Final Score: Iowa 6, Illinois 9

Brief Recap: With a chance to keep pace in the B1G West, Iowa headed to Illinois for the largest game in Champaign in quite some time. That game turned into a nail-biter, even if some of the themes of the game were far from explosive.

One theme of the game was the unfortunate injury concerns of Illinois. Starting quarterback Tommy DeVito went down in the first quarter with an ankle injury, and head coach Bret Bielema confirmed heading into halftime that DeVito was doubtful to return.

In the second half, the Illini also lost star receiver, Isaiah Williams, from an already hampered offensive attack. That left Art Sitkowski and Chase Brown to try and lead the offensive attack against the Hawkeyes.

Fortunately for the Illini, the defense was more than up to the task for the offense of Iowa. The Hawkeyes committed a number of penalties and negative plays to consistently put the unit deep behind the chains.

As a result, the game was tied 6-all at the half and remained deadlocked at the score late into the evening. Illinois eventually kicked a field goal late after a huge fumble return touchdown for Iowa was overturned.

The Hawkeyes would force a punt and get the ball back with less than a minute and a shot to go down and kick a tying field goal. That drive ultimately ended as time ran out with penalties and a sack of Spencer Petras knocking the Hawkeyes back.

Key Player: Illinois RB Chase Brown. Who else? Though Brown was unable to find the end zone in the game, he gave the Illini a chance to maintain the time of possession and keep control of the ball for much of the game.

When it was all said and done, Brown finished with 31 carries for 146 rushing yards. He also added 4 catches for 17 yards in the win.

Key Moment: With Illinois driving in the fourth quarter and facing a third down, Artur Sitkowski fumbled on the play. That fumble was scooped up by Iowa’s Riley Moss and returned all the way for a scoop-and-score touchdown.

Unfortunately for Iowa, that play went to replay review and it was eventually overturned. According to the replay, Sitkowski’s forearm was down a split second ahead of losing control of the ball.

Key Stat: 1.7, Iowa’s yards per carry as the team finished with 52 yards rushing in the loss. By contrast, Illinois finished the game with 200 yards on the ground and 4.4 yards per carry.

Though neither offense put on a clinic, Illinois did enough to maintain control of the line of scrimmage and dominate the field position battle. That paid off with a late field goal as the Illini pulled it out in the end.

What it means for Iowa moving forward: After some signs of growth in the loss to Michigan, it is back to the drawing board for the Hawkeyes. Nothing worked – and nothing much looked good offensively – as Iowa posted its 3rd game of 7 points or less so far this season. Oh, and some of the toughest games of the year remain for after the bye.

What it means for Illinois moving forward: First place in the B1G West, how does that sound? No one could have predicted it early in 2022, but the Illini are currently tied atop the West standings and are riding a 4-game winning streak heading into a matchup against Minnesota. However, there’s no time to celebrate. The Illini have some serious injury concerns to sort out moving forward.