I am honestly more nervous about the Illinois football game against Purdue than I was against Penn State.
The Illini weren’t expected to beat the Nittany Lions. We were playing with house money. But against Purdue, Illinois is a huge betting favorite. That scares me.
When you look up the term “let down game” this game pops up. Illinois is the better team, and Purdue has looked awful this season. But none of that matters. It is the Big Ten and Illinois better be ready for some big-boy football.
There are some areas where I think the Illini can attack the Boilermakers. I think Illinois can overwhelm Purdue, but these three areas are the primary focus for me.
Here are the three big areas the Illinois football team can attack Purdue
1. Purdue’s bad run defense
Illinois has been more of a passing team this season. We are sub-100 in rushing offense, but our passing offense has outpaced the running attack, which was expected.
On Saturday, the Illini have a chance to get right when it comes to the run game. The program has only seen a 100-yard rusher once this season, and it was against Eastern Illinois. Against Purdue, I think we can make it our second 100-yard rusher.
It is not like Illinois can’t run the ball. That just isn’t our primary focus right now. In fact, Illinois running backs are seeing success on the ground.
Kaden Feagin leads the Illini in rushing this season, and he is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Aidan Laughery, despite being a bit beat up, has averaged 6.3 yards per carry. Even our freshman running back Ca’Lil Valentine has put up an impressive 5.3 yards per carry.
The ability to run the ball is there for the Orange and Blue, but we have been more of a passing team in 2024. I don’t expect that to be the case against Purdue, though.
If you want to see a running attack, I fully expect the Illini to bludgeon Purdue with a rotation of three or four running backs during the game. The Boilermakers have one of the worst rush defenses in the country, and Illinois should expose that issue.
For the season, Purdue is giving up 273.0 yards per game on the ground. That is bad enough to rank No. 131 out of 134 teams in the FBS. Teams are opening up holes and are able to run semis through them during games.
At the end of the day, I think there is a chance Illinois has multiple 100-yard rushers. We have the horses to pound the rock, and Purdue’s biggest weakness is the run defense. This could be fun.