Illinois' defense against UAB Thursday night was not what a fanbase would want to see against a Group of Six school. Now, UAB is no slouch, but head coach Bret Bielema brought in new defensive coordinator Bobby Houck to strengthen the Illini defense, and clearly there are still some growing pains.
Houck came to Champaign and immediately implemented his 3-3-5 defensive scheme, one he ran for years at Montana and had a lot of success with. It makes me wonder what his definition of success is, because Illinois struggled in the new scheme Thursday night, but Bielema might be taking that one on the chin.
Tackling was the biggest issue for Illinois, which is why the Blazers put up 413 total yards on the Illini, and Bielema said he made the call in fall camp not to tackle- actually, barely tackle at all. In the one scrimmage where Illinois went full-on tackling, wide receiver Jayshon Platt was injured within the first five plays, so Bielema made the decision to pull back.
#illini Bret Bielema said team didn’t tackle much this offseason
— Carson Gourdie (@GourdieReport) September 4, 2026
Least amount “in his 18 years”
He said Jayshon Platt got hurt right away when they tackled in a scrimmage
Said it was his decision to limit tackle
Added, knew defense would have hiccups today pic.twitter.com/cf2HpEyXqJ
So, going into Illinois' first game of the season, Bielema expected the tackling to be rough, but honestly, it was worse than rough. The Illinois defense struggled in the open field. They were terrific in the red zone, but they had less of the field to defend and loaded the box to stop the run at that point.
Bret Bielema's call on tackling in fall camp could come back to bite Illinois in Big Ten play
It really isn't an overreaction to say that Illinois' defense looked bad against UAB. Sure, they came up big when they needed to, like in the red zone, but this kind of defensive play won't stand up against Big Ten opponents.
If Illinois can't figure out how to stop the run, conference play is going to be rough for the Illini, especially when facing good rushing teams like Ohio State and Oregon.
I get why Bielema made the decision to tackle in fall camp, but this is football; injuries happen when tackling, and now the Illini are paying the price. Going into the season with very little tackling puts the defense behind the eight ball. Some guys who are seasoned, like Matthew Bailey, Will Holmes, and Ean Rhea, will be okay, as they were against UAB, but others just won't.
Bielema even said his team did the least amount of tackling he has ever seen in his 18 years as a head coach. He believes that Illinois will be able to learn a lot from this game, make the jump from Week 1 to Week 2, and show improvement, but the Illini have Duke next.
While the Blue Devils are not looking like the ACC Champions (term used loosely) of last season, if the Illini struggle defensively against Duke, it might be time to press the panic button.
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