Five things we learned as Rutgers beat Illinois

Rutgers is back to grinding out result, a hard-fought 20-14 win at Illinois snapping a four-game losing streak for the Scarlet Knights. The win over the Illini is the first Big Ten win of the season for Rutgers. With the victory, Rutgers improved to …

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Rutgers is back to grinding out result, a hard-fought 20-14 win at Illinois snapping a four-game losing streak for the Scarlet Knights. The win over the Illini is the first Big Ten win of the season for Rutgers.

With the victory, Rutgers improved to 4-4 (1-4 Big Ten) on the year. Illinois is now 3-6 (2-3 Big Ten).

Rutgers looked better and improved after last weekend’s bye week. Two weeks ago in a 21-7 loss at Northwestern, the Scarlet Knights looked lethargic and were simply worn down throughout the game.

This game, the Scarlet Knights came out with energy and were physically impressive at the line of scrimmage.

Rutgers outgained Illinois 338 yards to 197 yards. They had the ball an impressive 35:08, wearing down Illinois.

It was an impressive win for Rutgers, considering that the Illini were flying high after a nine-overtime win last week at Penn State.