Fighting Illini Feast on Sloppy No. 19 Jayhawks Performance

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The No. 19 Kansas Jayhawks (1-1) suffered their first loss this season at the hands of the Illinois Fighting Illini (2-0) 23-17 on Sept. 7. A sloppy performance, filled with errors and poor decision making, doomed a second-half Kansas lead. The Illini capitalized on a slight majority of the mishaps and that ended up being enough to give them the victory.

Game Summary

The Illini brought a sold-out crowd of over 60,000 to the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium to welcome the Jayhawks. After a 34-23 loss last season in Lawrence, Kan., Illinois was looking for revenge and showed a ton of energy and poise against their ranked foe.

The two defenses felt each other out throughout the first half. Both teams kicked field goals early on to forge a 3-3 tie after the first quarter. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels threw a touchdown pass to Luke Grimm with 6:28 left in the second quarter. Daniels, however, looked off all night long outside of his two TD passes. He threw 3 interceptions, including a first-half Pick 6 that gave the Illini a 13-10 halftime lead.

Something about this Jayhawks offense just didn't click the entire night. They shied away from their acclaimed run game and leaned more into its pass attack even after Daniels' critical mistakes. In the end, Kansas paid the price for it.

The Illini capitalized on these mistakes, but not always. The Jayhawks' defense played valiantly even in the face of adversity, making some big stops to give the offense chances. Kansas' defense allowed just 271 total yards of offense and 1 touchdown the entire night. It also had 1 recovered fumble. Kansas safety Marvin Grant was all over the field, totaling 9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss and a pass deflection.

But it wasn't enough, though, to beat the Illini as the Jayhawks beat themselves. Four turnovers and mishandled opportunities were too much to overcome. The Illini took the lead back after an 8-play, 80-yard drive was capped off by a Kaden Feagin 1-yard run. The Fighting Illini defense held strong after gaining momentum back and kept it for the rest of the game.

Turning Point of the Game

The turning point came with just 58 seconds left in the first half. The Jayhawks had the ball up 10-6 and were expected to take that lead into the half. While the Illini received the ball to begin the second half, there wasn't a ton of reason to worry as of yet.

That was until a forced Daniels pass was turned into a Xavier Scott Pick 6, which gave the Illini a 13-10 lead. Daniels telegraphed the throw and Scott read it the entire way. He made 2 of the 3 picks in this game to go along with 8 tackles and a sack. Scott was all over the field and ended up being the difference maker, shifting the momentum and putting a noticeable dent in Daniels' confidence.

Feisty Fighting Illini, Janky Jayhawks

This game was a major wake-up call for the Jayhawks. They ended up sleepwalking through this whole game and looked like a complete shadow of the Kansas 2023 offense. If the Jayhawks had capitalized on one or two opportunities, then they likely would have won. But it was not to be.

This hurts Kansas, who was on a quest to prove it could consistently win. The Jayhawks will face the red-hot UNLV Rebels (2-0) on Sept. 13 in Lawrence, Kan. For Kansas, it's time to sound the panic alarm. The offense must figure itself out for this team to be at its best. Otherwise, things might revert back to the Kansas teams of old.

For the Illini, though, this is a huge confidence booster. The defense looked absolutely on fire, forcing 4 turnovers and major mistakes that kept them in this game. The Illini have the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-1) next, but that is their last cupcake matchup. A tough conference schedule lies ahead. However, with a win like this, things are looking up.

This is the Illini's first win over a ranked team at home since October 19, 2019, when they beat the Wisconsin Badgers 24-23. While this is a massive win for Illinois, it's a loss that forces the Jayhawks to look within themselves for answers.