Illinois Football: 4 observations from the Illini loss to Virginia

3. Massively disappointed with the fundamentals

Listen, I understand this Illinois football team doesn’t have the talent to compete with good teams in college football. That is blatantly clear. But it doesn’t take talent to have fundamentals.

Illinois is working with a patchwork bunch right now that will struggle to find three or four wins this season. Mostly, we are dealing with low-level three stars or massive depth issues. But no matter how many stars you have, you have been taught how to tackle since pee-wee football.

On Saturday, the fundamentals were just not there. The Illini were missing tackles and not keeping contain. It was one of the worst displays of defensive breakdown I have seen in years.

The most disheartening thing I saw was some of our best players doing some terrible tackling. Jake Hansen, a great tackler, was trying to tackle high and was getting run over. He knows you can’t tackle high or it won’t end well.

I am coming back to Tony Adams. A wide receiver would catch the ball and the tackle attempts by Adams were not fundamental. Adams would just throw his shoulder into the offensive player in hopes they would fall down. They didn’t fall down, but instead, they would gain another five yards.

I know this team doesn’t have the quality or quantity, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But all I am asking is they go back to the fundamentals of tackling and wrap up, don’t go high, and please, try to actually make a tackle.