Illinois Football: 3 adjustments for the Illini after Wisconsin loss
3. Get to manageable third downs
To score points, usually, you have to get third-down conversions. On Friday night, Illinois was awful at converting on third downs as they were 2-of-10 in this category.
The first two slides of this article lead into the third slide, which is the Illini need to get into more manageable third-down situations. This will enable them to convert on more third downs and continue possessing the ball.
Illinois’ offense put the defense behind the eight ball when they only possessed the ball for 16:32 compared to Wisconsin who had the ball for 43:28. That is an insane time of possession disparity.
A big reason for this disparity is the fact Illinois couldn’t convert on third downs. There were 10 third-down opportunities against Wisconsin. When the Illini had the ball and it was third down with five or more yards to go, the team was 0-of-6. But when Illinois had third down with four yards or few to go, they were 2-of-4.
It matters how far you have to go to get a first down. Getting to a manageable third down yardage rests on the shoulders of offensive coordinator, Rod Smith. He needs to not look for the big play right away. Let’s get the ball moving. As mentioned in the previous slides, let’s find the running back out of the backfield or the tight end on an easy out-route.
Next. 3 observations from the Illini loss to Wisconsin. dark
The focus for Illinois on offense shouldn’t be to score quickly. It should be to get first downs. The more first downs you get the better chance you have to score the ball and the more time you eat up. I would hope Coach Smith does some adjustments this week to help the offense stay on the field longer.