Man, that was a fun first half for the Illinois football team against the Purdue Boilermakers.

Remember that first half? The Illini led 24-3. Things went well, people were happy and stress was low.

Purdue came out in the second half and took a sledgehammer to any Illinois luck. This should have been a blowout after the first 30 minutes of action, but then the Illini let our guard down and the Boilermakers took advantage.

Score after score led to a Purdue comeback. Finally, after a 23-point fourth quarter, Purdue took the lead with less than a minute to play. This seemed to be the end.

Luke Altmyer and Co. put on their capes and were able to drive down the field for a tying touchdown. This led to overtime in which Illinois scored first. Purdue came back with a quick touchdown and would go for a two-point conversion. Illinois had not stopped Purdue in the second half, but a huge blitz and sack ended the game. Illinois managed to defeat the Boilermakers 50-49.

After that win, I think it’s appropriate to start with how bad Illinois’ defense was against Purdue. What we saw on Saturday was completely inexcusable.

Coming into the weekend, the Illini weren’t great on defense, but we weren’t the worst team in the country. We gave up 153.8 yards per game on the ground, which was No. 69 in the country.

That’s about the middle of the pack when it comes to rush defense. What Illinois fans got on Saturday was perhaps the worst defense I have ever seen.

Illinois couldn’t stop Purdue in any form of the run. Quarterback Ryan Browne torched us in the first half, and he continued that tear in the second half. He finished the game with 17 carries for 118 yards.

Devin Mockobee also continued his dominance over the Illini. The talented running back had 11 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown.

As a team, the Boilermakers were able to tally 32 carries for 239 yards and two scores. That’s an incredible average of 7.5 yards per carry. The Illinois defense should be ashamed of themselves.

Illinois had no impact on the defensive line. We could stop a baby if he or she got the football. When Browne would move into space, Illinois defenders would take a bad angle or fail to contain him.

Purdue is not a good running team. They don’t have that much talent, but they were able to pick us apart on the ground. If we don’t fix this soon, Illinois will have a very difficult time against Michigan next week.