Illini Ring East Carolina’s Bell
Illinois looked into Marcus Crandell’s eyes and saw a way to turn around its postseason luck.
The Fighting Illini defense, noticing that East Carolina’s sophomore quarterback tipped his hand by staring at his intended receivers, picked off four of Crandell’s passes Saturday in routing the Pirates 30-0 in the Liberty Bowl.
“Once we started getting a feel for him, we were breaking on him every time he threw it, sometimes even before it was thrown,” said Illinois linebacker Kevin Hardy, who had an interception.
Coaches had the Illini defense prepped to watch Crandell, who has a tendency to watch his receivers go across the middle. Illinois coach Lou Tepper said the turnovers were unexpected.
“It was certainly a big part of the game, and it was unlike East Carolina to have that many turnovers,” Tepper said. “We just had a sharp day.”
Illinois (7-5) had lost seven of its last eight bowls, but took control quickly against the Pirates (7-5).
The Fighting Illini, whose defense ranked ninth in the nation, handed East Carolina its first shutout of the season. The Pirates had been averaging 27.5 points per game, but turned the ball over five times.
“All the mistakes we made were due to the pressure they put on us,” East Carolina coach Steve Logan said.
East Carolina, playing in only its third bowl since 1965, never established its offense, finishing with 271 yards. The Fighting Illini rolled up 389 yards while holding the ball for more than 35 minutes.
Crandell, eighth nationally in total offense at 253 yards a game, was 20 of 41 for 179 yards.
Johnny Johnson threw for a career-high four touchdowns. He was 18 of 30 for 250 yards with TD passes of 17, 73, 5 and 9 yards, tying the Liberty Bowl record set by Purdue’s Mark Herrman in 1980 against Missouri.
“Our offensive line did a great job,” Johnson said. “I barely even got dirty. … I had time to throw all day. We ran our game plan like we knew it like the back of our hand.”
Illinois took control on the Pirates’ second possession when Simeon Rice forced Jerris McPhail to fumble. Johnson converted the turnover into a 10-play scoring drive capped by a 17-yard touchdown toss to Ken Dilger.
Johnson connected with Jasper Strong a few minutes later on a 73-yard TD pass play for a 14-0 lead after one quarter. That was the longest Illinois pass play since Jack Trudeau hit Cap Boso with an 83-yarder against Southern California in 1985.
Robert Crumpton, who recovered McPhail’s fumble, stopped the Pirates’ only scoring threat in the first half by taking Crandell’s pass away from Allen Williams in the end zone with 12:37 to go in the half. That led to a 21-yard field goal by Chris Richardson.
MEMO: Changed in the Spokane edition