In Illinois’ primetime matchup with No. 22 South Florida in Tampa, the Illini entered as a 17-point underdog and it showed in a 47-23 defeat on Friday night.
South Florida was able to run the ball at will on offense, and Illinois’ (2-1) offense couldn’t get out of the mud for much of the game, culminating with a change at quarterback in favor of Jeff George Jr., as the Bulls (3-0) topped 30 points for an active NCAA record dating back to last year.
A few highlights for Illinois included a blocked field goal and a blocked extra point which was returned for a two-point conversion to make the score 6-2 early in the first quarter.