It is not going to be an easy task for the Illinois football team to stop the Indiana offense.
The Hoosiers have a ton of confidence right now, so the Illini will get everything they can handle on Saturday.
This is going to be one of the biggest challenges for Aaron Henry this season. Can Illinois slow the Indiana offense down and get the big win?
Here are three keys for the Illinois football defense vs Indiana Hoosiers
- Make Fernando Mendoza uncomfortable
Indiana had one of the best transfer portal additions of the offseason. Landing Fernando Mendoza from Cal was huge for the program.
Mendoza has been sensational this season. He has thrown for 708 yards, nine touchdowns, and zero interceptions through three games. But there has been very little pressure on him.
This season, Mendoza has thrown from a clean pocket 78.4% of the time, which means he has only been pressured 21.6% of the time. That is an insanely low number.
Illinois needs to get pressure on Mendoza. He hasn’t felt uncomfortable this season often, and when he does, he is a different quarterback. When he isn’t under pressure, Mendoza has a completion percentage of 76.1%. When he is under pressure, that drops to 36.4%.
Put out the bat signal for Gabe Jacas. This is his time to shine.
- Keep everything in front of defensive backs
Illinois won’t be able to get pressure on Mendoza all night long. He is going to pass from some clean pockets, but that just means the Illini defensive backs need to be on their game.
The Hoosiers have a lot of talent at wide receiver. Omar Cooper Jr. leads the team with 299 yards and four touchdowns. Future NFL Draft pick Elijah Sarratt has a solid 164 yards and three touchdowns. There are some big-play pass catchers on this team.
A key to taking down Indiana’s offense is going to be keeping those great players in front of the Illinois defensive backs. We can’t let them get behind us for big plays.
The worrying thing right now is that Illinois allows 11.8 yards per completion to opponents. That ranks No. 79 in the country. Indiana also averages 12.1 yards per completion, which ranks No. 52 in the nation.
The Illini have played a lot of bend-but-don’t-break defense in 2025. I think we could see that again on Saturday. It wouldn’t shock me to see Indiana have a lot of completions and yards, but the scoreboard doesn’t reflect it.
- Limit the yards after contact
No one really talks about the Indiana running game. They have some talent in the backfield who could give Illinois trouble on Saturday.
Three Indiana running backs already have over 200 yards on the season. While I am not sure if we are going to see all three be used at a high clip on Saturday, I do know that limiting their yards after contact will go a long way in getting the victory.
Illinois’ defensive line is going to be pivotal in achieving this task. They are the front lines when stopping the run, and if the Indiana running backs get past them, it could be a long night.
Let’s bring the running backs down on first contact. We can’t let the Hoosiers get going on the ground. Limit their offense to just a passing attack, and then Illinois can pounce with the secondary.