Illinois’ offensive line far from perfect

Judging by the numbers, Illinois’ offense didn’t do much wrong in Saturday’s season-opening win over Arkansas State.

The Illini produced more than 200 yards on the ground and more than 200 yards through the air for the fourth time in the last six games.

They converted 12 of 18 third-down situations, which ranked No. 6 nationally during Week 1. They didn’t commit a turnover until the final minute and didn’t commit any penalties all afternoon.

So why was junior center Graham Pocic — one of four returning veterans on the offensive line — none too thrilled with his group’s performance?

“We’ve got to do better than we did today,” Pocic said after the 33-15 win at Memorial Stadium. “I didn’t feel we had a very good day. We expect more from us than what we showed today.

“At least we got the ‘W.’ They did a lot of slants and brought a lot of pressure. That was something that we had to adjust to. We didn’t do a very good job of picking everything up.”

Illinois’ line didn’t struggle during the first quarter.

With senior Jason Ford getting most of the carries, the Illini pounded out 83 yards on the ground while taking a 7-0 lead.

The slanting and stunting started taking its toll in the second quarter when Arkansas State’s defense stuffed the box to stop the run.

With Illinois backed up on its 1-yard line, senior strong-side guard Jack Cornell allowed defensive tackle Amos Draper to cross in front of his face and tackle Ford in the end zone for a safety.

That started a string of three consecutive drives when Illinois couldn’t earn a first down.

Ford, who rushed 10 times for 67 yards and a score in the first quarter, finished with 22 carries for 86 yards and 2 TDs.

Ron Zook didn’t put all of the blame for Ford’s decreased production on the line.

“Jason ran well,” Zook said. “I think sometimes he just needed to go north-south. There were times he could have took it up in there. Like I said (to the coaches) on the (head)phones, he’s got to quit cutting back. They’ll get that straight with him.”

Illinois also allowed 3 sacks. Strong-side tackle Michael Heitz, a redshirt freshman making his first start, got beat in the first quarter.

Tackle Jeff Allen and guard Hugh Thornton didn’t communicate on a second-quarter blitz and safety Don Jones flew in untouched for a sack.

In the fourth quarter, Scheelhaase had ample time to throw but couldn’t find a receiver before going down for a 6-yard loss.

When Zook reflected on the line’s play, he related some struggles to the fact the team might have peaked too soon emotionally.

“If we’d have played Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, I think we’d have probably played way, way better,” Zook said. “But that’s the one side of the ball I have no concerns about. I feel very confident that these guys will get ready to go. It’s hard to maintain that peak level for 24 hours. Friday night in practice, it just seemed like, wow, we were on fire.”