Illinois appeared primed to start the season 2-0 after a strong first half against the Duke Blue Devils, but late offensive struggles doomed the Fighting Illini on Saturday afternoon.

Here are Roundtable's three biggest takeaways from the Illini's 31-27 defeat at the hands of the Blue Devils:

Entering the 2026 season, redshirt junior wide receiver Collin Dixon's career-highs in a game were four catches, 90 yards and one score. The captain surpassed each of those marks in the first half alone against Duke.

Graduate transfer quarterback Katin Houser aired the ball out early against the Blue Devils, and Dixon was the primary recipient of most of his pass attempts. Of Houser's 16 first-half completions, Dixon secured nine catches for 135 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Although Dixon was held to just two catches for 31 yards in the second half, the Houser-Dixon connection has shown just how much effort the two put in to build chemistry this offseason.

Duke running back Nate Sheppard is an incredible talent. He became the first Blue Devils freshman to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards last season when he compiled 1,418 yards from scrimmage and 12 total touchdowns last season, and the 20-year-old has been stellar to start his sophomore campaign as well.

In the Blue Devils' season-opening win over Tulane, Sheppard ran for 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 35 carries. Sheppard followed that up with another strong performance against the Fighting Illini, in which he totaled 188 yards and three touchdowns.

But regardless of Sheppard's talent, Illinois' defense struggled across the board, especially in the run game. The Fighting Illini have missed countless tackles over the first two weeks, and Sheppard's ability to break free from contact helped Duke extend drives all afternoon long. Tackling was similarly an issue last week against UAB.

Illinois scored 24 points on its first four drives of the game, then kicked a field goal on the opening drive of the second half. The Fighting Illini's final three drives — all in the fourth quarter — resulted in an interception and two turnovers on downs.

The Illini's best chance for scoring was the first of the three, in which Illinois opted to attempt a fourth-and-2 from the 18-yard-line instead of kicking a field goal to pull within one. While the decision was understandable, the play call was not, as Houser rolled to his left and sailed a pass across his body and out of bounds, intended for Dixon.

Houser then made a poor throw that was intercepted in enemy territory for his first turnover of the season, and couldn't connect with Dixon on fourth down on the following drive. The veteran quarterback was just 3-of-7 passing in the fourth quarter.