Illinois rushing attack thrives in snowy showdown

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Leading up to Saturday night’s clash between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Northwestern Wildcats, layers and layers of snow blanketed Gies Memorial Stadium.

Having ice-cold hands typically complicates things for quarterbacks and wide receivers, eliminating a pretty significant part of virtually every offense in the country.

With players slipping and sliding all over the field and the temperature dropping below freezing, the Illini were able to ride on the back of their run game all the way to a 20-13 win for the Land of Lincoln trophy.

To no one’s surprise, from the very start of the ball game, it was clear that both teams would focus on keeping the ball on the ground.

For Illinois, running back Ca’Lil Valentine stole the show from the get-go.

The shifty RB was doing what he does best, making Wildcat defenders miss and using his speed to burst off for extra yards.

On the Illini’s second offensive drive, Valentine punched in a six-yard touchdown, the first of the game.

Valentine and fellow running backs Kaden Feagin and Aidan Laughery, along with quarterback Luke Altmyer, combined for 88 yards in the first half.

Leading by just four points, the Illini were looking for a spark coming out of the half.

It was none other than Valentine who would get things going again, as he exploded for a 20-yard run, followed by consecutive five and six-yard gains to help push Illinois into kicker David Olano’s range.

The sophomore ended up finishing the game with 74 yards on the ground to go along with his touchdown. On the other hand, Laughery tallied 37 yards on nine attempts.

Feagin, despite not having as many yards as his counterparts in the Illini’s three-headed monster of a running back room, still made an impact on the ground.

Late in the second quarter, he scored an acrobatic touchdown from the goal line, as he jumped up and over the linemen in the trenches.

Even the pass attack was able to benefit from his running backs’ success, as Northwestern defenders were keying in on run-committing, allowing Altmyer to hit open receivers down the field and opening up play-action offense.

While it doesn’t show up in the stat sheet, Altmyer himself wasn’t afraid to pick up yards on the ground, whether it was making timely scrambles and taking QB keepers for positive yardage.

By the time the clock hit zero, the Illini tallied 120 rushing yards as a team, compared to the Wildcats’ 91.

In a game with such inclement weather conditions, being able to establish a consistent rushing attack proved to make a large difference, propelling Illinois to a timely bounce-back win to head into the postseason with their heads held high.