Stars of the Game: Iowa Hawkeyes 28, Illinois Fighting Illini 0

Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Three players who stepped up in Iowa’s 28-0 win over Illinois

Iowa football recorded their first shutout since 2010 on Saturday against Illinois. Even though Iowa didn’t score an offensive touchdown until the third quarter, the game never seemed out of Iowa’s control.

A big reason is their star players stepped up and made big plays. Riley McCarron returned a punt for a touchdown to give the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead, and Desmond King came up with an interception late in the third quarter to give Iowa a chance to extend their 14-0 lead and put Illinois away for good. Both are crucial plays from key players on Iowa that helped give Iowa even more momentum.

In a game where the Hawkeyes did everything better than Illinois but score early in the game, that’s when stars need to make plays to give the team life. Of course Iowa can’t solely rely on a punt return touchdown against Nebraska on Friday, but it’s a testament to their stars that they were able to stay focused after a huge win and make crucial plays this week.

Here’s a look at three players on the Iowa Hawkeyes who stepped up in their 28-0 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday afternoon.

Mandatory Credit: Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports

RB, LeShun Daniels Jr

26 Carries, 159 Yards, 2 Touchdowns

It’s not surprising that Iowa threw a curveball at Illinois and made LeShun Daniels Jr their workhorse back. A week after Akrum Wadley torched arguably the best defense in the nation, Iowa forgot about him early in the game and tried to get Daniels going instead. Wadley still finished with 82 yards and a touchdown, but it was Daniels who broke the game open for Iowa.

Once Iowa stopped trying to be cute with their play-calling, Daniels thrived. He scored two touchdowns, including a 50-yard touchdown run, and simply couldn’t be stopped by Illinois’ defense in the second half.

The most impressive thing about his touchdown run, though, is that Iowa did not commit a penalty. It seems like the first time this season Daniels broke a long run this season without a penalty.

Plus, after a respectable 52 yards in the first half, Daniels broke loose and gained 107 rushing yards in the second half. It’s telling of how well the offensive line played, and also how explosive Daniels was on Saturday.

Daniels didn’t have flashy jump cuts like Wadley, but he ran as well as he has all season. He hit his holes, broke tackles and showed his big play ability with a 50-yard touchdown, as well as his toughness in short yardage situations when he punched it in from one-yard out.

26 carries ties Daniels’ career-high from a season ago, and 159 yards is the second most rushing yards he’s had in a single game in his career. Even without his 50-yard touchdown run, Daniels would have topped 100 rushing yards for just the third time this season.

Iowa needed to play old-fashioned football and run the rock up the heart of Illinois’ defense, and those are the games Daniels is at his best. Wadley made a lot of defenders miss, but Daniels consistently tore through the Illini’s defense in the second half and accounted for eight plays on Iowa’s 12 play touchdown drive to start the second half.

Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

LB, Josey Jewell

10 Tackles, 0.5 Tackles For Loss

Josey Jewell added 10 tackles to his team-leading 105 tackles on the season. As normal, Jewell was all over the field and made big hits on both receivers and running backs. Not to mention also coming up with his fifth tackle for loss on the season.

Despite Illinois throwing 41 times, it was Iowa’s ability to shut down their usually strong run game that played the biggest factor in their shutout. Outside of a 16-yard run by Kendrick Foster to start the game, he and Reggie Corbin never gained significant yardage on the ground. They combined to rush for a measly 61 yards on 21 carries against Iowa — 2.9 yards per carry.

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Dear Old Gold 11hUnit Grades: Iowa Football 28, Illinois Fighting Illini 0

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It was more than just Jewell, but he played a huge factor in stopping Illinois’ offense. As previously mentioned, he was all over the field, which has become a normality for Jewell every week. He stopped the running backs in their tracks, made hard hits on receivers and didn’t let Wes Lunt scramble out of the pocket.

For as many short throws as Illinois attempted, it only gave more opportunities for Jewell. It looked like after seeing how Manny Rugamba and Desmond King played a week ago, Illinois didn’t want to take chances down field against them. Rather they took their chances against Josey Jewell, who will finish as Iowa’s leading tackler for a second straight season.

It seemed like almost every short throw was in Jewell’s vicinity, which is never a good idea considering the ground Jewell can cover.

After only recording eight tackles a week ago, which is mediocre in Jewell’s standards, Jewell recorded his third double-digit tackle game in the past four weeks. His 10 tackle game against Illinois also marks the sixth time he’s reached that feat this year.

Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

DL, Jaleel Johnson

4 Tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 Sack

Jaleel Johnson is having an unbelievable finish to his senior season. A week after almost single-handedly shutting down Michigan’s run game and being named the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Week, Johnson continued to add to his already career-season.

Johnson had already set career-highs in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks before the game, however he’s on pace to blow his junior numbers out of the water. He has 52 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks through 11 games this season, which rivals his stats through the first 21 games of his career.

Against Illinois, Johnson again proved to be the run-stopper Iowa needs. He looked like a man among boys as he bull rushed through Illinois’ offensive line and into the backfield multiple times.

Also, Johnson almost came up with another safety, which would have been his second in two weeks. After an Akrum Wadley fumble at the one-yard line, Illinois handed the ball to Kendrick Foster, who was nearly tackled in the end zone by Jaleel Johnson. That play is synonymous to the lack of success Illinois had running the ball at either Johnson or Jewell on Saturday.

Right now, Johnson’s level of play makes him one of the best defensive lineman in the conference. At 6-4, 310 pounds, Johnson is a big man, and he’s finally starting to use his size to his advantage.

He has gotten significantly better from the start of the season, and his sack against Illinois marks his fourth sack in the past four games. Johnson is a key component to Iowa’s run defense, and he continues to show why.