Saturday night, the non-conference part of Illinois’ schedule came to an end. The Illini made it a perfect 3-0 at Gies Memorial Stadium, defeating Western Michigan 38-0. They have won every game by an average of 37 points. However, the scores do not tell the tale. In the last two games at Duke and against WMU, it felt like the Illini lacked energy and urgency.
Luke Altmyer drops back to pass vs Duke TCR
Against Duke on the road, they appeared shocked at the aggressiveness displayed by the Blue Devils. If not for a muffed punt in the first half, Illinois might have trailed at halftime. An early penalty and another muffed punt allowed Illinois to pull away in the second half. Now, I do think Duke is an underrated program, but not that much.
Kaden Feagin takes the handoff vs Western Michigan Jack via TRC
This past weekend, against WMU, the Illini offense seemed to have no fire and no urgency. The defense played well, but also appeared to have no enthusiasm. They had no takeaways after getting five the week before at Duke. Here again, if not for a missed field goal and an unsuccessful fourth and goal from the three, it could have been a much different game at the half. In both games, adjustments were made, and the Illini took charge. Now, while that works against Duke and WMU, how will that play against Indiana, Ohio State, USC, and Washington? Illinois plays those four teams in the first 5 Big Ten games.
Tomiwa Durojaiye makes a stop vs Duke David Pollak
Many people were skeptical of the makeup of the D-Line. The three transfers, James Thompson, Tomiwa Durojaiye, and Curt Neal, haven’t had the desired impact. They have half of the D-Line’s tackles 16 of 32, 2.25 of the 5.5 TFLs, and only one of the four Sacks. The defense as a whole only has 20 TFLs and 10 Sacks.
The offense has also been slow to get going since the Western Illinois game, where they scored 31 points in the first half. The O-Line has seemed to be a step or two off in the early stages of the game. it is almost…
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