After suffering a week one loss to UTSA, the Illinois football team will look to bounce back with a win at Virginia on Saturday.
The Illini stumbled last week after starting the year off with a solid win over Nebraska. Despite having some momentum, the Fighting Illini fell to UTSA 37-30 during their week one matchup.
Illinois will have another tough task at hand when visiting the ACC’s Virginia Cavaliers this weekend.
A big test for the Illini offense
The Illini offense will be matched up against a Virginia defense that didn’t allow a single point scored against them during their week one 43-0 route of William & Mary. Virginia allowed just 183 total yards during the contest, holding the Tribe offense to only 89 passing yards and 94 yards on the ground.
Virginia’s 183 yards allowed per game is No. 9 in the country. In addition, their zero points allowed per game leads the nation.
It has not yet been decided who Illinois’ starting quarterback will be going into the week two battle, as Brandon Peters has been back practicing with the team after suffering an injury against Nebraska.
Artur Sitkowski led the Illini to a come-from-behind victory after Peters went down against the Cornhuskers. The sophomore transfer from Rutgers would then finish last week’s game completing 22-of-42 passes for a total of 266 yards. Sitkowski threw three touchdowns in the loss and finished the game with a quarterback rating of 129.1.
Illini head coach Bret Bielema provided an update on Peters on Monday.
#illini Bret Bielema: Brandon Peters will go through practice drills. Not cleared for contact yet. Saturday TBD.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) September 6, 2021
The Illini defense faces another high-motored offense
After failing to slow down an experienced, high-powered, UTSA offense the Orange and Blue defense will be tested again. They battle another efficient offensive unit when visiting Virginia.
This Virginia offense is notably led by junior quarterback, Brennan Armstrong, who threw for 339 yards and two touchdowns in the Cavaliers’ week one win over William & Mary. Armstrong completed 67.7% of his passes, going 21-of-31 on the day.
In addition to Virginia’s air-game, the Cavaliers are efficient on the ground, as well. In the win over William & Mary, Virginia had four different rushers go for over 30 yards. Freshman backup quarterback Iraken Armstead led the way, rushing for 54 yards on five attempts. Finishing right behind Armstead was senior running back, Wayne Taulapapa, who ran for 48 yards on five carries.
The Illini run defense will look to turn things around this weekend after allowing UTSA standout running back Sincere McCormick to rush for 117 yards in last week’s loss.
The Prediction
Visiting a stout Virginia defense, with questions at the quarterback position, raises many concerns for Illinois’ offense going into this game.
As for the Illini defense, this unit has yet to hold an opponent to under 20 points so far this season. This is not a promising feat for the Orange and Blue who will be facing an efficient Virginia Cavaliers offensive unit.
The Illini will put up a hard fight but fall short in Charlottesville, losing to the Cavaliers 34-24. Illinois falls to a record of 1-2 on the year.