The Illinois football team is finally finding an identity on the offensive side of the ball.
The year before Lovie Smith took the reins of this great program, the Illini were more of a balanced offensive team. Wes Lunt threw for 2,761 yards and 14 touchdowns while the top two leading rushers – Ke’Shawn Vaugh and Josh Ferguson – both surpassed 700 yards.
While this team seemed to have their stuff together as they finished with a 5-7 record, they actually only ended up winning two Big Ten games that season and three of their four non-conference contests. This team wasn’t very good despite having some good players.
Since Lovie took over this team in 2016, the Illini haven’t really had an identity on the offensive side of the ball. Lunt was still under center in year one but he dealt with injuries. Illinois didn’t have a backup quarterback to replace him, though.
The Illinois running game did seem solid at the time, but their offensive line was a mess and this prevented them from putting wins on the board. In 2017, this actually declined as players departed for one reason or another. Illinois’ passing game was atrocious as the backups from the year before were now starting. The running game had their leading rusher with only 346 yards. This was a lost team due to lack of talent and a massive youth movement.
Illinois is now in year three of the Lovie era. The class of 2018 was his second recruiting class he was able to bring into Champaign. The team has started the season 3-2, which are the most wins in a season since Lovie took over. This 3-2 record has a lot to do with finding an identity. That identity is the running game.
What we are watching on Saturday’s is an Illinois team that is run-heavy. We are a running team with the ability to have a quarterback who can both run and throw the ball when needed. Illinois doesn’t just have one running back who can tote the rock. They have two dynamic running backs and a quarterback who is lightning fast.
Reggie Corbin leads the Illini in rushing with 464 yards and five touchdowns on the season. He is more of a slasher who can tiptoe the sidelines and be gone before you know it. Mike Epstein has 387 yards and three touchdowns on the season. He is more of a built back who can run up the middle but has side-to-side moves that Barry Sanders would be proud of. Quarterback AJ Bush brings another element to this Illini running attack. He drops back, goes through his progressions and if nothing is there, he is gone for 10 to 15 yards.
The Illinois coaches, led by offensive coordinator Rod Smith, have done a great job developing this offense into a running machine. I also can’t type this without mentioning the development of the Illini offensive line. This group has improved so much from the previous season. These guys up front have been incredible for this team and are one of the reasons why Illinois can run the ball the way they can.
It has been a long time since Illinois has been able to find an identity on offense. For much of the last decade, this program has had an offense that was just there. They weren’t defined by anything. Now the Illini are a running machine with no end in sight.