CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — That’s how you earn revenge.
After a shaky start, Illinois completely turned the game around, handling Virginia in a 24-3 blowout on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
Just a year ago, Illinois (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) went into Charlottesville and was dominated in every fashion in a 42-14 loss. However, the Illini flipped the script on Saturday, and the big story was the defense.
But the Illini didn’t begin the game in promising fashion. Early miscues similar to the ones that plagued them in last weekend’s loss at Indiana showed up again, as the offense committed two turnovers in the first 2:11 of the game.