Early Illini Lead Not Enough at No. 18 Iowa

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Fighting Illini fell to the No. 18 Iowa Hawkeyes, 33-23, Saturday afternoon in Kinnick Stadium. After jumping out to an early 10-0 lead, Illinois struggled to maintain its offensive momentum in the second half. 

Brandon Peters and the passing attack led Illinois' offense. Peters had a strong start to the game, completing six of his first seven passes and ending the first drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Luke Ford. Peters later connected with Isaiah Williams for a 16-yard touchdown at the end of the game.

Nine different Illini caught passes from Peters on Saturday as he threw for 248 yards. Casey Washington and Luke Ford each had three catches, while Isaiah Williams, Donny Navarro and Chase Brown each had two.

On the defensive end, Isaiah Gay was disruptive, leading the Illini with a career-high 10 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss. Gay also recorded the team's lone sack against Iowa. Kerby Joseph grabbed his fifth interception of the season after picking Iowa QB Alex Padilla off in the fourth quarter. Joseph is now tied for 11^th in program history for most interceptions in one season.

James McCourt had a perfect game in Iowa City, making three field goals all from 45+ yards out. McCourt hit a 53-yarder in the third quarter, tying his season long and adding to his program record for most 50+-yard FGs. 

Illinois will return home next Saturday to host Northwestern for the final game of the season on Senior Day.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

TEAM NOTES

• The Fighting Illini fall to 4-7 (3-5 B1G) following Saturday's loss at No. 18 Iowa (9-2, 6-2 B1G).
• The Fighting Illini defense held Iowa to season-low 83 passing yards, the fewest passing yards given up in a game since allowing 82 passing yards at Northwestern on Dec. 12, 2020.
• Illinois out-gained Iowa in the contest, racking up a 312-255 advantage in total offense including a 248-83 edge in passing yards.  
• Iowa's 33 points are the most surrendered by the Fighting Illini in an eight-game stretch dating back to a road loss at Virginia (42-14) on Sept. 11. The Illinois defense, however, continued its strong play with Iowa getting just 19 points from their offensive unit, while adding both a kick return and an interception return for touchdowns.
• Illinois opened the game with a 12-play, 75-yard TD drive that took 8:37 off the clock. 
• Illinois captains: DB Tony Adams, OLB Owen Carney Jr., LB Jake Hansen, P Blake Hayes, OL Doug Kramer, OL Vederian Lowe

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• OL duo of Vederian Lowe and Alex Palczewski each made their 51st career starts on Saturday, extending their Illini career record for career games started. Lowe has now started in 45 consecutive games.
• Illini C Doug Kramer also continues to climb the career starts list, making his 47^th career start, now tied for 6^th on the all-time list.
• Senior OLB Isaiah Gay recorded career highs in total tackles (10) and tackles for loss (5.5).
• Gay's 5.5 TFLs are third in a single game in program history, and the most by an Illini player against a Big Ten opponent.
• Gay's 5.5 TFls tied for the most TFLs in a Big Ten game this season (Purdue's Leo Chenal, 5.5, at Wisconsin) and the second-most in a game in college football this season.
• Gay notched TFLs on three straight plays to halt the Hawkeyes' drive that ended with a 51-yard field goal at the 6:41 mark of the second quarter.
• Senior PK James McCourt recorded three field goals of more than 45 yards on Saturday, hitting from 46, 45 and 53.
• McCourt's 53-yarder at the 2:46 mark of the third quarter tied his season-long (vs. UTSA) and matched the longest FG in program history in a Big Ten road game (Dave Finzer, at Purdue, 10/15/77)
• McCourt has now hit 8 field goals of 50+ yards in his career, extending his Illinois program record.
• Kerby Joseph, who entered the game ranked fifth nationally in interception, recorded his fifth of the season in the fourth quarter.
• Joseph is now tied for 11^th on the Illinois list of single-season interceptions, one outside of the top 10.
• Sophomore WR Casey Washington and junior TE Luke Ford tied for the team lead with three receptions each.
• Washington led the team with a career-high 61 receiving yards.
• Ford tallied his second touchdown of the season, hauling in a 13-yard strike from Brandon Peters on the game's opening drive. 
• Redshirt freshman WR Isaiah Williams, a former Illini quarterback, scored his fourth touchdown of the season (third receiving) on a 16-yard strike from Brandon Peters with 31 seconds left in the game. Williams now has three receiving touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, and four passing touchdowns for his Illini career. 

