Big Ten, Big Win: Illini Notch First Big Ten Win against Rutgers
October 7, 2018 | Football
by Logan Hanson
FightingIllini.com
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A win is always important for a football team, especially one as young as the Illini, but a conference win is even more significant for a team. On Saturday, the Illini earned that first conference victory when they defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 38-17 in Piscataway, New Jersey. The win is an important step forward for the Illini as it improves their conference record to 1-1.
"This is a big win for us. Every time you get a Big Ten win, it's a big win. Getting a Big Ten road win is even harder. We've been getting better as a football team," said head coach Lovie Smith. "That's the way you want to play football."
The way the Illini played football on Saturday was the old-fashioned way, run the ball and play good defense. The Illini rushed for a season-high 330 yards, the team's most in a single game since 2015. In his return to the starting lineup, senior quarterback AJ Bush Jr. had a memorable day on the ground rushing for 116 yards and two touchdowns. The performance gives Bush two 100+ rushing yard games this season, the most for an Illini quarterback since Nate Scheelhaase in 2010 (4).
"That's what we want to do. We to run the game, go inside zone," said Bush. "Just get our blocking and everything on point so we can open it up for big passes."
Bush was not the only one to have success on the ground. Junior running back Reggie Corbin had a career day himself with a career-high 137 rushing yards on 11 carries including a 73-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, the longest play for the Illini this season. Sophomore running back Mike Epstein also had a good game on the ground, adding 63 rushing yards including a 41-yard touchdown run.
"This is who we would like to be offensively," said Smith "When you rush for over 300 yards, you have to be excited about that. We come in every game wanting to run the football."
The defense was out to prove it was not just going to be a day for the offense. The defense gave up only 17 points and forced three Scarlet Knights turnovers. The 17 points were the least the Illini have allowed in a Big Ten game since a 24-7 win against Rutgers in 2016.
The Illini defense started the game fast, forcing an interception by freshmen cornerback Jartavius Martin on the Scarlet Knights' first drive of the game. The Illini would add two more interceptions by the end of the game, one by senior linebacker Del'Shawn Phillips in the second quarter and another by sophomore cornerback Nate Hobbs in the fourth quarter. The interceptions give the Illini a forced turnover in 19 straight games.
"Defensively, you have to take the ball away." Said Smith, "You're going to be able to win games that way. We'll need that each week. Now it's about next week, needing to be able to do the same thing."
The Illini understand that this was an important win for the team, but they know their work has only started.
"We came in thinking this is a game we can absolutely win, but I think that is how we are going to feel the rest of the season," said senior guard Nick Allegretti. "We look at the Big Ten schedule, the gap is close from the top teams to the bottom team, Big Ten is very close right now, every game that we play we are going to have the opportunity to play our best and win that game."
In a close Big Ten Conference, the Illini know that they can compete in any game and they have the confidence that they can win those games.
"We're very confident. I think we just need to keep getting better," said Corbin. "We just don't look at the stats or the points. We look at every little thing, what we did well, and what we messed up. I think we just need to keep that drive going."
The Illini will return to Memorial Stadium for their homecoming game this Saturday against Purdue at 2:30 p.m. CT.
