First off let's knock off the theories that Jalon Daniels isn't healthy or tweaked his back. Bottom line he made some good throws and some bad ones. His passes when needed still had zip on them. There were some throws he will want back because he tried to put touch on them and they were underthrown.
I have talked to people and he is not injured. Sometimes you don't play well and that's exactly what happened.
From a play-calling standpoint I thought they ran much of the same scheme they have the last two years. We saw option, there was wildcat, there was QB run with Daniels, etc. There was a trick play I think would have worked but it wasn't executed well. These were the same play designs they used against Illinois last year.
In 2023 Daniels was 21-29 for 277 yards and 2 TD
In 2024 Daniels was 18-32 3 picks, 141 yards and 2 TD
The difference is he made more plays and avoided mistakes in 2023. He did not last night. He was 7-of-9 on short throws, he was 6-of-9 on intermediate throws of 10+ and was 0-for-6 on throws downfield over 20 yards.
I don't want to say they abandoned the run game, but they certainly could have gone with it more because Illinois was not shutting it down. The final play sheet looked balanced with 33 rushes and 32 passes.
The play I think that swung the momentum was the pick six before the half. It wasn't a bad play call but there was a bad missed block and that gave the Illinois DB a straight line to the ball. At first I put all the blame on Daniels, but he threw the ball thinking that defender was going to be blocked or slowed down.
I thought Devin Neal looked great. He has the burst to his game that I have said came last year and has the make-you-miss element. Illinois wasn't going to stop him. Hishaw ran hard and was effective. He takes some stress of Neal.
I have no problem with the defense until the fourth quarter and this something that haunts them from the past. They have played well but when there are crucial times or needing a stop they haven't come up with one. And I am by no means blaming the defense. But Illinois had 122 of their 271 yards in the fourth quarter when it counted. The rush defense was very good. They held Kaden Feagin to 40 yards on 16 carries. That's really good. They held Illinois to 79 yards rushing for the game.
Illinois made the plays when they had to. On the fourth and short the DB made a great play on Grimm holding him short of the marker. They took advantage of the KU offside and threw a ball deep and the WR made a one-handed catch. On second and 17, Altmyer had his only good run for 18 yards and a first down. Illinois caught a big break on the muffed punt. Altmyer made a nice throw to the sideline when the receiver tip-toed the line on 3rd down late in the game. Illinois got breaks but they made the plays when needed.
Special teams was okay. Greaves punted twice for a 54.5 avg, Allen made his only FG, Wilson was solid and didn't make any mistakes in the return game.
Bottom line is give credit to Illinois. I think they are an average football team, but they were ready to play and had to hear all off season how KU chewed them up on defense. Daniels said they showed some new looks with a different front and mixed up coverages. They played well enough to win in front a packed house. But nobody can convince me KU isn't the better team. But sometimes the better team doesn't win.
Now, you have to move on. It is a shorter week and the players and coaches need to get prepared. UNLV isn't a bad team. KU can't make the same mistakes it did. They have to see the film and find out what worked and what didn't. Leipold said they have upperclassmen and they have to flush that Illinois game and get ready to work.
I have talked to people and he is not injured. Sometimes you don't play well and that's exactly what happened.
From a play-calling standpoint I thought they ran much of the same scheme they have the last two years. We saw option, there was wildcat, there was QB run with Daniels, etc. There was a trick play I think would have worked but it wasn't executed well. These were the same play designs they used against Illinois last year.
In 2023 Daniels was 21-29 for 277 yards and 2 TD
In 2024 Daniels was 18-32 3 picks, 141 yards and 2 TD
The difference is he made more plays and avoided mistakes in 2023. He did not last night. He was 7-of-9 on short throws, he was 6-of-9 on intermediate throws of 10+ and was 0-for-6 on throws downfield over 20 yards.
I don't want to say they abandoned the run game, but they certainly could have gone with it more because Illinois was not shutting it down. The final play sheet looked balanced with 33 rushes and 32 passes.
The play I think that swung the momentum was the pick six before the half. It wasn't a bad play call but there was a bad missed block and that gave the Illinois DB a straight line to the ball. At first I put all the blame on Daniels, but he threw the ball thinking that defender was going to be blocked or slowed down.
I thought Devin Neal looked great. He has the burst to his game that I have said came last year and has the make-you-miss element. Illinois wasn't going to stop him. Hishaw ran hard and was effective. He takes some stress of Neal.
I have no problem with the defense until the fourth quarter and this something that haunts them from the past. They have played well but when there are crucial times or needing a stop they haven't come up with one. And I am by no means blaming the defense. But Illinois had 122 of their 271 yards in the fourth quarter when it counted. The rush defense was very good. They held Kaden Feagin to 40 yards on 16 carries. That's really good. They held Illinois to 79 yards rushing for the game.
Illinois made the plays when they had to. On the fourth and short the DB made a great play on Grimm holding him short of the marker. They took advantage of the KU offside and threw a ball deep and the WR made a one-handed catch. On second and 17, Altmyer had his only good run for 18 yards and a first down. Illinois caught a big break on the muffed punt. Altmyer made a nice throw to the sideline when the receiver tip-toed the line on 3rd down late in the game. Illinois got breaks but they made the plays when needed.
Special teams was okay. Greaves punted twice for a 54.5 avg, Allen made his only FG, Wilson was solid and didn't make any mistakes in the return game.
Bottom line is give credit to Illinois. I think they are an average football team, but they were ready to play and had to hear all off season how KU chewed them up on defense. Daniels said they showed some new looks with a different front and mixed up coverages. They played well enough to win in front a packed house. But nobody can convince me KU isn't the better team. But sometimes the better team doesn't win.
Now, you have to move on. It is a shorter week and the players and coaches need to get prepared. UNLV isn't a bad team. KU can't make the same mistakes it did. They have to see the film and find out what worked and what didn't. Leipold said they have upperclassmen and they have to flush that Illinois game and get ready to work.
