Is Illinois' Offensive Line Turning the Corner?

Illinois held Michigan State to no sacks and pounded out 138 rushing yards – so is blocking no longer a question mark?

Members of Illinois' offensive line huddle against Michigan State on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The group helped the Illini hold the Spartans to zero sacks and run for 138 yards in a 38-16 win. / University of Illinois

Offensive line play is football's answer to public service: Do your job well, and no one bats an eye. Screw it up, and you'll never hear the end of it. Sometimes you're the scapegoat even when you've handled your business. While you're getting your noggin crunched a few dozen times every Saturday, a thousand yahoos think they could get better results than you. It comes with the territory.

Still, it can't be ignored: Illinois' offensive line has struggled more often than not this season, especially in pass protection. In their 21-7 defeat at Penn State, the Illini surrendered seven sacks, no doubt forcing quarterback Luke Altmyer into a painfully long ice-bath soak. Purdue – Purdue! – broke through for five sacks, even in a game the Illini won. In losses to Oregon and Minnesota, Altmyer hit the deck four times, officially – not including all the other punishment he absorbed after the release. More ice, please.

Contrast that with Saturday's showing against Michigan State, in which Illinois prevented the Spartans from logging a single sack. (Perhaps the secret here is simply to play Michigan-based teams, against whom the Illini are 3-0 this season and have allowed a combined four sacks. Against everybody else, they are 4-3 and have given up 24 sacks.)

Geography aside, the Illini have to feel pleased after the efforts of their offensive line (among others) helped lift Altmyer to his best passing day (231 passing yards and two touchdowns) since the Purdue win and road-graded the way to three touchdowns for running back Josh McCray.

Illinois with another TD and they continue to extend their lead!!! 🤩 @IlliniFootball pic.twitter.com/FPlrVbtP3f

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2024

Still, realistically, how much can be deduced from a single performance – against any opponent, let alone MSU? Consider: The Spartans haven't registered a sack since September. That Illinois kept the streak alive and ensured Altmyer stayed upright is worth noting. You can only play the guys they put in front of you, and the Illini O-line did its job. But it was hardly a fearsome pass rush that it fended off.

Even in a statistically flawless performance, Illinois' pass protection showed cracks. Altmyer ate turf on more than one occasion – even after heaving the touchdown to Pat Bryant – and threw jittery incompletions on others. At one point, he found himself winding backwards, away from the line of scrimmage, almost from the start, scurrying out of two Spartans sack opportunities before bailing out of the play.

The (obvious) reality is that better teams tend to have bigger, stronger, better athletes along their defensive front, so evaluating any offensive line or individual lineman is a relative, ever-changing task. The Illini won't be the favorite at Rutgers this Saturday, but it wouldn't come as a shock for them to pull off the mild upset – and then turn back Northwestern in Chicago a week later. The Scarlet Knights have one of the least-productive pass rushes in the Big Ten, and are giving up more yards than every conference team not named Purdue. The Wildcats aren't much better.

So over the next two weeks, don't be shocked if Illinois' run-blocking is crisp and the protection airtight. Again, kudos to any big men all-but-anonymously putting themselves out there for the glory of their teammates at the "skill" positions. But we'll have to wait for the Illini to play another A-level team, either in a season-ending bowl game or in 2025, to discern apparent improvements from opponent-based illusions.

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