FINAL: Duke 31, Illinois 27 | Sports

CHAMPAIGN — A disappointing fourth quarter.

A disappointing defensive performance.

And a disappointing outcome for Illinois.

Duke defeated the Illini 31-27 in front of an announced sell-out crowd of 60,670 on Saturday afternoon, sending Illinois to its first loss of the season. 

The Blue Devils held Illinois to just three points in the second half after Illinois led 24-21 in the first half on the strength of a strong start by Katin Houser and Collin Dixon.

But the offensive success didn’t sustain after halftime for the Illini (1-1) against the Blue Devils (2-0).

Short-yardage failure

The Illinois drive: 6 plays, 18 yards, 3:19

The story: An 11-yard completion from Katin Houser to Hudson Clement seemed like a promising omen at the start of the drive. It wasn’t. The Duke defensive line had its way against an injury-riddled Illinois offensive line, stuffing Ca’Lil Valentine on two straight runs. Then, a fourth-and-4 pass from Katin Houser intended for Collin Dixon fell incomplete. The chance of a home win against the Blue Devils seems to be slipping away for the Illini, who only have one timeout left.

The score: Duke 31, Illinois 27

***

Sigh of relief for Illini

The Duke drive: 3 plays, 1 yard, 1:08

The story: The Blue Devils’ inability to turn that Katin Houser interception into anything offensively was a major win for Illinois. Duke’s drive went nowhere, starting quarterback Walker Eget got dinged up after the Illini’s Will Holmes got pressure in the backfield and another punt has Illinois at least in position to try and piece together a game-winning drive.

The score: Duke 31, Illinois 27

***

Epitome of not ideal

The Illinois drive: 3 plays, 2 yards, 0:53

The story: It’s never good when you run more plays than yards gained. It’s even worse if that happens because you turned it over. Katin Houser’s first interception at Illinois certainly came in an inopportune time. After forcing a Duke punt — after giving up the ball on a turnover on downs — Illinois had the ball in Blue Devils territory after a bad punt and decent return by Mac Resetich. Giving it right back? Not ideal.

The score: Duke  31, Illinois 27

***

Lucky to give up just three

The Duke drive: 10 plays, 53 yards, 6:15

The story: The Blue Devils added to their lead with a 39-yard field goal from Cosme Salas, and Illinois should probably be thankful. Four penalties on that drive — one false start, two holding calls and an illegal block in the back — kept pushing Duke backward. The Illini needed the help.

The score: Duke 31, Illinois 27

***

Three on the board

The Illinois drive: 11 plays, 46 yards, 5:39

The story: Through nearly seven quarters there aren’t all that many concerns about the Illinois offense. Katin Houser and his offensive teammates aren’t perfect, but they’ve been able to move the ball effectively so far this season. A 47-yard field goal by Ethan Moczulski wasn’t the first choice as the ending to the Illini’s first drive of the second half, but it’s points. The real question is if the Illinois defense can get a stop and give Houser and Co. the ball back.

The score: Duke 28, Illinois 27

***

Double dip: Engage

The Duke drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:13

The story: Illinois coach Bret Bielema emphasizes three ways games can be lost — penalties, mental errors and turnovers. The Illini went 2 for 3 on Duke’s first drive of the second half. A penalty in the red zone gave the Blue Devils first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Two plays later Walker Eget connected with Nate Sheppard in the flat for a 3-yard touchdown with the Duke running back proving slippery again as Illinois linebacker Robert Edmondson couldn’t make the tackle.

The score: Duke 28, Illinois 24

***

Too easy for the Blue Devils

The Duke drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 1:10

The story: The Blue Devils are going to get a chance at the double dip that Illini coach Bret Bielema loves after marching downfield, in short order, to pull within a single score again. A 36-yard completion from Walker Eget to Jonah Burton — where Illinois nickel back Xavier Scott got beat and flagged for pass interference — was the big play, but the Illini’s inability to stop Nate Sheppard reared its ugly head again. The Duke running back finished off the drive with a 7-yard touchdown catch to keep today’s game close.

The score: Illinois 24, Duke 21

***

Career day already

The Illinois drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 5:17

The story: Collin Dixon did the heavy lifting to get Illinois inside the 5-yard line, making an incredible grab on a 30-yard reception on the Illini sideline. Then the offense seemed to stall out with a Ca’Lil Valentine rush and Brayden Trimble catch that went basically nowhere.

It just reinforced the idea of, when in doubt, throw it to Dixon. Katin Houser found his favorite target for a 2-yard touchdown, making the Illinois senior the first Illini with three receiving touchdowns since Casey Washington in 2023 against Northwestern.

