Illinois Football: 3 key numbers for the Illini to beat Wyoming

3. 41.3 points

There are probably some people who are coming into this season with optimism, and they should be. Illinois football has a good program, and they will, hopefully, prove that on Saturday against Wyoming.

A way to prove that is to take care of business in an impressive fashion. We need to put up points and put this game away early so there isn’t a doubt in mind who is the better team. I think our defense is going to be fine, but can our offense produce the points that past power-five programs have produced?

Since Craig Bohl has been the head coach of Wyoming, the Cowboys have faced nine power-five programs. In that stretch, they are 1-8, but the biggest number to keep an eye on is the 41.3 points per game they are giving up to power-five teams.

Wyoming clearly doesn’t have the defensive firepower to be able to stop a program with power-five-level talent. That is what Illinois has and we need to wield that talent on Saturday.

I believe we can hold Wyoming to under 17 points, but I don’t want to see anything less than 30 points on the board offensively. The Cowboys lost the majority of their defense from last season, so this should be a blood bath.