CHAMPAIGN- As the Illinois Fighting Illini (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten West) took on the Penn State Nittany Lions (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten East) at Memorial Stadium on Friday night, they did so without senior quarterback A.J. Bush once again. Despite participating in pre-game warmups, Bush was benched for the second straight week in favor of freshman M.J. Rivers. Rivers made his first career start last week against South Florida at Solider Field, and was given the nod again against PSU. The Illini want to give Bush another week or so to heal before putting him back on the field.
“A.J. Bush is getting better but he won’t be able to go tonight,” said head coach Lovie Smith on the Illini Radio Network before the game, “M.J. Rivers will start the game,” he added.
As recently as Thursday, Bush had still been listed as questionable. And just like last week, the choice to start Rivers again was a game-time decision. So as Illinois opened up conference play, Rivers got another chance to perform on national television. He also played in front of a bigger crowd, 34,704, than he did at Soldier Field.
In the Illini’s 63-24 loss to Penn State, Rivers completed 17-of-28 passes for 149 yards, a touchdown, and his first career interception. He finished with a passer rating of 110.1, he took a few chances with deep passes down the field, he also ran for 24 yards. He continues to show steady improvement.
“I thought he made some good plays (and) did some good things,” said coach Smith after the game.
What hurt the Illini this week was the inability to stop the 10th ranked Nittany Lions run game which accounted for 387 of their 591 total yards, and six of their nine total touchdowns. Illinois started the fourth quarter trailing 28-24 but PSU wore down their defense and exploded for 35 points in the final 15 minutes. Both teams put their backups in for the last few minutes of the game once it was out of reach.
“We knew we were playing a good football team…. It’s always about the finish,” coach Smith said.
Despite the finish or lack there of, Rivers’ teammates are high on him and praised his performance. This week he made better decisions, showed more poise in the pocket, and showed a quicker release in his passes. Something he credits to offense coordinator Rod Smith.
“I learn each and every day from him,” said Rivers after the game. “He’s a great coach, he guides me every single day, and we have a great relationship.”
Stabilizing Rivers’ performance again was the Fighting Illini’s rushing attack. Junior running back Reggie Corbin led the Illini with 87 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore Mike Epstein chipped in with 73 yards. Sophomore Ra’Von Bonner added 42. But the issue again with Illinois is finishing in the second half.
“Right now we’re devastated (after this loss),” said Corbin post-game. He continued, “We felt like we should have won that game. All we can do (now) is move on to the next one and never let it happen again.”
“We have to put a full game together, we’ve been close a couple of times,” added Epstein. “Until we (win) we won’t be satisfied.”
Despite the team’s second half struggles over these last two games, the Illini feel that they can win with Rivers until Bush is ready to play again.
“This offense is pretty good, everybody gets an opportunity to make plays. (Rivers) looks pretty good, he makes smart decisions, he doesn’t force things too much. He’s a very smart player (and) he’s going to continue to get better,” says sophomore wide receiver Carmoni Green.
Rivers himself is ready to stay under center for as long as the team needs him to. “We got to come back, work even harder than we have, and just trying to get over that hump of being able to finish. We just got to be able to execute and get it done,” says Rivers.
He’s also understands the responsibility that comes with the job.
“It’s a great feeling of being able to go out there, and try to give my team the best chance they have of coming out with a win every night. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way, your going to have ups and downs, we have a whole bunch of fighters on this team, and we’re not going to give up,” he said about starting the last two games.
As for the latest on Bush…
“He’s close, (he’s) better. When you pull a hamstring muscle, it’s two plus weeks at the minimum. The bye week is coming at the perfect time, so hopefully the next time we play (Bush) will be ready to go,” says Lovie Smith.
Next week the Fighting Illini do indeed have their bye week. The next time they take the field will be on October 6th when they play their first true road game of the season at Rutgers.
