3 areas of attack for the Illinois football team against Michigan

One of the biggest games of the 2024 season is coming up for the Illinois football program.

The Illini have already gone through teams like Kansas, Penn State, and Nebraska, but a ranked Michigan team is coming to Champaign. This is a chance for Illinois to show our power and the ability to win big games when they matter.

Illinois has a few big opportunities to take advantage of some Michigan weaknesses as well. They don’t have a lot of soft spots on their team, but the Wolverines could struggle in a few areas.

Here are three areas of attack for the Illinois football team against Michigan

1. Illinois’ pass defense should eat

I think most people are used to Michigan having a good quarterback behind center. This isn’t the usual Wolverines’ squad, though.

Michigan doesn’t have the quarterback to carry a team. This is one of their biggest weaknesses, and I think Illinois’ pass defense should be able to eat on Saturday.

Through six games this season, Michigan has had a rotation of quarterbacks leading the way. Davis Warren led the team in passing the first three games, Alex Orji took over the following two contests, and Jack Tuttle was their leading passer against Washington.

For the season, all three quarterbacks have combined or 690 yards, six touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Those are numbers that will make a team struggle. Illinois’ pass defense needed to go up against some bad quarterbacks to get back on track too.

This past week against Purdue, freshman Ryan Browne threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns. Illinois’ pass defense couldn’t do anything against him. Browne was hitting nearly every receiver he threw to in the game.

My hope is that the Michigan contest is a get-right game for the Illinois secondary. We have too many solid defensive backs to give up a big number again. The Wolverines don’t have a good passing attack, and this is an opportunity for Illinois to not only shut them down through the air, but we can get a few big turnovers to help gain momentum in the game.