Iowa City, IA- Bill Cubit's Illini made things interesting this afternoon at Kinnick Stadium. Despite the strong effort Illinois couldn’t hold on and Iowa came out on top with the 29-20 victory.

Illinois allowed Iowa to lengthen drives on huge plays and the Illini offense couldn’t gain any momentum for majority of the first half.

A couple of big Hawkeye hits rattled two of Illinois offensive stars. Wide receiver Geronimo Allison was knocked out cold when he was leveled in helmet to helmet contact with a Hawkeye defender and Illini running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn was shaken up early on in the fourth quarter. Allison left the game and didn’t return, Vaughn however did come back and ended up fumbling.

The Illinois Fighting Illini defense looked solid for most of the game but a few big plays and costly mistakes permitted the Iowa Hawkeyes offense to hold on to the ball for large periods of time. Iowa ended up finishing with 478 total yards of offense, 200 of them passing and 278 of them on the ground.

The Illini defensive front was very aggressive right from the start of the game and they pressured Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard the entire game. Illinois' Jihad Ward led the team in tackles and Dawaune Smoot accounted for Illinois’s only sack of the game.

While the defensive line created pressure, the Illini secondary had a hard time keeping up with Iowa’s receivers. Iowa came up with a 46 yard pass on a third and long and they completed a 49 yard pass on another third and long. Iowa’s half back, Jordan Canzeri took off on a 75 yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter shortly after Illinois cut the Iowa lead to 16-13.

For Illinois, Wes Lunt and the offense couldn’t gain any momentum on the opening drive but moved the ball a lot better on its second. Lunt tossed up a 34 yard pass to the Sophomore Malik Turner and followed it up with a 27 yard pass to Geronimo Allison. Illinois ended the drive with a four yard touchdown run by halfback Ke’Shawn Vaughn.

Wes Lunt and the Illini offense stayed quiet for the remainder of the first half and ended with 121 total yards to the Hawkeyes 299, however they gained momentum towards the start of the second half. Illinois' Interim Head Coach Bill Cubit, upped the offense tempo and the Illini drove to the red zone two times but would come away with field goals both trips. Both of the scoring drives for the Illini included sacks and penalties that without question took the offense out of rhythm.

Illinois made it a close game with a little under 10 minutes left after quarterback Wes Lunt connected with Geronimo Allison on a 53 yard touchdown pass that was as close as the Illini would make it. Hawkeye kicker Marshall Koehn racked up a couple of fourth quarter field goals and from that point the Illini had no answer.

Cubit's Illini take a week off following this game and resume action on October 24th against the Wisconsin Badgers at home.