There is an emergency situation going on in Champaign right now, as the Illinois football team has a horrible defense.
That isn’t hyperbole either. This Illini defense is bad, and teams are routinely exposing it for big chunk plays. Heading into the Rutgers game, Bret Bielema had better get some things fixed, or they too will have a big game.
Here are three keys for the Illinois football defense against Rutgers
1. Get to Athan Kaliakimanis without blitzing
Illinois did something against Washington that bothered me, but I understand the mindset now. We didn’t blitz the Huskies, but it was due to the back end of our defense being so bad.
If the Illini want to knock off Rutgers, I think we are going to have to get to Athan Kaliakimanis without blitzing him. That is going to be a massive key to the game because Illinois is probably not going to change in a week.
Thankfully, Rutgers doesn’t have a good offensive line. They give up 3.6 sacks per game, which ranks No. 129 out of 136 teams in the FBS. Pressure on Kaliakimanis with just three or four, and Illinois should be in the driver’s seat.
2. Pray the Illinois secondary has a good game
Sometimes you have a game plan about how you can stop a certain player, and then there are times you just pray that a position group has a good game. Right now, I am in the praying department with the Illinois secondary.
This is probably the worst Illini secondary I have seen, maybe in my lifetime. They are bad, and they get exposed every game.
Key No. 2 piggybacks off of the first key to the game. If Illinois can get pressure on Kaliakmanis without blitzing, that enables us to drop seven back into coverage. The more bodies in the defensive backfield, the better.
3. Force Rutgers into 3rd downs
Rutgers isn’t a good team from top to bottom. They just notched their first Big Ten win of the season in a narrow victory over Purdue. In that game, the Scarlet Knights only managed to convert 4-of-14 on third downs.
That 28.6% conversion rate is actually a little below Rutgers’ average of covering 37.23% of third downs on the season. That is bad enough to rank No. 85 in the country.
Illinois needs to force Rutgers into third down opportunities. That is when they struggle the most, and the Illini can potentially get off the field and put the ball back in Luke Altmyer’s hands. Sadly, Illini opponents convert 50.56% of their third downs, which ranks No. 131 out of 136 teams in the FBS. Something has to give in this matchup.