3 ways the Illinois football team can attack Central Michigan

Illinois football is heading into a matchup with Central Michigan that, on paper, shouldn’t be too tough of a test.

The Chippewas are coming off a 52-16 defeat by Florida International. They played some of the worst football in the country, and the Illini should be able to take advantage of a weaker program.

But let’s not look past any MAC program. We saw what happened with Northern Illinois against Notre Dame. We can’t let that happen to the Orange and Blue or people will laugh at us.

I see some areas where Illinois can attack the Chippewas. These are big areas that can change the game completely.

Here are three ways the Illinois football team can attack Central Michigan

1. Force Joe Labas into turnovers

Illinois is coming off a big game against a ranked Kansas opponent. We were able to take down the Jayhawks due to some great plays and some big turnovers.

Entering the Central Michigan game on Saturday, Illinois has another opportunity to change the game and momentum completely.

The Chippewas can be a turnover-prone team. In the last game against Florida International, Central Michigan’s quarterback Joe Labas ended up throwing for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw five interceptions on the day.

Labas doesn’t have the best arm, and he has a tendency to stare down wide receivers. This should give Illinois’ defensive backs the opportunity to eat once again.

Through two games this season, safety Miles Scott rates as one of the best safeties in all of college football. Pro Football Focus has a grade of 86.3 for Scott, which is No. 9 among all levels of college football at the safety position.

Illinois’ cornerbacks have been special too. Xavier Scott has a grade of 75.0 to start the season, and that is good enough to rank No. 83 out of all cornerbacks in college football. Kaleb Patterson isn’t too far behind with a grade of 65.1, which ranks No. 348.

I fully expect another big game out of the Illini defensive backs. Look for the Scott brothers to dominate and for other defensive backs to step up to force multiple Labas turnovers.