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Illinois Football: 5 ways the Illini will improve under Rod Smith

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - SEPTEMBER 29: Illinois Fighting Illini fans are seen in the tailgating area before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on September 29, 2017 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - SEPTEMBER 29: Illinois Fighting Illini fans are seen in the tailgating area before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on September 29, 2017 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – NOVEMBER 04: Ricky Smalling
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4. Illinois will pick up more yards per play

Moving the ball down the field is important. This is how you get to score in the end zone. Illinois didn’t do much scoring in 2017, and this is why they lost a lot of games.

The quarterback situation for the Illini really hindered much of the offensive progression in 2017. They started the year with Chayce Crouch – who eventually moved to tight end – and then Jeff George took the reins. George was eventually benched, and true freshman Cam Thomas was the man behind center.

A quarterback carousel is never a good thing, but the talent just wasn’t there last season. In addition to the quarterback talent not being there, Illinois’ running back situation took a huge hit when Mike Epstein went down as well.

Epstein was having a good season until he went down with an injury five games in. His injury really hurt the offense because he was an explosive running back.

All of these things hurt the Illini when it came to yards per play in 2017 as well. Illinois only averaged 4.4 yards per play which ranked No. 123 in the nation. They were one of the worst in the nation in this statistic.

Smith and Arizona had a much easier time moving the ball. They averaged 6.7 YPP which ranked No. 11 in the nation. He will bring that to Illinois and the ball will be moving more effectively. I am excited to see that.

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