5. Illini rush defense was on-point
The final observation from the game against Western Illinois goes to the defense. At the end of the day, I was pretty meh on the Illini pass defense. Western Illinois had too many decent plays through the air, and I expected more turnovers for the Illini.
With that being said, I think the Illinois front seven did a great job with rush defense. They were shutting down the Leathernecks at every stop.
Western Illinois’ top running back only had 12 carries for 20 yards, and his longest carry was just seven yards on the night. As a team, the Leathernecks finished with 26 carries for 29 yards and zero touchdowns.
I think a big reason the rush defense did so well is that the newcomers on the defensive line showed up. I imagine the focus was on Gabe Jacas coming from the second level, so that probably freed up some of the defensive linemen, but they still had to perform well, and they did.
Tomiwa Durojaiye was sensational with his four tackles, a tackle for loss, and a sack. Eli Coenen showed up later in the game, and he looks the part on the defensive line. Illinois has the size up front, and that is one of the things I was worried about entering the season.
For the game, five different Illinois defensive linemen had at least 0.5 tackles for loss. This type of pressure on the opposing offense will make the Illini defense one of the best in the country.