For all the pessimism surrounding a recent two-game spinout, Illinois probably had more upside heading into Saturday’s game against Michigan State than against it.

A bye week, a home game — Senior Day, in fact — and an opponent whose injuries were piling up even after his own time off may have contributed to the Illini’s 38-16 victory (7-3, 4 -3 Big Ten). But even if one insists on grading on a curve, this team definitely addressed many areas in which it had underperformed. Here’s how we rated them:

You can’t really be upset about a team effort of 138 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries, especially in a win. But 30 yards of that total came on a late run by Josh McCray against a gassed Spartans D, and the final totals benefited from quarterback Luke Altmyer escaping a few tight sacks that would have resulted in big losses. The running game didn’t hurt the Illini on Saturday, but it wasn’t the straw that stirred the drink either. An outlier: Melvin Priestly continues to hold him down at right tackle.

Altmyer wasn’t perfect against the Spartans — he threw a few errant unforced passes, including at least one that should were eliminated – but rediscovered some of the magic he had harnessed in the first half of the season. He made good reads and throws on two scoring passes, and converted a solid 6 of 12 third and fourth down situations. Receivers Pat Bryant (four receptions, 135 yards, TD) and Zakhari Franklin (seven catches, 44 yards TD) deserve a lot of credit, but Altmyer spread the wealth, finished with 231 passing yards and no turnovers, and triggered a score of 38 points. effort.

Individual performances on the line are always difficult to assess from the outside, but the collective and overall results tend to be quite obvious. Illinois is still inconsistent in its ability to get a push up front and make or maintain blocks, but Saturday’s result (even against a lesser opponent) represented a significant improvement. The Illini aren’t rushing for 4.5 yards per clip, holding MSU to zero sacks and going 5-for-5 in the red zone without getting any quality contributions here.

Illinois’ defense enjoyed an early lead Saturday, but against the Spartans (87 rushing yards, no touchdowns), the unit put together its best performance against the run since the Nebraska game and nearly put bottled up an MSU running game that has to be fair, I’ve been struggling all season. Yet the Illini lost blocks and collapsed at the line of scrimmage, terminated and frequently put Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles in difficult situations downhill and from distance. Well done.

A major gaffe early in Saturday’s game seemed to portend a long day: Miscommunication between defensive backs Xavier Scott and Kaleb Patterson led MSU receiver Aziah Johnson to run wide down the right sideline for a touchdown. 52 yards from Chiles. But this was the worst part, and by the final gunshot, the Illini had a season-high six quarterback hurries and eight game-tying tackles for loss (including five sacks). Linebacker Gabe Jacas and defensive tackle TeRah Edwards put pressure on Chiles that kept him on the run all day.

No notes. Kicker David Olano was perfect on a less-than-difficult day. Punter Hugh Robertson had just one punt — for 36 yards (inside MSU’s 20). And Hank Beatty was consistently productive on punt returns, giving the Illinois offense 74 more yards of field position (and a long return of 25). They may only be picked for a lack of big plays, but these guys continue to do their job with metronomic consistency and unsung excellence.

Some time management issues were brought up (and perhaps a little exaggerated) on the show, and one can only speculate whether this secondary error during the TD pass from Chiles to Johnson was player or coach. But offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. returned to using the entire field and throwing off MSU’s defense with creative play calls, and defensive coordinator Aaron Henry mixed in just enough blitz to have the desired effect without exposing the defense too blatantly.

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