5. There is a glaring issue with the Illini secondary
I believe there are two huge issues with the Illinois football team this season. The first one I already touched on.
The Illinois offensive line is not good. They all have good moments at times, but overall, they are a massive weakness. This reared its ugly head late in the game when Illinois went for it on fourth-and-one and failed to get it.
Luke Altmyer can help make up for the offensive line deficiencies. What he can’t do is improve the Illinois secondary. The Illini defensive backs have been bad the entire season, and that only continued to be the case in the Purdue game.
Illinois lost the only quality defensive back in Xavier Scott to injury. The fact that we have managed to get to 5-1 without a secondary is pretty remarkable.
I think the most frustrating part is that the lack of skill has to do with fundamentals. When I see defensive backs like Kaleb Patterson and Miles Scott miss wide-open tackles because they can’t wrap up, that is what disappointments me the most. Those are the things we can control. Sometimes the wide receiver is faster or stronger, but making a basic tackle can be something that we can do every time.
Illinois is going to have a hard time with some of the better quarterbacks in the Big Ten. I am curious to see what the secondary looks like the rest of the way out. If they look as they did against Purdue, it will be a struggle.