Updated on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 10:40 p.m. CT
No. 9 Illinois (3-0) hosted Western Michigan (0-3) on Saturday night, and with a strong run game performance, Illinois extended its win streak to three in a row. Illinois beat Western Michigan 38-0 and totaled 162 rushing yards on the night.
Takeaways
Illinois: Illinois started slowly at the beginning of the game. At halftime, it was only 10-0, and Western Michigan had a chance to get on the scoreboard before the 1st half clock hit zero. Illinois started to reset the tone early in the second half, and that got Illinois back to adding points to the scoreboard. Although it started slowly, Illinois adjusted at halftime and kept the ball on the ground and ran it across the field.
Western Michigan: For the first half, Western Michigan looked really impressive as they were able to not let the number nine team in the country take complete control over the game. The Broncos’ defense shone when it came to disrupting Illinois’ passing game. Western Michigan kept things close for the first half, but the longer they took to score, the quicker Illinois was able to pull away for the win.
Key moment
Western Michigan was knocking on Illinois’ door at the end of the first half. Not only were they keeping the game close, but they were also within striking distance to cut the lead to three heading into the first half.
The Broncos were smoothly galloping down the field and found themselves inches from the endzone on fourth down with three seconds left in the first half.
After coming out of their final timeout of the first half, Western Michigan tried to catch Illinois off guard by faking a run up the middle and trying to sneak in from the outside.
Illinois senior linebacker Kenna Odeluga denied Western Michigan from sniffing the endzone. This began the momentum shift for Illinois to start the second half.
Key Stat
After barely completing half of his passes for only 75 yards in the first half, Illinois senior quarterback Luke Altmyer took advantage of the halftime adjustments in the second half.
Altmyer was able to exceed his passing numbers in the first half, all within the third quarter. Altmyer ended the game with 196 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and his first rushing touchdown of the season.
Up Next
Illinois will begin its Big Ten schedule, starting with a trip to Indiana. The Illini and Hoosiers will kick off next Saturday, September 20th, at 6:30 pm at Indiana University Memorial Stadium.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Luke Altmyer’s last name.