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Illinois Football: Grades from the Illini win over Charlotte

By Rees Woodcock

Oct 2, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema, talks with Charlotte 49ers quarterback Chris Reynolds (3) after Saturday’s 24-14 Illini win at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema, talks with Charlotte 49ers quarterback Chris Reynolds (3) after Saturday’s 24-14 Illini win at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 2, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Charlotte 49ers running back Shadrick Byrd (13) makes a reception in front of Illinois Fighting Illini linebacker Khalan Tolson (45) in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Charlotte 49ers running back Shadrick Byrd (13) makes a reception in front of Illinois Fighting Illini linebacker Khalan Tolson (45) in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

Defense: B

Coming into the game on Saturday, Charlotte had a pretty good offense. It wasn’t an easy task for the Illini to stop this solid 49ers squad.

Charlotte was average 273.7 yards per game through the air, which ranked No. 35 in the nation. They were also rushing for 168.3 yards per game on the ground, which ranked No. 50 in the country. So, this program was in the top 50 in both passing and rushing. Illinois’ defense took the challenge and performed well.

The Illinois run defense is what bumped the grade up to a B on Saturday. Charlotte wasn’t able to get anything going on the ground. As a team, they finished with 27 carries for 81 yards and didn’t find the end zone. That is just three yards per carry, which is a really bad number.

The 49ers did find some success through the air, though. Their quarterback completed 73.9% of his passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Illinois was able to snag one of his passes for an interception. This helped the grade.

Next. 5 observations from the Illini win over Charlotte. dark

Overall, 14 points given up to a top 50 offense in the country is not a bad showing. We are now only giving up 15.6 points per game in our last three contests. This Illini defense is playing some good football.

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