The score: Illinois 24, Duke 14

***

About those missed tackles …

The Duke drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 5:42

The story: This touchdown solely belonged to Nate Sheppard. The Duke running back gave his team a shot by converting a direct snap rush for first down off a fake punt. Then he rushed for 2 yards, 19 yards and 2 yards to find the end zone. The 19-yard carry was the most problematic for Illinois when you consider James Kreutz, Ismael Kante and Mac Resetich all had Sheppard in some form of wrapped up but couldn’t finish the tackle. 

The score: Illinois 17, Duke 14

***

Sleight of hand

The Illinois drive: 8 plays, 62 yards, 3:49

The story: Illinois didn’t go full “Barge” but it did put a bigger personnel package on the field for a fourth-and-one call near midfield. It was misdirection from offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr., who called for a little play action. Katin Houser delivered as the Duke defense bit hard, finding a wide open Collin Dixon for a 40-yard touchdown.

The score: Illinois 17, Duke 7

***

An honest to goodness stop

The Duke drive: 3 plays, 8 yards, 2:01

The story: Seems like someone lit a “you better start tackling” fire under the Illinois defense. The Illini bottled up Nate Sheppard on first and second down, giving enough leeway on third-and-long to absorb a solid pickup from the Duke running back. The linebacker choice on third down for Illinois stood out with both Grant Beerman and Cameron Thomas on the field together (just like they did at Lakota West).

The score: Illinois 10, Duke 7

***

Three points is something

The Illinois drive: 11 plays, 43 yards, 4:47

The story: Ethan Moczulski connecting on a 51-yard field goal was impressive. A bit expected, though, given the former Illini kicker turned current Illini kicker made a 59-yarder in his first stint in Champaign. But three points is a bit of disappointment when you consider Katin Houser had a wide open Collin Dixon down the Illinois sideline and overthrew his top target. Dixon hesitated slightly on his route, perhaps thinking Houser would throw before he did, but the Illini quarterback clearly had throwing Dixon into the open end zone as his plan.

The score: Illinois 10, Duke 7

***

Blue Devils have the answer

The Duke drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:55

The story: So much for Illinois emphasizing tackling this week. Duke running back Nate Sheppard sandwiched a 30-yard run in between Illini penalties to put the Blue Devils within sight of the end zone. Tackling? Not great. Penalties? Even worse. A holding call on Juice Clarke wiped out a Pat Farrell sack, and a facemask penalty on backup free safety Lavon Williams (Mac Resetich hurt his right arm) was tacked on to the end of Sheppard’s run. All to set up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Duke quarterback Walker Eget to wide receiver Jonah Burton.

The score: Illinois 7, Duke 7

***

All Dixon, all the time

The Illinois drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:37

The story: Not that there was any doubt, but Collin Dixon is clearly Katin Houser’s favorite target. The Illini senior wide receiver was targeted three times on the opening drive of the game and caught all three passes thrown his way. That included a 13-yard touchdown grab Dixon had to high point to bring down. 

The score: Illinois 7, Duke 0

***

Kickoff is imminent here in Champaign, but there’s one notable pregame observation to share. 

Illinois will be without both of its starting guards today against Duke. Right guard Brandon Henderson was ruled out earlier this week, and left guard Maika Matelau is not suited up this afternoon and has his left knee in a brace. 

Worth watching the kind of interior pressure the Duke defense might generate.

***

The sun is shining. The tailgaters are set up. It’s another Illinois football gameday in Champaign. 

While there were fewer fans set up in the parking lots around Gies Memorial Stadium than I expected for my late morning arrival, today’s game against Duke has been publicized as a sellout. 

It’s that time of year i.e. the most important Week 2 game for Illinois since … last year’s Week 2 game at Duke. Plus the game a year prior at home against Kansas. 

Hyperbole abounds in sports, though, so let’s put all of Illinois’ apples in the “better beat Duke” basket. 

Doing so will require Illinois to shore up its run defense given the Blue Devils’ Nate Sheppard got a Chase Brown-esque workload in Duke’s opener. Rushing 35 times for 227 yards and two touchdowns in a win against Tulane was impressive.

The way the Illini tackled against UAB, Sheppard might have topped 300 yards on the ground in that matchup. 

Tackling, of course, was a topic of conversation for Illinois this week. Probably a point of emphasis in practice, too, but that’s just an assumption since I wasn’t invited to watch. Either way, it’s something I’ll have my eye on as gameday in Champaign progresses. 

Be sure to follow along all afternoon for our wall-to-wall coverage with Matt Lucas joining me in the press box for his first Illinois game and Bob Asmussen hanging out with the 2001 Illini all day.