EAST LANSING, Mich. – Squandering a half-time lead, Illinois lost 26-6 to No. 13 Michigan State on Saturday.
Getting outscored 23-0 in the second half, the Illini dropped its second conference game of the season while the Spartans improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1966.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” Illinois head coach Ron Zook said. “To me, it’s the best team we’ve played to date.”
The Illini held one of the nation’s top rushing teams to just four yards rushing in the first half to take a 6-3 lead but were outgained 217 yards to 132 in the second half.
“In the second half, we asked an awful lot of them, and they weren’t able to produce as much as we would have liked to, but I still think overall we played well overall,” Zook said of the Illini defense.
The Spartans didn’t look back after taking its first lead of the game with 8:26 left in the third quarter. Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins found a wide open B.J. Cunningham for a 48-yard touchdown to put Michigan State up 13-6.
“Big plays take the wind out of you more than anything,” Zook said. “It was a combination of all 11 guys not doing what they were supposed to do.”
Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase left the game late in the fourth quarter after a hard tackle from Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones.
“I just got the wind knocked out of me,” Scheelhaase said. “Greg Jones grabbed me and flung me to the ground. I was trying to breathe but I couldn’t catch my breath.”
Scheelhaase completed 15 of 27 passes for 141 yards and three interceptions. The redshirt freshman also picked up 23 yards on the ground on five rushes.
“It was not one of his better games, but you’ll go through that with a first-year player,” Zook said.
Junior running back Mikel Leshoure failed to top the 100-yard rushing mark for the second time this season, gaining 83 yards on 23 carries. The Illini totaled 114 yards on the ground.
“The first half we ran the ball pretty good,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “Just at times, we weren’t consistent. We need to get better overall.”
The Spartan defense held the Illini out of the end zone all day, holding Illinois to two first-half field goals.
“There was nobody on offense who played well enough to win today,” Petrino said. “We need to get more points and we need to play better.”
At the season’s midpoint, Illinois stands at 3-3. The three teams who have beaten Illinois – No. 21 Missouri, No. 1 Ohio State and No. 13 Michigan State – are a combined 19-0 on the season.
“We’ve lost to three pretty good football teams,” Zook said. “We think we can compete with anybody left on our schedule. We’re going to have to go do it.”