Illinois Football: 3 keys for the Illini to beat the Wisconsin Badgers

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Oct 19, 2019; Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini quarterback Brandon Peters (18) is sacked by Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Zack Baun (56) during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Sports /

1. Win the turnover battle

I know this sounds like an obvious one, but it might be on the top three ways to beat a team each week. Winning the turnover battle is so vital to winning during the season.

Last season, the highlight of the Illinois football team was the turnovers the defense produced. These turnovers kept the Illini in games and enabled us to get back to a bowl game for the first time in years.

Illinois had a per-game turnover margin of +0.8, which ranked No. 15 in the nation. That is a great number but what is crazy is that number should have been much higher. Honestly, we should have been No. 1 in the nation in turnover margin per game.

Out of the 13 games Illinois played last season, five of those contests the opponent had at least three turnovers. In nine out of the 13 games, the opposing team had at least two turnovers in the game. The fact the Illini per game turnover margin wasn’t above +1.0 is baffling to me.

Let’s dive deeper into the numbers. When Illinois won the turnover battle in 2019, the team was 5-2. When they lost the turnover battle, they were 0-4. When the two teams would tie in turnovers, the Illini were 1-1.

So, to drive my point home, turnovers matter greatly. If Illinois can win the turnover battle on Friday, there is a solid chance they come out of Madison with a win.

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