The Illinois football team will take on one of the more underrated teams in the country on Saturday.
I have been impressed with the Washington Huskies this season. Their offense has been solid, led by returning quarterback Demond Williams Jr. He has a good arm and even better legs. The Illini defense will have its hands full on Saturday.
Here are three keys for the Illinois football defense against the Washington Huskies
1. Continue Michigan’s trend of turnovers
Illinois is an opportunistic program. We take advantage of forcing turnovers, and this helps us against good teams.
This season, the Illini average 1.5 takeaways per game, which ranks No. 38 in the country. We are going to need to force a couple of turnovers against Washington to help slow down their offense on Saturday as well.
Demond Williams Jr. has had a couple of good games this season, but he has shown he can turn the ball over. In the last game against Michigan, Williams threw for 209 yards, but he failed to throw for a touchdown and had three interceptions.
If Illinois can get Williams into situations where he feels some pressure, then I think we can get him to cough the ball up. That is going to be key in turning the momentum on the road.
2. Keep contain on Demond Williams Jr.
There is a lot that makes Williams a scary player to go up against. He has a good arm and is extremely talented, but his legs are what I pinpoint as the scariest thing.
Williams has 79 carries for 363 yards and four touchdowns this season. Carrying the ball isn’t anything new, as he has had at least 13 rushes in five out of seven games in 2025. Illinois must keep contain or Williams could run loose on Saturday.
The focus is not biting on the run-pass options and play-action passes. Gabe Jacas and Alec Bryant will be crucial in this effort. Leon Lowery Jr. has been a nice shot of experience in the arm. The emergence of Joe Barna has been huge, too. These four are going to be tasked with not letting Williams get outside and into open space.
3. Bring pressure up the A gaps
Washington does not have a healthy offensive line. They are dealing with some injuries right now at offensive tackle. But they could be getting back a big part of that offensive tackle squad this weekend.
That is why I want Illinois to attack the middle of the Huskies’ offensive line. The guard position has had some issues with injury, too. Washington’s highest-rated guard, John Mills, has been out for a couple of weeks. They are unsure if he will be able to go. Illinois needs to hit the A gaps on the defensive line hard this weekend.
I want to see Aaron Henry bringing blitzes up the middle. We need to make their offensive line crumble so Williams can’t sit back in the pocket. If we can continuously get pressure on Williams through pressure up the middle, he will have a bad game.