Need to find a way to play better.
After the worst loss in his tenure at Illinois, Bret Bielema has to somehow get his team’s attention focused on the USC Trojans, who come to Champaign this Saturday. The 63 points scored by Indiana are tied for fourth-most points scored by an opponent, and the 53-point differential is tied for the third-largest losing margin.
It all started with another very slow first half.
After the early touchdown drive, Illinois looked lost, as if it was in a half-speed practice, not a Big Ten game. The offensive line missed or was outplayed in the trenches. Defensively, Aaron Henry seemed to have no answer for the Indiana attack, leading Bielema to say: “Defensively, they really attacked some of our leverages and some of the things we’d obviously put on film, they had a good plan for. I thought this staff has really traditionally over time, over watching them the last couple years, have taken advantage of what you give them as good as anybody. So, got to really assess what we do defensively.”
The Indiana offense was able to gain large chunks of yardage on the ground and five TDs through the air. The reason for this was NO pressure from the D-Line, three tackles for loss, two sacks, and one QB hurry. Meanwhile Indiana had 10 tackles for loss, including seven sacks.
Now, the defensive secondary was a man down at the start, having lost one to a horrible targeting call, and took a beating with Xavier Scott unavailable. Additionally, Miles Scott was kicked out early in the game. Then, injuries were sustained to Matthew Bailey, Torrie Cox, Caleb Patterson, and even the little-used reserve, Grayson Griffin. To his credit, Bielema did not use this as an excuse but as a contributing factor.
(On the injury front, Xavier Scott is expected to undergo surgery and will likely miss most of the remainder of the season. He might be able to play at the end or postseason. As for the other injuries, they are listed as probable.)
It wasn’t just the defense
In his post-game statement: “Offensively, we just never got anything going. Had too many second and longs, which led to third and longs. Obviously, too much pressure on Luke (Altmyer). We can’t play a game like this. So, we got to really look at our protections and what we’re asking our guys to do. We can’t have him get hit the way he was and have any success. And obviously, we got to be able to run the football a little more consistently. However, that has to happen with the personnel groupings, schemes, or plays; it’s definitely a recipe for failure when it doesn’t happen today.”
If it had just been the Indiana game that this had happened, I wouldn’t be concerned. But this happened at Duke and to a lesser extent, Western Michigan. It was a penalty by Duke that led to the first Illini score of the second half, and a fumble that led to the second. Yes, Illinois did roll from there, particularly on defense. Against Western Michigan, if not for a missed field goal and a defensive stand, it could have been tied at halftime. Illinois has dropped to No. 23 in the latest AP Poll.
As for USC, the Trojans have been rolling and are now ranked at No. 21 in the AP. They possess a passing attack led by the sixth-leading passer, Jayden Maiava (1,223 yards, 9 TDs, with four rushing TDs as well), as well as the fourth-most prolific pass-catcher, Makai Lemon (438 receiving yards, 4 TDs). In the running game, they have Waymond Jordan (443 yards, 3 TDs). Without Xavier (all game) and Miles (for the first half), I expect the Trojans to throw the ball early and often and take advantage of a depleted secondary.
On defense, USC could give Illinois’ O-Line fits as they have 40 tackles for loss, 16 sacks, and the secondary has six picks. They allow fewer than 100 yards a game rushing and have limited opposing QBs to just over 230 yards per game. USC has 2 B1G wins vs Purdue and vs Michigan State. The Spartans were able to put up 31 points in LA. I do think Illinois has a better offense than MSU.
The loss to Indiana should not define this team. In Bielema’s words: “The response is what’s going to define us. Today happened. I get it. I understand it. It’s something that we got to live through. Very disappointed for our football team, our coaches, our fans, anybody that had supported us to get to this point.”
To win this game, the Illini can’t have a slowdown. The game is 60 minutes long, and they will need to play the entire 60 minutes. If anything, Coach Bielema is right. How Illinois responds in the game with USC will play a huge role in defining this team.
GO ILLII!
Category: General Sports
