Illinois Football is the 18th ranked team in the nation according to the AP top 25, and Illini nation is on cloud 9, as it seems Josh Whitman has led this athletic department out of the gutter, and into a standard of winning. The Illini are 6-1, tied for their best start to a season since 1953, and are currently in the drivers seat of the Big Ten West, with control of their own destiny. A bit of an oversized step forward from the 5-7 season the Illini had a season ago, with a lot of football left to play.
Bret Bielema led his squad to a 26-14 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday where an electric Homecoming crowd left Memorial Stadium more that satisfied. If I had a game ball to give away however, I’d have to give it to Offensive Coordinator Barry Lunny Jr. The Illini offense cranked out 472 yards of total offense vs the #1 nationally ranked Minnesota Defense, and frankly stayed a step ahead of the Gophers for the majority of the game.
Unexpectedly, Illini QB Tommy Devito was announced to be starting shortly prior to kickoff, coming off of an ankle Injury that situationally, looked as if Devito would be a no go for Saturday. He was a go however, and was fabulous vs the Gophers. Devito finished the day 25/32 passing with 252 yards through the air, and a TD himself on a read option pull that left him with nothing but daylight and orange end-zone. Devito has made all of the difference in the world this year for Illinois at QB, and It has really shocked this offense into the confidence needed to win these big football games.
Chase Brown also had a phenomenal day in his hunt to remain Heisman Eligible as he cranked out 180 yards rushing on 41 total Carries. Brown know has 1,059 rushing yards just 7 games into the season, and leads the nation in yards amongst all Running Backs. He has been a work horse for this team that has helped keep defenses true, and is a big play threat it seems almost every time he touches the ball. This opens up so much for Illinois offensively, because defenses have to worry about Brown every play. I believe it is a big reason why Illinois has been able to grow in the passing game as well, being able to take advantage of teams who overcompensate too hard to try to stop Chase. The Minnesota front 7 had a heck of a day trying to wrangle Brown, who averaged 4.5 yards per carry, trampled his way for 180 yards rushing, and opened the game with a receiving touchdown from Devito on a deep wheel route.
Sadly, the no touchdown streak did come to an end at Memorial Stadium, however, Ryan Walters Defense of course continued to shine in Saturday’s match up. The Minnesota Offense was only able to Produce 180 yards of total offense, with one of Minnesotas touchdowns following a long kickoff return Inside the Illini 5. Other than that, Minnesota did not have much for this Illini defense.
With only 21 yards passing, an INT, and a 4/12 passing on the Day, Gophers QB Tanner Morgan just was not having the day he needed for Minnesota to have success. He was then later knocked out of the game due to a injury to the head area that led to him being carted out of Memorial Stadium, and had to be replaced by backup Athan Kalikmanis, who went 2/6 though the air with 17 yards passing with 2 INT’s. Obviously, the Illini defense made it very hard on the Gophers QB’s to find success, thanks to players like Freshman Gabe Jacas who had 6 solo tackles, a TFL, and a sack to lead the way for the Illini.
Aaron Henry and Ryan Walters DB units are chaos to throw through, and have made passing a struggle for all opponents this season. Kendall Smith, Quan Martin, and Sydney Brown all found a way to get a pick of their own, with Quan and Sydney’s coming late in the game to stop all rally efforts from Minnesota. This unit deserved high praise from the complete 180 they have made since being the weakness of this team a short year ago. The passing defense for Illinois was ok at best at many times last season, which is a problem when you finish the season 5-7 and had the chance to be 7-5 or 8-4 because of close losses. When you make a unit stronger, the defense will become better as a whole, and you will start to win the close ones. Now Illinois is 6-1 and those close games don’t seem like you are fighting from the low ground.
What it Means?
Everything. Illinois is 6-1 and hunting for a shot at the Big Ten Title in Indianapolis. Who would’ve ever thought that Illinois would have made this much improvement over one season, but when you truly look at where Illinois finished at the end of last season, you might say it was feasible. Remember when Illinois had to “Learn to win” and stop beating themselves In close games, such as the Indiana loss this season? That was a big statement from Bielema to say that his program had to learn how to be winners again, yet he remained so confident. As said before, Illinois finished 5-7 last season and it very easily could have been 6-6 or 7-5 which would have been a very special first season for Illinois to get to a Bowl Game under Bielema. You didn’t quite know how to win yet, but you were learning. You beat Penn St in the longest football game ever, and finished the season strong vs Northwestern, which made you feel as if Illinois was picking up some momentum when they finished. But, if you would’ve told me 8 weeks ago Illinois would be controlling their destiny with a shot at the title, I probably would’ve said you were wrong, and that’s coming from somebody who has drank a lot of orange and blue Kool-Aid.
Luckily for Illinois, not only did they win last week, but they have a nice bye week coming up to be able to get 100% healthy, rested, and ready to take on the Cornhuskers in Lincoln Nebraska. A big game for Illinois again in the Big Ten West, where it’s never easy to win on the road. You can be sure there will be a very large and rowdy crowd in Lincoln, and Illinois will have a game on its hands vs a Nebraska team that is still in struggle mode, but gaining a little momentum.
Be on the lookout for our Illini Now: Nebraska Cornhusker’s pregame preview, and tune into Now 100.7 10/29 at 1:30 pm as our coverage begins here in Bloomington/Normal.
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