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This weekend the Illinois football team fell to No. 3 Michigan 41-8.
The Illini got off to an extremely ugly start in this game. They were down 31-0 at the end of the first half with quarterback Jeff George completing zero of his seven passes.
Illinois lost that first half, but what really impressed me is how they came out in the second half.
In the second half, Illinois only lost 10-8. If they would have played like this in the first half then I think this game would have been much closer.
The reason it was a better game in the second half was because of how the team played overall.
George had a better second half going 4-of-8 for 95 yards and a touchdown. This is a much better result than the first half.
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But, you have to give George credit because he came out in his first start as a freshman and improved throughout the game.
It would have been easy for George to give up after that first half because of how bad he played, but he didn’t.
That same mindset could have been with the entire team, but they fought through that mentality and played tough.
This Illinois team didn’t give up and this made me happy. They clearly have bought into what Lovie Smith is preaching.
The defense really played better in the second half as well.
In the first two-quarters, Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight was 11-of-14 for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Speight only played in the third quarter in the second half, but Illinois held him to 5-of-9 for 88 yards and zero touchdowns in that quarter. That is a 55-percent completion rate compared to the first half where he had a 78-percent completion rate.
But, overall, the feeling I got from this game was split into two halves. You have to look at the first half and then look at the progress the Illini made in the second half.
This clear progression means that the team is listening to the coaching staff and they are buying into Lovie and his teachings.
As long as the team is buying in and working hard, I have no doubt that this team will continue to get better and We Will Win.
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