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Illinois Football: 5 keys to beating the South Florida Bulls

By Rees Woodcock

MADISON, WI - NOVEMBER 12: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini watches his team prior to a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 12, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MADISON, WI - NOVEMBER 12: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini watches his team prior to a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 12, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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ANN ARBOR, MI – OCTOBER 22: Kendrick Foster /

3. Establish 42-24-24 running game

There is no doubt in my mind who the best running back on the Illinois football team is right now. Mike Epstein has been great for the Illini program and will continue being the No. 1 running back the entire year.

I have never been a fan of the “running back by committee” but that is what happened in the first game, despite Epstein clearly being the best player. The coaching staff eventually realized Epstein was the go-to-guy and that is why he got the ball at the end of the Ball State game.

Heading into the Western Kentucky matchup, Epstein was named the No. 1 running back and he proved his worth on the field. He rushed the ball 21 times for 111 yards. That many carries for Epstein was 42-percent of the overall touches from the running backs.

Illinois ran a decent amount of zone read plays against the Hilltoppers as well and it worked. Crouch ended up running the ball 12 times for 44 yards and 1 touchdown. His 12 carries equaled out to 24-percent of the overall carries for the Illini.

The coaching staff threw in a surprise playing Ra’Von Bonner this past game. He was the No. 2 running back for the Illini and handled the ball 12 times for 25 yards. This amount of carries also amounted to 24-percent of the overall carries for the team.

The Illini have a good thing going in the backfield. They have a good formula of running Epstein the most, roughly 42-percent of the time, and then having Crouch go for 24-percent of the carries and then the No. 2 running back also handle 24-percent of the carries. That No. 2 running back is preferably Kendrick Foster but the coaching staff seemed to really like Bonner.

Illinois needs to establish the running game against South Florida and using this formula will help get a victory. Epstein needs to be the man in the backfield, though.

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