Quotes

Coach George McDonald

Opening Statement:

"I'd like to give credit to Iowa. They're a tough team, they did a really good job of defending us and obviously we didn't come out on the right end. Our guys, we tried to challenge them to make it a four-quarter game and pour it out for each other and I think that's visible on tape. There's some things we've got to get corrected and we will going back. We're looking forward to getting to do it one more time. We've got a trophy game coming up with a team in-state and I know our guys will be fired up to play. But once again, Iowa did a great job, they're a great program. These are games that are going to sting a little bit, but we're going to be ready to go in the future."

On Coach B:

"I think coach did a great job this week of just having Zoom calls with our staff and just laying out his vision and trying to play the game though us and giving us an opportunity to ask questions. He told us how he felt about certain situations. He gave us a great opportunity and led a great game plan in terms of having guys ready to go."

On the strong start:

"That was one of the things that we've been trying to work on since the bye is trying to get going and get some points early. Tony Peterson did a great job of putting the game plan in, the guys did a great job of executing it. We went down there and Brandon was on target, guys made plays, were able to be balanced. That's something that we were really trying to emphasize is being more balanced and trying to get points early for a defense that's been playing so well. Just trying to build a lead and allow them to have some momentum behind them."

On Brandon Peters:

"I think he did good. There's always plays we want back but I love Brandon to death. I think we've just seen so much growth from him over the season. He's really trying to play at a high level and he's getting guys around him to try and play at a high level. I think sometimes as a quarterback you get too much credit and too much blame, but the way he come sin and prepares everyday, he's a really good person, really good player, I'm just disappointed I couldn't help him get this win today."

On being in the interim head coach position:

"It was a whirlwind. I was sitting at my desk, working on some tips and reminders and I get a call from coach and he's like, 'alright it's your turn.' But it's not about me. He's put together an awesome staff from everybody's that he's hired. I was the one he chose to sit in this chair, but any person in that room could've sit in this chair and they would've kept doing the same thing. The one thing that I've been impressed with by coach is he's thought of things way before time. I'm just disappointed we couldn't get this win for him because he gave us every opportunity and our kids gave us every opportunity to get it. But we're building something special, we're looking forward to next week and we're going to be excited to play."

Isaiah Williams

"I feel like the offense, we got to do a better job of helping the defense. As of lately, our defense has been playing great. The offense, we have to pick it up, find ways to move the ball and just help the defense."

"The biggest thing is we got to help the defense out. They're making plays. They're giving us energy. When we get a pick, we got to capitalize on it. Make plays for them. That's our biggest thing. We just got to help the defense out."

"I feel like we just need a game where we all come together. Like we had the run game going and then sometimes the passing game sometimes not there. Today, we did a great job in the passing game, but we just couldn't get the run. It's hard to win games in the Big Ten if you can't run the ball. We need a game where everything is balanced where we are able to run the ball and then we are able to make plays off the play action. Just doing simple things like that."

"I feel like we made some plays. Probably left something out there, but their secondary, get they got a great secondary. We saw a lot of zone, we saw great corner and safety play."

"We just persevered. We knew it was going to be a new challenge as far as Coach McDonald having to step up, the leaders of the team having to step up. We knew it was going to be a challenge but it was something we were ready for. It's something we were ready for since January in workouts. We were built for it. I feel like we did a great job just adjusting to having our head coach out, a lot of players missing practice. We were able to adjust."

Chase Brown

"The run is kind of our bread and butter. We kind of veered away from it in the earlier quarters and came back to it. But especially when we can't get the ball moving, I think it's tough because that's kind of what we do."

"It's tough walking away, especially when we're in a tight game like that and the way we came out in the first quarter with that touchdown and three points. You want to do that every single dive, right? We feel like there's a lot left on the field today."

"TP, all the offensive staff, they work their butts off day in and day out to make sure that this offense is successful and we're all ready and there's nothing that's going to be surprising us on game day. You want to play well for them. You want to execute for them. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do it today. …The main thing I look forward to doing is focus on Northwestern and then this offseason just get better at what we do and continue to take steps toward where we want to be."

"It was kind of hectic, in a way; especially when you find out your head coach isn't going to be there. It's just different, right? He's the guy who kind of solidifies everything and holds everything together. What I was most happy about was the way we were able to adapt and the way our leadership in the locker room kind of took over there and the way Coach McDonald took over Coach B's role. It wasn't the easiest situation."

Tarique Barnes

"He put a plan in place. We still had to go out and put together the plan wether he was here or not."

"The d-linemen did their part. They stepped up and did their part."

"The coaches, you have to give them a lot of props. The way they handled it as well, making sure we were still on point."

"Even before the injuries we were a cohesive unit from the jump. So I think the experience that this gave us, it definitely helped it out a lot."

"The defensive staff, the way we practice, the way we interact with each other, there's a certain expectation we have for one another. Through practice and games, that's how we carry ourselves."

"In terms of the energy, that's all put in place. We have a great defensive staff regardless."