Here's what we learned from Week 2 of college football, where key parts of the Illinois and NIU offenses have emerged.
Illinois:
The Illini are figuring it out, and just in time.
This is a season with massive amounts of expectations for the Illini. A Week 1 game against Western Illinois was a warm up. Week 2 brought the real challenge.
A road tilt against Duke showed us what this Illini team is made of.
Illinois was up 14-13 at halftime on Duke. The Illini then outscored Duke 31-6 in the second half to run away with a 45-19 win. What helps is that Illinois proved it’s a team that can make plays.
The Illini, on the road, were plus-five in the turnover battle. That’s usually a good recipe to win a game.
Matthew Bailey, Tanner Heckel and Gabe Jacas all forced fumbles. Heckel also inter