Illinois Football: Illini offense finding the recipe for success

The Illinois football team has started the season 2-1 and, for the most part, I am happy with the way things are going right now.

Do I want to be 3-0 and was I upset with how we lost to South Florida this past Saturday? Sure, but there is nothing I can do about it and, hopefully, the coaching staff is preparing these kids and teaching them how to close games. Experience is the best way to learn as well, and this team got a ton of experience against the Bulls.

This Illinois team seems to be gelling better than years past. They seem to be playing better than past groups as well. There are still some issues with the program, but I think they are doing a good job and the stats are actually showing this fact.

I decided to look at some metrics just three games into the 2018 campaign to see how they compare to the 2017 squad. I realize that these numbers will fluctuate throughout the rest of the season. But, most of the stats that are on paper show that this team has improved.

On the offensive side of the ball, Illinois is doing much better than 2018. They are scoring 25 points per game right now, which is almost 10 points higher than the 15.4 PPG they put up last season. I would attribute being able to put up more points to the fact the offensive line is playing better, the quarterback position is more stable and the Illini running backs are having their way with defenses.

Speaking of the Illinois running backs, they are improved this year as well. They are averaging 248 yards per game on the ground. That is incredible considering the team only averaged 105.6 YPG last season. This huge increase has been one of the main reasons the Illini are playing solid football.

As far as yards per game through the air go, Illinois is about the same as last season. They are averaging 179 YPG at the quarterback position compared to 174.8 YPG in 2018. The Illini have all new quarterbacks this year and it will take some time to really get in a groove. I am not too worried about the passing game.

Two other key metrics that I looked at were third down conversion percentage and how many times the Illini quarterbacks are getting sacked.

There has been an improvement in third down conversions for the 2018 team compared to 2017. Illinois was only converting 33.53-percent of their third downs last season. That number has jumped to 36.36-percent. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is probably one or two more third downs per game. That means the ball is moving more and helping the team. It is a big deal.

Illinois is allowing more sacks this season than last year, though. They average giving up four sacks per game right now compared to 3.4 SPG in 2017. I don’t see that as a big deal considering Illinois quarterbacks are more mobile and are moving around trying to make plays. It seems like more sacks are likely to happen.

Overall, though, the Illinois offense is improved from last season. They averaging more points, rushing yards, passing yards and converting more third downs in 2018. That is a recipe for success.