I am going to try and do this for every B1G team and OU. I am going to give a dive into the teams strengths, weaknesses and I will let you know what my email to coach Frost says of what I think we should do.
Defensive side..
- The defense of Illinois has 1 good player and he might be their best player overall. It is there ILB Hansen. This guy is looking to be an early to mid round guy and on the Pre Season all conference list. He is switching from his Will spot to ILB.
- The next best spot for Illinois is going to be their OLBs where I will say they will be ok, but nothing earth shattering. They have some experience returning.
- Upfront is going to be a big problem for them. These guys were all recruited for a 4 man front. They are just going to be too small to run their 3 man front. I expect them to be trying active with this group given how they are undersized.
- Their secondary is just not good. They are just not very athletic. They wont be able to man up against our WRs.
Offensive side..
- Peters is their QB. He is a good player for them. I think he is gong to struggle this year given the lack of talent at WR.
- OL is a pretty good unit. Their OTs and C are the strengths, but the OG leave a lot to be desired. Both of their OG are transfers from lower levels and frankly aren't ready for B1G football. They have 2 decent TEs.
- RB is another strength. It is also the 1 spot they actually have decent depth there. Brown is the guy who leads them here. I think given this and their WR room they will try and run the ball a ton vs us.
- WR is the weak link of this unit. This unit will probably be the worst group in the B1G.
Game plan
- Establish a RB run game early.. They don't have a very big DL and we should be able to wear them down quickly. This is a great match up to establish who you want to be long term here. There will be some opportunity if we can take care of the front 7 as their back 4 will struggle in tackling our RBs.
- This should be a game that when we establish a RB run game and it should really compromise their back 4/5 vs our WRs. FI really expect Toure to have a field day working against their at best 3rd best cover guy.
- Defensively this is a game where we should be able to lock down on the edge. I would focus run blitzes on taking away OZ runs from Illinois and forcing the ball inside where they will struggle.
- Don't lose the game on special teams. They have some good specialist so we need to make sure we aren't giving them anything free here.
Keys to the game
- Stop their running attack. You do this I don't see them scoring much at all.
- Establish your identity early of who you want to be on offense. If you want to be a down hill run game with rpo's off it be sure to establish that early this game.
- Don't lose special teams. Carry over what you did in practice and play with good fundamentals.
- Play a clean game. Take care of the ball. Only way Illinois has a shot in this is if we lose it. They are going to be a team that will struggle. Don't make this harder.
Picks to click
- Toure - I simply don't think Illinois has an answer for him.
- Kolaveric - this is a game I expect big things from our ILBs but I am excited to see Chris and what he can do.
Recap
- This is a game that I felt we should cover relatively easily. I just don't see Illinois having the horses to score enough to keep up with us.
- I have a position on the skers to cover the -7. I would lean on the under, but not as confident.
34-17 good guys
