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

3. 6.5 vs 6.8 penalties

Moving the ball up and down the field on Saturday could be tough at times, especially for Illinois with a few new pieces in place. Stopping Toledo could be tough at times as well.

An important part of shutting down an opposing team that has talent, like the Rockets, is not giving them free yards. They don’t need help getting the ball in the end zone. Getting penalized could lead to Toledo staying in the game.

I think a big number on Saturday is going to be the penalties. In 2022, Illinois and Toledo were nearly even in penalties per game. The Rockets averaged 6.5 penalties per game, while the Illini were getting 6.8 penalties per game called on them. These numbers were bad enough to rank No. 86 and No. 94 in the country, respectively.

Winning the penalty battle on Saturday is going to be crucial. In some of the big losses for Illinois last season, we had more turnovers than our opponents.

Illinois dropped a bad game to Indiana. The Hoosiers had three penalties for 35 yards compared to the Illini who had eight penalties for 81 yards. That is nearly half of the football field given up.

In the middle of that little three-game losing streak in 2022, Illinois dropped a game against Purdue, 31-24. The Boilermakers and six penalties for 80 yards, which isn’t great. The Illini would rack up 12 penalties for 121 yards. That type of penalty yardage could have cost us the game.

On Saturday, it would be nice to see a more disciplined Illini unit. We can’t give any lifelines to Toledo. They are too good of a team. Let’s keep the penalties below six and under 50 yards.