The Illinois Preview led off with the following:
Run Offense vs Illinois
Illinois appears to have a for-real defense this year after bringing in Vic Koenning, an established collegiate defensive coordinator with a recent history of success at Clemson and Kansas State. The three years before his hire, Koenning's Ds were 9th, 18th, and 39th in total defense, with that last stop a one-off year at Kansas State where he took the Wildcat D up from 117th. Ahem.
Illinois has been shutting down guys on the strength of a good defensive line (one that features MGoSouldongmate Corey Liuget) and the emergence of Martez Wilson (right) into something resembling the uber-hyped recruit he was. Wilson's by far Illinois's leading tackler with 68; he's second to Liuget in TFLs and sacks. Against the Big Ten:
| Opponent | Carries | Yards | TDs | YPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OSU | 39 | 230 | 1 | 5.9 |
| PSU | 24 | 83 | 0 | 3.5 |
| MSU | 30 | 100 | 1 | 3.3 |
| Indiana | 33 | 114 | 0 | 3.5 |
| Purdue | 33 | 160 | 0 | 4.8 |
In my opinion, this is the danger of relying too much on statistics. Penn State was pre-bye week and in the midst of a populating a MASH unit, Sparty was suffering from a post-Michigan hangover (especially those arrested for DUIs) and Inidana's running game hasn't been the same since Darius (what you talkin' bout ) Willis got injured.
Mad props to the O-line and the running backs, who both came up huge today.
It seemed to me they were basically completely selling out to stop Denard running and wanted the other guys to beat 'em if they could. And that's what happened. In that sense their gameplan was effective, I'm just not sure they realized how good our RBs/WRs are.