Illinois just won a football game... in dominant fashion?
There’s really no other way to describe what the Illini defense did to the Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon. Ryan Walters’ unit absolutely stifled the same offense that did anything they wanted against them in Charlottesville just a year ago.
Illinois won the game 24-3, but it was even more lopsided than that score indicates.
Let’s start with a stat comparison for Virginia’s offense between last season’s matchup and Saturday. Same quarterback, same receivers, same opponent with similar personnel:
Total Yards:
2021 - 556 2022- 222
Passing Yards:
2021 - 423 2022 - 180
Rushing Yards:
2021- 133 2022 - 42
Passing Efficiency:
2021 - 28/40 2022 - 13/36
3rd Down Efficiency:
2021 - 4/10 2022 - 1/16(!