The Illinois Fighting Illini were walloped 41-14 by Minnesota on Saturday in Champaign. And there was one drive that really, really summarized things for the Illinois offense.
Trailing 28-7 in the third quarter, Lovie Smith’s squad had 1st-and-goal at the Minnesota 10-yard line. Fighting Illini quarterback Cordan Taylor ran for no gain.
On 2nd-and-goal, Illinois was called for tripping, which is a 15-yard personal foul. That moved the ball back to the 25-yard line.
So it was still 2nd-and-goal, and then Taylor fumbled the ball all the way back to the 48-yard line for a loss for 23 yards.
On 3rd-and-goal, Taylor threw an incompletion that was almost intercepted.
That left Illinois with no choice but to punt on 4th-and-goal at the 48-yard line.