Ash has taken his lumps in his season and a half in charge of the Scarlet Knights, but against Illinois, his team was better prepared and much stronger in the trenches. Two weeks after Ohio State pushed them around in a 56-0 loss, they did the same to the Illini thanks to a dominant performance up front.
Here are five observations from the victory:
Let's not go too crazy about Gio Rescigno's performance in his first game as starter since last season. He only completed five passes, and while that was more than enough against a bad Illinois defense, the Scarlet Knights almost certainly will need to show more in the passing game to add a second Big Ten win this season.