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Illinois Football: Illini offense has developed a dynamic running attack

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - SEPTEMBER 09: Illinois running back Mike Epstein (26) runs the ball during a non-conference college football game between the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini, September 09, 2017, at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL. Illinois won, 20-7. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - SEPTEMBER 09: Illinois running back Mike Epstein (26) runs the ball during a non-conference college football game between the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini, September 09, 2017, at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL. Illinois won, 20-7. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Illinois football team has done a solid job running the ball this season with the weapons they have behind the offensive line.

I think we can all sit back and say last season was a disaster in just about every way. There were some bright spots with the young players, but a lot of areas suffered especially the running game. Illinois was one of the worst teams in the nation rushing the ball in 2017.

Mike Epstein came into the Illinois football program as a true freshman in 2017. He was able to play in the first five games of 2017 and during that time, he rushed for 346 yards. He went down with an injury which sidelined him for the final seven games, but he still managed to lead the team in rushing by 80 yards. Just let that sink in for a moment. Epstein had 346 yards in just five games and was the leading rusher on the team for the entire 12 game season.

The paragraph above shows you had truly bad this Illinois running attack was in 2017. The stats didn’t lie either. Illinois averaged 105.6 yards per game on the ground, which ranked No. 122 in the nation. Yes, 105.6 yards per game. That is an insanely low number. As a team, the Illini only rushed for a total of 1267 yards and 11 touchdowns the entire 2017 campaign.

Now that I have laid those numbers out, I want to stress to you how improved this Illinois running attack is in 2018.

Through two games this season, Illinois has rushed for 517 yards and five touchdowns. The combination of AJ Bush, Reggie Corbin, Mike Epstein and Co. have already accounted for 40-percent of the rushing yards from the 2017 season. The Illini are averaging 258 yards per game this season, which ranks No. 21 in the nation. If they finish out the season with that average – which is highly doubtful – Illinois will have a total of 3102 rushing yards in 2018.

I know there will be people who say that Illinois has only played two games and their rushing average will decrease when they hit Big Ten play. I realize it will decrease some, don’t worry. But, I think a fair comparison is to look at the first two games of 2017 and compare them to the first two games of 2018.

Illinois played Ball State and Western Kentucky in the first two games of 2017. They averaged 132 yards per game on the ground in these two games. That comes out to 1584 yards projected for the season. That isn’t too far off of what they really had. The first two games this season – Kent State and Western Illinois – are a comparable first two games and Illinois averaged 258 yards per game.

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Listen, I am not saying Illinois has the best backfield in the nation, but they are greatly improved from 2017. They have three players who are on pace to average over 800 yards rushing this season and one of them includes quarterback AJ Bush. This offense has become a dynamic running machine under new offensive coordinator Rod Smith. I am excited to see what they can do the rest of the season.

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