Hawking Points: Kansas loses defensive struggle to Illinois

On a night where the offense started slow and couldn’t ever get going, the Kansas Jayhawks fell to the Illinois Fighting Illini in a defensive battle by a score of 23-17. Despite a fantastic effort from the defense, the offense never really got into a rhythm, and four turnovers from Kansas was enough to seal their fate.

Key Plays

For those worried about the improved Illinois defense, the first drive of the game proved those worries correct. Jalon Daniels threw his first interception to end the drive on a ball that didn’t have enough to get over Illinois’ Xavier Scott. But the defense came up huge by buckling down in the red zone and forcing a field goal. The Jayhawks sputtered on offense most of the half, getting just 10 points on a field goal to tie and a touchdown two drives later. But as the Jayhawks tried to extend a 10-6 lead going into half, Daniels threw his second interception to Xavier Scott, this time resulting in a return touchdown.

The second half started with some more great defense for the Jayhawks. Illinois picked up a single first down on their first three drives. A 14 play, 81 yard drive on the first Jayhawk possession gave them back the lead, but it was a tenuous lead at best. Daniels threw his third interception of the game on the second Kansas drive.

The first drive of the fourth quarter for Kansas saw the first punt of the game for the Jayhawks. It was muffed, with Illinois recovering it in the endzone. Unfortunately for Kansas, that resulted in a touchback instead of a safety, and Illinois took 8 plays to go 80 yards for the lead.

Illinois went on a final long drive to kill the clock and kick another field goal, and the Jayhawks couldn’t get a last gasp hail mary off.

Eye-Catching Stat Lines

Devin Neal was the lone consistent bright spot on the offense for Kansas. He broke 100 yards in the fourth quarter, but didn’t get a touchdown.

Cornell Wheeler had 3 tackles for loss and forced a fumble. Marvin Grant had 9 tackles and a sack. The defense played well for the majority of the game.

Eye-Covering Moments

There is nowhere to start other than the interceptions thrown by Daniels. Each of the three picks killed all the momentum that Kansas had going and gave Illinois a huge opportunity.

Up 17-13 with the ball after forcing a punt after an interception, offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes followed up a successful 7-yard run with two deep passing plays, killing a drive that seemed ready to put the game on ice. Instead, Illinois took the lead on the ensuing drive.

Takeaways

It seems that the offense isn’t going to hit the ground running like many of us thought. While Illinois’ defense is better than I thought it would be, Daniels clearly needs to shake off some cobwebs and get back on the same page as the rest of the offense.

But this defense appears to be legit. They only gave up 13 points all night, which should easily translate into a win. Illinois isn’t the most high-powered offense, but Kansas consistently came up with big plays and dominated the line of scrimmage most of the night.