Illinois football seeks answers amidst rough first half of 2023 season

Underwhelming. That’s one way to describe this year’s Illinois football team. Entering Week 7 with a 2-4 record and an 0-3 tally in Big Ten play, it’s a far cry from 2022, the program’s best season in over a decade.

“At this time a year ago we were obviously 5-1, a year before that we were 2-4. We’re 2-4 once again,” head coach Bret Bielema said in Monday’s availability. “Obviously I don’t want to be where we’re at, but it is what it is.”

What’s gone wrong? How has the identity of a program changed so much in just one offseason? One short answer (among others): numerous personnel changes.

Changing of the guard on defense

Last year’s Illinois team was led by NFL talent on both sides of the ball. The class featuring CB Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks), the fifth overall pick in the 2023 draft, CB Jartavius “Quan” Martin (Commanders), safety Sydney Brown (Eagles) and RB Chase Brown (Bengals), led Illinois to an 8-5 record and a near appearance in the Big Ten Championship.

But with all those departures, lots of holes needed filling. With such a young team, the inexperience has shown mightily. New defensive coordinator Aaron Henry – speaking of personnel changes – made it clear that working in a new defense would not be easy.

“We got different players this year than we did last year just from a coverage standpoint and they’re younger guys,” Henry said Monday.

After former defensive coordinator Ryan Walters left for the top job at Purdue in December 2022, Henry was promoted to take over the defense after two seasons as defensive backs coach. His defense currently ranks last in the Big Ten in scoring and yardage, allowing 28.8 points and 401.5 yards per game respectively.

Last year’s defense under Walters ranked not just first in the conference, but first in the nation in scoring, allowing only 12.8 points per game. Henry acknowledged that fact but said comparison between the two units isn’t fair.

“One, we ain’t got the same players and two, people know how to attack it,” he said. But with that, there must be adjustments.

“You got to change the picture, you got to do something a little bit different that people may be uncomfortable with,” Henry added.

As of late, it seems like something has been working for Illinois’ defense though. There has been notable improvement with the linebacker group, including Dylan Rosiek, Kenenna Odeluga and James Kreutz.

In fact, Pro Football Focus graded Odeluga as the best linebacker in the nation for week six (92.0). The sophomore picked up five total tackles and one tackle for loss in Friday’s 20-7 falter to Nebraska.

“I was so proud of those guys,” Henry said regarding the three linebackers. “To see the growth that they’ve made from the first game to now . . . they’re becoming leaders and catalysts for this defense.”

With projected top-10 draft pick defensive tackle Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton usually double-teamed by opposing offenses each week, having the linebackers step up makes the defensive transition smoother.

“They’re going to play hard every single week,” Henry said. “It may not be perfect, but they are going to play hard every single week.”

Even though it ended in a loss, Friday was arguably the defense’s best overall performance of the season. Only allowing 20 points (no second-half touchdowns) and forcing three turnovers pleased both Henry and Bielema.

“They just kept going out there and sawing wood and taking care of business,” Bielema said. “I know they’ve worked really hard to get to where they are.”

Good defensive play only takes you so far, but complimentary football is something Illinois preaches. It has not had much of that at all this season.

Big issues on offense

The offense has also felt the impact of departures – perhaps more so – losing RB Chase Brown – a finalist for the Doak Walker Award – as well as former quarterback Tommy DeVito and an experienced offensive line.

Led by second-year offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr., Illinois has only been averaging 19.2 points per game. Compare this to the 24.23 from last year.

“It’s my job to peel back all those layers and to figure out what’s the root cause of those things,” Lunney said Monday. “And not to sound like a broken record, but really the root cause is a multitude of things.”

The multitude Lunney alludes to certainly starts with the fact quarterback Luke Altmyer came into this season with only one collegiate start.

So far, Altmyer has thrown eight interceptions through the six games played, with four coming in the loss to Penn State. That ranks second-worst among starting FBS quarterbacks. On the plus side, he’s only thrown one in the last three games.

Lunney is seeing improvements from the young QB but knows they both need to improve on finding points during drives.

“He’s becoming a better leader for us,” he said on Altmyer’s progression. “But ultimately he and I have the same job – to get us in the endzone – and that’s how you’re measured in this business.”

The run game hasn’t helped, averaging 127 yards per game. Last year, Chase Brown single handedly averaged just under 137 a game.

In last week’s loss, the team totaled 21 rushing yards on 19 attempts. If you do the math, that’s 1.1 yards per carry.

All this has led to lots of internal reflection from the team, as Lunney alludes to.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys in our building – coaches and players alike – that are all looking in a mirror to [say] ‘What can I do to get our offense on track?’” he said.

Junior receiver Pat Bryant echoed that sentiment Tuesday.

“[Lunney] wants us to look in the mirror to just realize who we are as a player and try to open our eyes to see what we can do to help the offense be successful,” he said.

“I feel like we’re in a great position, I feel like there’s no team that actually beat us, feel like we really beat ourselves a lot,” Bryant added.

Time is running out though, as Illinois must at least finish 4-2 to be bowl eligible. Starting off on the right foot this weekend won’t be easy either, as Illinois will more than likely be without backs Josh McCray and leading rusher Reggie Love III due to injury.

“Really preparing for the idea that [Love] may not be with us, which obviously thrusts our two freshmen into a huge role moving forward,” Bielema said.

The two freshmen are Kaden Feagin and Aidan Laughery. Feagin has seen a much bigger role as of late – including running for 85 yards against Purdue – and is adopting the next-man-up mentality.

“It feels really good just getting the opportunity,” Feagin said Tuesday. “I’ve learned a lot from [Love and McCray]. I mean they’re still coaching me right now, so just taking advantage of the opportunity.”

So, what’s next for Illinois?

The Illini ride back-to-back losses into what could be its toughest opponent remaining on the schedule, a 5-1 Maryland team.

Terrapin quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa – younger brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua – will pose many tough challenges to Illinois’ defense.

“He’s a very intelligent quarterback,” Henry said. “He has throws that he’ll go to if he thinks we’re in a zero pressure, he has throws he’ll go to if he thinks we’re in a drop eight coverage,” Henry added. “My goal is to try and make that as hard as possible for him.”

Tagovailoa has thrown for 1,660 yards and 14 touchdowns thus far, numbers that come a little easier when you’re throwing to receivers such as Jeshaun Jones, Tai Felton and Kaden Prather.

All three average over 14 yards a catch, but Henry thinks his young secondary will be up for Saturday’s test.

“I do like our ability to match up with them,” he said.

On the flip side, Maryland enters the week allowing only 17.2 points a game. Lunney anticipates nothing…

Reference