful observations from the Illinois football loss to Penn State

Illinois football played a huge game in primetime but came up a bit short on the scoreboard.

It was nice to have a big primetime game as a ranked program. The Illini are starting to become a team that is talked about. We have already beaten multiple top-25 programs this season, but Penn State was too much to handle.

After trading touchdowns on the first two possessions of the game, Illinois and Penn State went quiet after that. A 7-7 halftime score quickly turned in the second half. Penn State managed to score a touchdown early in the third quarter, and that proved too much for the Orange and Blue.

Illinois couldn’t find the end zone, or uprights for that matter, after the first drive of the game. The Illini would fall short to the Nittany Lions, 21-7.

For much of the 2024 season, the Illinois football offensive line has been solid. We have been able to protect Luke Altmyer so he can stand in the pocket and deliver strikes.

That didn’t happen against Penn State, though. The Nittany Lions have a much better defense than anything Illinois has seen this season. When we go up against a good defense like Penn State brought to the table on Saturday night, our offensive line folds.

Josh Kreutz had one of his worst games as a member of the program. He is a good center and has a bright future, but he laid an egg against Penn State. The bad snap over Altmyer’s head was preceded by multiple missed blocks that led to Altmyer either getting sacked or scrambling.

Kreutz just highlights the bad night that the Illinois offensive line had against the Nittany Lions, but they weren’t the only ones who had trouble blocking.

There were multiple times Illinois could have had big plays out in the flat. All we needed was a nice block from a wide receiver. I specifically remember a screen that could have gone for a lot of yards. Collin Dixon just had to land a block, but he failed to make any meaningful impact on that play, and it was shut down quickly.

Blocking was one of the biggest issues I had on Saturday night. Illinois was in the game, and if we could have just had some better blocking, this could have been a win.