I am not one to pile on, but the Illinois football team will need to make a huge adjustment to the offense this offseason.
While I know the defense has been an issue, and there are plenty of things to change with that side of the ball, the Illini offense hasn’t exactly been a juggernaut.
Scoring 28.0 points per game, Illinois ranks No. 54 in the country. This offense should be much better than that, though. With Luke Altmyer returning for a run at the College Football Playoff, Illinois should have been squarely in the mix for a berth.
That didn’t happen, at no fault of Altmyer’s. He has done a great job this season. I want to focus more on the Illinois running game and what has happened to this program when it comes to rushing the football.
Rashard Mendenhall isn’t walking through those doors, although I am not sure he could succeed behind this Illini offensive line.
Illinois’ offensive line is currently giving up 2.7 sacks per game on Altmyer, which ranks No. 112 out of 136 FBS programs. Not only does Barry Lunney’s offensive line struggle in the passing department, but the bad offensive line play has seeped into the running attack as well.
I don’t know if you have realized how bad things have gotten rushing the football, but you are looking at one of the worst rushing attacks Illinois has had in the past decade of seasons.
The Illini have one game left this season, and our leading rusher is Kaden Feagin at 486 yards. We have two running backs, Feagin and Ca’Lil Valentine, who have gone over 100 carries this season. Both have failed to hit that 500-yard mark.
Let’s expand on those numbers a bit. Feagin is averaging 4.3 yards per carry, while Valentine is a notch above at 4.4 yards per carry. When you look at running backs in the Bret Bielema era who have at least 50 carries in a season, Valentine and Feagin in 2025 have the two lowest season yards per carry averages in his tenure.
Those are pretty bad seasons, but I wanted to see how ugly this could get. I went back into the dark ages. I looked at the past 10 seasons of Illinois football, which went back as far as the first season under Lovie Smith in 2016.
When you look at Illinois players who had at least 100 carries in a season in the past 10 seasons, both Valentine and Feagin have the two lowest yards per carry averages.
Let’s go a bit further. There are 26 running backs over the past 10 seasons who have had at least 50 carries in a season for the Illinois football program. Among those 26 players, Valentine and Feagin’s yards per carry average ranks No. 22 and No. 23, respectively. The only players below them are Kendrick Foster (2017) at 3.6 YPC, and Ra’Von Bonner (2019 & 2017) at 3.5 YPC and 3.0 YPC, respectively.
I will add the slight caveat that Illinois hasn’t been fully healthy this season. Aidan Laughery, who was projected to be a starter this season, has 54 carries for 268 yards, which is 5.1 yards per carry. But the best ability is availability, and he just hasn’t been in enough to really impact the Illinois offense.
Regardless, Illinois has talent with Valentine and Feagin. Both were four-star recruits coming out of high school, and they were prized commits. You can’t have them rushing for two of the lowest yards per carry averages in the past decade.
How does Illinois football go about fixing the massive running back issue
Well, I don’t think you can fix this issue in 2025. We have one game left of the regular season and then a bowl game. The good news is, I think we know the problem.
It all comes back to the offensive line. There is no push up front, and it shows in the numbers. The yards per carry numbers are putrid, but it is how quickly the defense is making contact with the Illinois running backs, too.
Looking at Feagin, he averages 4.3 yards per carry. 2.75 yards are coming after contact. So, our big running back is only getting into the line of scrimmage 1.55 yards before a defender hits him.
Valentine is a little better in this department. He averages 4.4 yards per carry, and 2.4 yards are coming after contact. That means he is getting hit 2.0 yards deep.
Honestly, Feagin is lucky he is such a monster and tough to bring down. If he weren’t a bruiser, his numbers would be even worse. Meanwhile, Valentine can wiggle between linemen and get yards because of his smaller size. He is also quicker, and that is why he is getting hit deeper into the defense compared to Feagin.
How do these two compare to a decent Big Ten running back? I am not even talking about the top of the conference good. Let’s take a look at Michigan’s running back, Jordan Marshall.
Marshall has 871 yards on the season. He is averaging 6.1 yards per carry. 3.76 yards are coming after contact, which is a pretty good number. That means Marshall is first taking contact 2.34 yards into the defense. That is nearly a half-yard more than Valentine and nearly a full yard more than Feagin.
That might not sound like a lot, but it is in multiple ways. The biggest way is that Marshall has the runway to get momentum heading into the defense. If he can gain steam and not get touched until 2.34 yards into the defense, then he can carry that momentum further when it comes to yards after contact. It is all a domino effect.
It might sound small, but you are talking about Illinois having a 2nd and 6 when we run the ball compared to a team like Michigan, which might have a 2nd and 4. As an Illinois fan, you know how much those couple of yards matter during each and every drive.
When it is all said and done, the glaring issue is the offensive line. I don’t think I have ever been as disappointed with a group on either side of the ball as I have with the Illini offensive line this season.
Illinois has a right tackle and a right guard who are both sub-300 at their position nationally. The only time the running game succeeds on that side of the ball is when we have a tight end helping out. I can’t even give the left side of the offensive line a pass, either. While they can pass protect, their inability to run block hinders us greatly, too.
I will always take weapons on the outside and nasty defenders, but Bielema has one job this offseason. Build the offensive line. Without a better front five, Illinois has zero chance to sustain success and get to the ultimate goal: the College Football Playoff.