5 huge observations from the Illinois football win over Eastern Illinois

4. Bret Bielema is going to use thunder and lightning

There were multiple surprises to start the game. One of the bigger surprises for me was that Bret Bielema started Aidan Laughery at running back.

Lauhgery is a really talented ball carrier who has a ton of potential, but I thought Kaden Feagin was going to be the sure-fire starter for this program. Well, I was wrong.

What ended up happening, and what I believe will be the case the rest of the season, is that Bielema decided to go with the thunder-and-lightning backfield. He gave both Laughery and Feagin nearly equal shine, and they both performed well.

Feagin ended up leading the Illinois backfield with 16 carries for 108 yards and one touchdown. He ran with such great power and underrated speed. When Feagin gets into the open field, he is a wrecking ball coming at you.

Laughery wasn’t too far behind Feagin’s numbers. He finished the game with 10 carries for 79 yards. Feagin and Laughery averaged 6.8 and 7.9 yards per carry, respectively. I will take that any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

I see Bielema continuing this thunder and lightning approach. I think it is what works best for the Illinois offense. This might end up being one special running back duo.