3 areas of attack for the Illinois football team against Oregon

3. Ability to give up yards through the air

You might read the title of this slide and think, what are you talking about? Oregon’s defense is good at stopping the pass, just look at the stats.

Yes, Oregon does have good numbers stopping the pass. They are only giving up 176.8 yards per game through the air. That ranks No. 19 in the country. On paper, that is a good number, but you also have to look at who they have played this season.

Through the first seven games of the season, Oregon has only played one team that ranks inside the top 55 in the country in passing. That was Ohio State two weeks ago.

Do you know what happened in that Ohio State game? While the Ducks came away with a big win, they still gave up 326 yards and two touchdowns to Will Howard and the Buckeyes. Howard also completed 80% of his passes in that game.

While Oregon is good defensively, there is some opportunity for Illinois to attack in the passing game. I think running the ball still needs to be the first plan of attack, as mentioned in the first slide, but Luke Altmyer is going to be the biggest weapon for Illinois.

Altmyer is a dual-threat quarterback. He can run and run well. Getting him moving and out of the pocket will be best for the Illini. That will give him the most options and will put Oregon on their heels. This has a chance to be Altmyer’s coming out party for the Orange and Blue.