Illinois Football Defense Responds Against Southern Illinois Ahead of Ohio State Test

Illinois football needed to respond. 

A week earlier, Duke had exposed some of the issues that had followed the Illini through the first two games of the season. Illinois struggled to get off the field, missed tackles, and gave up too many explosive plays in a 31-27 loss that felt like an opportunity missed. So while nobody is going to pretend Southern Illinois provided the same test, Saturday offered Illinois a chance to clean some things up.

Illinois held Southern Illinois to 10 points in a 48-10 victory at a sold-out Gies Memorial Stadium, and the defense played with considerably more confidence than it had a week earlier. The Salukis finished with 257 total yards and just 29 rushing yards. Illinois forced six punts and held Southern Illinois to 3-of-14 on third and fourth down combined.

Those are the kinds of numbers that stand out, even with the obvious caveat that Southern Illinois is an FCS opponent.

The biggest difference was that Illinois looked like a defense that was playing downhill. There were fewer missed tackles, fewer extended plays, and more negative plays. The Illini finished with 24 tackles for loss, and the defensive front was consistently getting into the backfield instead of allowing Southern Illinois to dictate the pace.

That’s going to be key for Bobby Hauck’s defense going forward. Illinois’ new defensive coordinator has been aggressive with the way he wants this unit to play. But an aggressive defense doesn’t work if players aren’t in position to finish plays. That was part of the problem against Duke. Illinois would get itself into good positions and then fail to finish. That wasn’t nearly as much of an issue Saturday.

The Stars stepped up

Matthew Bailey provided the biggest example. Southern Illinois was trying to move the football when Bailey intercepted a pass and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown. It was the type of play Illinois needed to make after failing to consistently create those kinds of momentum-changing moments against Duke.

Instead of allowing a drive to develop, the defense ended it and put seven points on the scoreboard.

That’s the value of creating turnovers. You don’t have to play a perfect defensive game when you can take the ball away and turn mistakes into points.

There were other encouraging moments throughout the afternoon. Illinois kept Southern Illinois from establishing much of a running game, and the Salukis struggled to sustain drives. Once Illinois built its lead, the defense didn’t give Southern Illinois an opportunity to make the game uncomfortable.

That was something Illinois couldn’t say after the Duke game.

Of course, this is where the context matters. Illinois football isn’t going to Columbus next weekend and see the same offense it saw Saturday. Ohio State has far more talent, far more speed, and far more ways to punish a defense for a mistake.

That’s why Saturday wasn’t about proving Illinois’ defense has arrived. It was about showing improvement.

Illinois football needed to tackle better. It needed to get off the field and create some negative plays and turnovers. needed to play with more consistency from the opening kickoff through the fourth quarter. It did those things against Southern Illinois.

Now comes the test that will tell us how much progress Illinois actually made. The Illini open Big Ten play next Saturday at Ohio State, and the margin for error will be much smaller. The Buckeyes will test everything Illinois worked on during the first three weeks of the season.

For one Saturday, at least, the defense looked like it took a step forward. Now we’ll find out if it can take another one.

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