Illinois Fighting Illini (West Division)
Location: Champaign, IL
Stadium: Memorial Stadium (60,670)
Coach: Lovie Smith (1st year): first time coaching at the collegiate
level
2015 Illinois Fighting Illini
(5-7)(2-6) 2016
Schedule
52 Kent State 3 S3 Murray State
44 Western Illinois 0 S10 North Carolina
14 at North Carolina 48 S17 Western Michigan
27 Middle Tennessee 25 O1 at Nebraska
14 Nebraska 13 O8 Purdue
20 at Iowa 29 O15 at Rutgers
13 Wisconsin 24 O22 at Michigan
0 at
Penn State 39 O29 Minnesota
48 at Purdue 14 N5 Michigan State
3 Ohio
State 28 N12 at Wisconsin
23 at Minnesota 32 N19 Iowa
14 Northwestern 24 N26 at Northwestern
The Illini
hope their latest coaching change will provide a spark to a program that has
struggled as of late. Josh Whitman, the
new Illinois athletic director, made his first major decision on March 7 when
he brought in longtime NFL assistant coach Lovie Smith to reinvigorate the
Illini football fortunes and have a winning season for the first time since
2011. Smith wasted no time in bringing
aboard former Louisville assistant Garrick McGee as offensive coordinator and
former Tampa Bay Buccaneer assistant Hardy Nickerson, as defensive coordinator.
Coach Smith
is fortunate to have the venerable Wes Lunt returning at quarterback. Lunt’s career is a mix of efficient play and
injuries, but he has compiled a respectable 34 touchdowns with just 16
interceptions during his career, despite being hampered by the lack of a
productive rushing offense. Lunt will
look to continue his productivity in the passing game with his favorite target,
sophomore WR Desmond Cain who hauled in 53 catches for 492 yards, starting
every game last year as a true freshman.
Also returning are experienced receivers junior Malik Turner and senior
Dionte Taylor. Turner has matured rather
nicely into a deep threat, hauling in 39 receptions for 510 yards and three
scores, while Taylor has been adept on the short and medium routes, with 22
receptions for 216 yards in 2015. Lunt
also has senior TE Andrew Davis to go to, who has also been an outstanding
blocker when he stays in on passing downs.
The Illini
offense will look to sophomore Ke’Shawn Vaughn to improve the anemic running
game which saw Illinois finish last in the conference with a paltry 129 yards
per game. Vaughn played well doing
backup duty to the departed Josh Ferguson, managing 723 yards and six
touchdowns. However, as the only
returning running back with any practical experience, the Illini will have to
hope he remains healthy throughout the season. Some good news for the Illini offense is
that three starters return on the offensive line, plus experienced backup
Connor Brennan, a senior, at LG. The
line is led by senior center Joe Spencer, a candidate for all-conference
honors. Spencer is joined by classmate
Austin Schmidt at LT and junior Christian DiLauro at RT. Highly regarded freshman Gabe Megginson impressed the coaches during spring drills and
appears to have the inside track to assume the LG position.
Illinois
needs to generate a better pass rush after managing just 19 sacks a year ago
and the coaching staff believes this is the year where that stat will improve. Senior DT Chunky Clements returns as the
leader up front and has shown flashes of greatness, managing 11.5 tackles for
loss in 2015. Seniors Rob Bain at the
other DT and Dawuane Smoot at DE make the Illini defensive line the most
experienced of any unit on the team.
Smoot led them all with 40 tackles and a whopping 15 tackles for loss
with 8 sacks, while Bain and Clements were right behind with 36 and 35 tackles
respectively (6 and 11.5 tackles for loss respectively). The back seven don’t have the experience as
the defensive line does, but junior linebacker James Crawford had considerable
playing time, with 36 tackles, and will get a starting role as MLB. Senior Mike Svetina and sophomore Tre Watson
figure to join Crawford in the Illini linebacking corps. Svetina is finally getting his big
opportunity to start, moving over from special teams, while Watson garnered 21
tackles in his backup role last year.
The secondary returns experienced FS Taylor Barton who is leading
tackler returning, with 56 tackles, three tackles for loss, and four interceptions. Barton will be relied upon to be the leader
back there, as his three backfield mates are new to starting roles. Senior Darius Mosely and junior Jaylen Dunlap
will be the corners. Both appeared in
every game, but mostly on special teams, garnering three and six tackles
respectively. Senior Caleb Day figures
to get the starting nod at SS, getting seven tackles and an interception in
limited playing time last year.
Experienced
field goal specialist Taylor Zalewski is graduated, so the Illini will most
likely turn to senior kicker David Reisner for the placekicking duties. Reisner has not attempted a field goal for
the Illini in a game, although he kicked an extra point last year. Senior Ryan Frain returns to punt for
Illinois after averaging a respectable 40.2 yards per punt with a long of 72 in
2015. Caleb Day figures to handle the
kickoff return duties, while he and Jaylen Dunlap have some experience
returning punts.
The Illini
open with three non conference home games, with the highlight being a rematch
with North Carolina from last year. The
conference part of the season, unfortunately, could be brutal, which starts
with a road trip to Nebraska and also features games on the road at Michigan,
Wisconsin, and Northwestern. Don’t look
for Coach Smith to get the Illini to compete for any division title just yet,
but if they can get a win against one of
these teams on the road, a bowl game
could be within reach.
PROJECTION: 4-8 (2-6) 6th in Western
Division
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