Column | Notebook from Illinois tough loss against Duke

*** This story originally appeared on DailyIllini.com on Sept. 13, 2026. You can read the original here ***

Senior wide receiver Collin Dixon’s big day wasn’t enough to lift Illinois (1-1) over Duke (2-0) on Saturday. A shaky defense gave the Blue Devils plenty of runway in their 31-27 win over the Illini. Here are some notes from the tough loss:

Devils’ Day

While Blue Devils’ sophomore running back Nate Sheppard may be one of the most talented young players in college football this season, defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck’s unit provided little resistance. 

Sheppard consistently broke tackles — including three on one play — en route to a 147-rushing-yard performance. He averaged over 6 yards per rushing attempt while Duke as a team collected 170 yards on the ground.

“(He’s) a really good player; he made people miss,” said head coach Bret Bielema of Sheppard. “But also no excuses for us. I thought there were several times we had guys stopped, and they fell forward for 5, 6, 7 yards.”

Illinois’ defense also faltered against Blue Devils’ sixth-year quarterback Walker Eget. Eget went 15-for-21 (71%) on pass attempts after going 13-for-26 last week in a win over Tulane. He racked up 206 yards and 3 touchdowns on Saturday. 

Perhaps most concerning for Illinois was the fact that Eget averaged 9.8 yards per pass attempt. As the team gears up to face several premier quarterbacks and running backs in Big Ten play, it will be key for the defense to limit big plays and get the ball back to Houser and the offense. 

However, it wasn’t all bad for the defense against Duke. The unit forced a trio of three-and-outs from the Blue Devils — including on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter — but the bad outweighed the good in the loss. 

Houser, offense lost in second half

Fifth-year quarterback Katin Houser couldn’t have started his afternoon much better. The quarterback went 6-for-6 on passes and marched Illinois to a touchdown on its first drive. 

Houser was much shakier in the next possession, completing just 2 of his next 6 passes. He missed a wide-open Dixon on a deep ball midway through the first quarter but still managed to get the team close enough for fifth-year kicker Ethan Moczulski to drill a long field goal. 

The rest of the game offered the same mixed bag of results. Houser ended the afternoon 24-for-35 (69%) on passing, going 18-for-29 (62%) after his 6-for-6 start. He also failed to find the end zone in the second half.

“I thought we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit,” Houser said. “I thought we just didn’t execute. I really don’t think (Duke) changed much … We just got to go out and execute.”

Even with Illinois down late and all the momentum in the world with Duke, the team was never truly out of the game. After all, former quarterback Luke Altmyer somewhat spoiled the fanbase with his knack for late comebacks over the past three seasons.

Houser, however, failed to channel his inner Altmyer. He suffered his first interception of the season on a crucial drive halfway through the fourth quarter. After the defense forced a three-and-out to put the ball back in Houser’s hands, he sat idle as three straight rushes from junior running back Ca’Lil Valentine failed to produce a first down. 

Dixon’s historic start

No hyperbole is too extreme to describe Dixon’s first-half performance in the loss. The senior wide receiver had a career-best 135 yards on 9 receptions at halftime and had already matched a program single-game record with 3 receiving touchdowns. 

Perhaps it’s fair to recall what Grantland Rice wrote about Red Grange over a century ago, when the famed sportswriter described the Galloping Ghost and his shadow gliding through defenses.

But as the sun drew lower in the sky on Saturday, the shadow of Gies Memorial Stadium’s towering suites drowned out Dixon’s on the turf for the entire second half. The senior had just 31 receiving yards on 2 receptions during a half in which the Illini mustered 3 points.  

Still, Dixon is up to 5 touchdowns on the season — halfway to Illinois’ single-season receiving touchdown record of 10. Three players have reached the mark in a single campaign: Pat Bryant in 2024, newly inducted Illinois Athletics Hall of Famer Brandon Lloyd in 2001 and fellow hall-of-famer David Williams in 1985.

Around the sidelines: final thoughts from the game

*If Dixon is Illinois’ ‘Mr. Reliable,’ fifth-year wide receiver Hudson Clement is its ‘Mr. Consistent.’ Clement has caught a pass in 29-straight games, including all 15 he’s played for Illinois. 

*Credit to kicker Ethan Moczulski. He showcased his big leg by nailing field goals from 47 and 51 yards out, respectively, in the loss. While 62 yards proved too much to ask of Moczulski, his two makes kept the Illini in the game. 

*Sophomore offensive lineman Maika Matelau missed the game after suffering a knee injury on Wednesday. Bielema compared it to the injury that senior offensive lineman Brandon Henderson is dealing with and said that both players should be back “sooner than later.”

*Former Los Angeles Angels farmhand turned defensive lineman Will Holmes has been a bright spot on defense early this year. Holmes picked up his first sack of the year in the loss and has 2.0 tackles-for-loss this season. 

*Illinois’ tight ends have yet to make a significant impact on offense. Houser found senior tight end Davin Stoffel once for 14 yards and senior tight end Christian Abney for 1 yard on Saturday after failing to connect with a tight end in Week 1. Senior tight end Kaden Feagin had a few targets as well. 

*Between Jim Cornelison singing the national anthem and Gene Honda serving as public address announcer, the Illini were a Frank Pellico organ performance away from a full Chicago Blackhawks gameday experience — loss included. 

The “Madhouse at Memorial” had its fifth sellout in its last eight games, though many fans left throughout the course of the blistering afternoon. 

*While Illinois still got burned by Eget, how glad was the team to avoid facing former Duke quarterback Darian Mensah? After a messy transfer to Miami in the offseason, Mensah has been among the best quarterbacks in college football to start this season.

He threw for 401 yards and 5 touchdowns in Miami’s win over Stanford on Sept. 4 and had 252 passing yards on 15 attempts against Florida A&M on Thursday before being pulled amid a 77-7 blowout. 

*Illinois’ next opponent, Southern Illinois, ran their record to 2-1 on the year after a 34-20 win over SEMO (1-2) on Saturday evening.