Game-by-game prediction for the Illinois football 2024 season
Game 11: Illinois Football at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Win – 20-9)
Two road games to end a season is always tough, but I think Illinois can go into Rutgers and play well. The Scarlet Knights are never an easy team to beat, though.
Pros
Rutgers didn’t improve greatly this offseason. A team that won six regular season games, including losing the last four, only ranked No. 108 in the transfer portal rankings this offseason.
Starting quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is gone. The new starter is projected to be Minnesota transfer quarterback, Athan Kaliakmanis. I am here to tell you, that is not much of an upgrade if at all. In two seasons with Minnesota, Kaliakmanis threw for 2,784 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.
Illinois’ defense should be able to feast on Kaliakmanis. He only completed 50% of his passes against the Illini last season.
Cons
The Scarlet Knights weren’t bad defensively last season. They had the No. 17 ranked pass defense, giving up just 189.1 yards per game through the air. I could see Luke Altmyer maybe having a tough time.
Rutgers didn’t give the ball up too often either. They only averaged 1.1 turnovers per contest, which ranked No. 26 in the country.
There is something about having most of your starting roster back too. Rutgers returns 72% of the production from last season, so they will be able to hit the ground running from day one.
Final
I just don’t believe in Kaliakmanis. Illinois is 2-0 when he plays against us, and he just doesn’t have the arm to be an extremely effective quarterback. I think Illinois’ defense does a great job in shutting him down in this game.
Illinois’ offense will end up doing enough to put points on the board too. This won’t be a great offensive game, but it will be an effective one.