The first half was a tragedy. Illinois fans watched as the team struggled. There weren’t just Illinois fans that were watching, though. Many people were just ripping the team for being down 17-3 at halftime. I even had someone say the Illini were a hot mess and asked if Lovie was going to be fired during the season. Mind you, this was after one half of the first game of the 2018 campaign.
Illinois didn’t give up and played well in the second half. They beat Kent State in the second half 28-7 to come away with a 31-24 win over the Golden Flashes.