Week one for the Illinois football team ended with the result everyone wanted but getting to that point was a bit of a struggle, to say the least.
This game was in jeopardy up until the game clock read 0:00 left in the fourth quarter. This type of struggle shouldn’t happen against Ball State but there are many excuses Illinois fans can throw out there. The team is extremely young or it is the first game of the season are two of the classics. But, the game tape never lies and here is what I saw on film.
First thing is first, the offensive line was just awful. All fans knew this and when I watched the tape back, man it was an ugly sight. They have to improve or this could be an extremely long season. Even in this game, they about cost the Illini a victory over a mid-to-low tier MAC program.
I want to address coaching before I get to the individual offensive players. There were some decisions Lovie Smith and the coaching staff made that were head scratching, and there were also some adjustments they made that helped with the game as well.
The first decision that made me question their play calling is not giving the ball to Mike Epstein in the third quarter. He didn’t have a single carry in the third quarter. This could have been because Illinois only ran nine plays but in those nine plays the team passed the ball six times, zone read run two times and ran the ball on a regular run play once. For an offense that struggles through the air and has two good running backs, why are we throwing it six out of nine times in a quarter?
There was one adjustment that really stood out to me that the coaching staff made entering the fourth quarter, though. Garrick McGee realized play action just wasn’t working. They ran play action 10 times in the first three quarters and that resulted in three sacks and only 18 yards through the air. They didn’t do play action on the 13 plays they ran in the fourth quarter and this worked out for the best.
Now let’s take a look at three impact players for the Illini. Chayce Crouch, Mike Epstein and Kendrick Foster are the three playmakers touching the ball the most.
Crouch has his obvious flaws and we all know them, but the coaching staff needs to put him in positions to succeed. When Crouch ran a play action play he was 3-of-6 for 18 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 sacks. He rarely ever had time to turn around and set his feet and the one time he did it was a touchdown strike to Mike Dudek. This Illinois offensive line is just not good enough to run play action and give the quarterback time.
When Crouch didn’t have to take the extra second and a half faking the handoff to the running back he was pretty good. The regular pass plays resulted in Crouch completing 7-of-13 for 112 yards, 1 interception and 1 sack. That lone interception was a fluke, though. Malik Turner should have been looking and it should have been a completion.
Heading into the Western Kentucky game, Illinois needs to cool down on running play action. They should have a few play action plays in there when they establish the run but until then, they need to give Crouch time in the pocket by running regular pass plays.
The running backs were a huge help to Illinois on Saturday. The leader was supposed to be Kendrick Foster but he ended up taking a backseat during crunch-time. McGee now knows how to use Foster heading into the game against the Hilltoppers, though. I like the timeshare with Mike Epstein but Foster needs to run the ball with regular handoffs. He doesn’t have the speed to run off of the zone read scheme. When he did run zone read he rushed the ball 4 times for 3 yards. When the Illini ran him in regular run plays he had 4 carries for 12 yards. That is a big difference. Illinois needs to do less zone reads when Foster is in the game.
Epstein can do both and that is why he is going to be a huge asset moving forward. Out of the zone read scheme, Epstein managed to run the ball 8 times for 40 yards and 2 touchdowns. When he ran the ball from regular run play formations he still excelled rushing the ball 3 times for 14 yards. This kid is a superstar and getting him the ball on the ground 11-15 times per game is smart. He also caught two huge passes as well.
Next: 3 big performers from Ball State victory
The Illinois coaching staff needs to cater to a bad offensive line. They need to give Crouch more time by running less play action. They need to run Foster on regular running schemes. And they can use Epstein in just about every way possible. Make these adjustments on offense heading into the Western Kentucky game and I think we can come away with a victory.