We are now one sleep away from the Illinois football team starting the 2025 season.
The Illini enter the 2025 campaign with high hopes, but faltering or even looking average against a bad Western Illinois program would be worrisome.
Illinois’ offense should be clicking, though. They return a ton of talent, led by starting quarterback Luke Altmyer. Western Illinois is going to be looking to upset the apple cart, though.
Here are three keys for the Illinois football offense against Western Illinois
1. Protect Luke Altmyer
There are many reasons why one of the biggest keys to the game for the Illini is to protect Luke Altmyer.
Altmyer needs to put this game away early. We need to be putting points on the board in the first quarter and half, and that can’t happen if he is getting up looking out of his ear hole every time.
I also don’t want to see Altmyer getting pressure and getting sacked in fear of a pointless injury. Illinois needs to jump on Western Illinois early, so we can get our backups in the game and get them more exposure, too.
I don’t think this has to be much of a worry, though. Western Illinois has a depleted roster, and they only averaged 1.75 sacks per game in 2024, which ranked No. 76 in the FCS.
2. Efficient in 3rd down situations
A good way to control the game is through efficiency. There will be some big plays from the Illinois offense, but we can fully take over the game if the third down conversion rate is high.
The Leathernecks were one of the worst teams in the FCS in third down defense, allowing opponents to convert 53.6% of their third downs, which ranked No. 122 out of 123 teams in the FCS.
A key to converting those third downs is productive first downs. Get positive yardage early in the series, and that will put us in short-yardage situations in key third downs. Aidan Laughery and the rest of the running back department are going to be crucial in this area.
3. Avoid the costly mistake
I don’t think anyone has to worry too much about Illinois making costly mistakes. This isn’t a good Western Illinois bunch, but if an interception or two is thrown, that is how bad teams can compete.
This will be a game where Altmyer is knocking off some rust. I expect shorter passes early on, and then a few bombs late in the first quarter.
Western Illinois wasn’t good at intercepting other quarterbacks last season either. They only had seven interceptions on the year, and that ranked No. 84 in the FCS.
This game will be about Altmyer getting his timing down with his wide receiver. Hopefully, there isn’t a bad pass or two that could change momentum.