Illinois Football: Game-By-Game Prediction for the 2016 Season

The Illinois football team heads into the 2016 season with the great hope of becoming relevant again.

This hope is derived from experienced players and the hiring of former NFL head coach Lovie Smith.

Lovie adds a new wrinkle to what was already going to be a productive season for the Illini.  He brings a winning mentality that is going to be contagious in Champaign.

That winning mentality will only improve this Illinois football team and take them to heights rarely seen in orange and blue.

Here is the game-by-game prediction of what Illinois will do this season.

The Illinois football team kicks off the Lovie Smith era with a cupcake game against FCS Murray State Racers.

Murray State comes into this game with an experienced quarterback who had a good year last season.

KD Humphries threw for 22 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and 3,778 yards while having a 62-percent completion rate in 2015.

Humphries wasn’t just dangerous through the air, though.  He also had 277 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground as well.

But, despite Humphries dominating performances, the Racers struggled to put wins on the board.

Murray State had a record of 3-8 last season and this was in the FCS, which is a division lower than the FBS.

So, for a team that struggled at a lower level to think they have a chance against Illinois is crazy.

The main reason for Illinois winning week one is because of how bad the Racers defense was last season.

Murray State averaged giving up 37.2 points per game in the FCS.  That is roughly the equivalent of 50 PPG in the FBS.  This is where Illinois will attack.

The Racers also had a terrible rush defense as well.  They gave up an average of 197.6 yards per game on the ground.

Ke’Shawn Vaughn will have a field day and the Illini will move to 1-0 on the season.

Next: vs. No. 22 North Carolina