Illinois football has a chance to do something pretty special on Saturday against Rutgers.
This isn’t just a regular game for the Illini. The Orange and Blue have a legitimate chance to move to eight wins for the second time in three seasons. That hasn’t happened since the 1999 and 2001 seasons.
Bret Bielema has Illinois playing some good football. Getting to that eighth win is not going to be easy, though. Rutgers has a solid program this season, and they are going to be ready to play.
Here are three key numbers for the Illinois football game against Rutgers
1. 46.4% completion
It is not every day the Illinois football team gets to play against a familiar quarterback. This is one of those same face new place situations.
Illinois is going up against a decent Rutgers team that is quarterbacked by Athan Kaliakmanis. If that name sounds familiar to you, he used to be the quarterback for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Kaliakmanis was not great with Minnesota, completing just 53.3% of his passes and throwing for 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He has found a little more success with the Scarlet Knights, though. He has bumped his completion rate up to 55.1% and is a little more efficient through the air.
Illinois has had success against Kaliakmanis over the years, though. He is 0-2 against the Illini and he has completed 13-of-28 through the air. That comes out to a completion rate of 46.4%. That is a number to keep an eye on against Rutgers on Saturday.
Aaron Henry and the Illini defense knows Kaliakmanis and his tendencies. He isn’t a new quarterback who we don’t know and have plenty of experience with. I believe Illinois can give Kaliakmanis some serious problems on Saturday. Look for him to have one of the worst games of the season and for the Illini to force him into some bad moments.