Illinois Football: 5 observations from the Illini win over Florida Atlantic

2. Best game for Tyler Strain

Losing so much defensive back talent this past offseason hurt the defense tremendously. We had to have some young guys step up and take the spots of legendary Illini.

Tyler Strain is one of those young guys. We have seen him play a few times throughout the last couple of years, but he hasn’t been a main staple of the Illinois defense. That has officially changed, though.

On Saturday, Strain had the best game of his young career. He finished the contest with 8.0 tackles, 1.0 pass deflections, and 0.5 tackles for loss. Strain’s eight tackles are the most he has ever had in a game as well.

I was extremely impressed with Strain throughout the game. He was in on what seemed like every tackle, and he was all over the field covering wide receivers. There was one time he came close to having an interception in the end zone as well.

Strain suffered an injury last in the fourth quarter, and the result of him going out of the game was a 95-yard touchdown drive by Florida Atlantic. This is the impact he has on the team.

Illinois needs Strain on the field, and without him, the defense struggles. He had his best game in an Illinois uniform, and I expect more big games out of him moving forward.