The final result on the scoreboard was a bit unsightly, North Carolina 48, Illinois 23, but there were many positives. Running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn was a major one. He broke off a 65-yard touchdown run on the third play from scrimmage and went over a 100 yards rushing by halftime.
The fact that Illinois actually had a lead in this game this year, and remained within striking distance until midway through the fourth quarter was another positive. With new Head Coach Lovie Smith in charge this year was all about getting off the bus running with Ke’Shawn Vaughn.
Ideally, you get an early lead, play great defense, run the ball down your opponents’ throat and own the time of possession battle.
Obviously that didn’t happen.
“Offensively we really did not get anything consistently done. When you start off in the lead you really need to take advantage of that,” Smith said.
Although the final score was lopsided, the Illini were only out-gained by 153 yards and out-gained on the ground by 15 yards. Vaughn finished with 115 yards on 15 carries.
“I feel like this one, we let it slip. A lot of penalties thrown our way that pushed us back and forced us to make big yard gains on third down,” said Vaughn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZhL19LzPGs&feature=youtu.be
His back up, Kendrick Foster, had 54 yards on 12 carries.
“We were in the game. We scored quick and were up. But those penalties shot us in the foot. They hindered us, and shifted the momentum back to North Carolina,” said Foster.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/774756851997085697
Beyond Ke’Shawn Vaughn, the real big positive for Illinois football tonight was the attendance, as articulated in the picture above and elaborated on in this link.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.