Illinois Football: 4 observations from the Illini win over Minnesota

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Nov 6, 2021; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini quarterback Brandon Peters (18) hands the ball off against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the second quarter at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Pass less, run more

College football and the NFL have gone pass-heavy over the past decade. The passing game is what is trendy, and everyone has followed that model. But, thankfully, we didn’t get a pass-heavy coach. Bret Bielema likes to run the ball, and this team is set up for it.

Illinois needs to run the ball more and pass it less, and the numbers prove that fact.

We all know that the Illinois quarterbacks are not very good. They struggle to get the ball to wide receivers accurately, and this has hurt the team when we try to throw it. That is why we should pass less. In fact, when Illinois throws more than 21 passes in a game, the team is 0-5 this season. When we throw 21 or fewer passes, we are 4-1.

On the opposite end of those numbers is the running game. The duo of Chase Brown and Josh McCray this season has been special. Brown has really taken the reins lately, and when the running game is used, Illinois wins.

This season, when Illinois has more than 45 carries in a game, the team is 4-0. When the Illini run the ball 45 times or fewer in a game, we are 0-6.

The Illinois football team is a running program, and early on we didn’t embrace this fact. Now that the Bielema has this team running well, it wouldn’t shock me to see the first slide come true and this program goes bowling in December.

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