Illinois Football: Why Rutgers is a must-win for the Illini

In year five of the Lovie Smith era in Champaign, the Illinois football team is 0-3 and their bowl hopes are slipping away.

After going 6-7 in the 2019 campaign, many Illinois fans thought the team would progress. But so far this season, Illinois is 0-3 and they seem to have regressed. In year five, that should not be the case for this football program.

This season, the Illini have lost to Wisconsin, Purdue, and Minnesota. During those losses, the Illini have looked bad. The offense hasn’t been able to sustain long drives, and they are turning the ball over too much.

Illinois’ defense hasn’t been any better. They consistently have coverage busts and are unable to get off the field on third downs. The team is looking undisciplined on the field as they average eight penalties per game.

The Illini still have a chance of fixing some issues this Saturday, though.

I say this is a must-win game because of the teams the Illini play after Rutgers. Illinois has Nebraska, Ohio State, Iowa, and Northwestern to finish out the 2020 season. This is bad because all those teams have played better than Illinois this year.

In the past couple of seasons, Rutgers have been one of if not the worst team in the Big Ten. This season the Scarlet Knights are 1-2, but they have gotten better under new head coach Greg Schiano. They certainly have a chance to beat Illinois.

This upcoming game against Rutgers could decide what the rest of this football season is going to be like for the Orange and Blue.