Illinois Fighting Illini (West Division)
Location: Champaign, IL
Stadium: Memorial Stadium (60,670)
Coach: Lovie Smith (2nd year): 3-9 at Illinois/overall, 2-7 v B1G
2016 Illinois Fighting Illini
(3-9)(2-7) 2017
Illinois Fighting Illini
52 Murray State 3 S2 Ball State
23 North Carolina 48 S9 Western Kentucky
10 Western Michigan 34 S15 at South Florida
16 at Nebraska 31 S23
31 Purdue 34
(OT) S29 Nebraska
24 at Rutgers 7 O7 at Iowa
8 at
Michigan 41 O14 Rutgers
17 Minnesota 40 O21 at
Minnesota
31 Michigan State 27 O28 Wisconsin
3 at
Wisconsin 48 N4 at Purdue
0 Iowa 28 N11 Indiana
21 at Northwestern 42 N18 at Ohio State
N25 Northwestern
Illinois
coach Lovie Smith endured a rough first year, with a 3-9 record, but he hopes with
an intact coaching staff and bringing on Donnie Abraham as a defensive
backfield coach, will pay off on the recruiting trail.
Illinois
must improve an offense that ranked 122nd in the FBS with a paltry
19.7 point per game last year. That
starts at quarterback, where the Illini need to replace three-year starter Wes
Lunt. Three promising prospects emerged
from spring drills ,with junior Chayce Crouch appears to have the edge. The 6-4, 230 pound junior has come a long way
from his off-season shoulder surgery.
Last year, Crouch got into four games and was 18 out of 32 for 249 yards
and a score. Right behind him is Jeff
George Jr., the son of late-80s Illini QB Jeff George, who showed his arm
strength in five games, with four TD passes, but completing less than 50
percent of his passes. Dwayne Lawson, a
junior-college transfer, is also waiting in the wings. The Illini receive good news in the running
game, as senior RB Kendrick Foster returns after garnering 720 yards and seven
scores in 2016. Sophomore Reggie Corbin
is the only other RB with very much game experience, and he should be a very
able backup. Corbin turned in 523 yards,
averaging over six yards per carry, with two touchdowns. Good news awaits the Illini in the receiving
department. Not only does senior Mike
Dudek return full-strength from ACL surgery, but the offense also welcomes back
big-play makers Malik Turner and Sam Mays.
Turner, a junior, led the team last year with 48 receptions for 712
yards and six touchdowns, while Mays, also a junior, contributed 13 catches for
158 yards and a score of his own.
Sophomore Caleb Reams returns at TE and figures to be featured a bit
more as a receiver as the Illini try to establish a passing threat with their
new QB. The offensive line figures to be
more experienced than in the past few years, with the return of starters Gabe
Megginson (so) at LT, Christian DiLauro (sr) at RT, and Nick Allegretti (jr) at
center. Sophomore Darta Lee and senior
Jordan Fagan figure to get the starting nod at LG and RG respectively.
Defensive
coordinator Hardy Nickerson will hopefully be able to coax better production
from a defense that gave up an awful 31.9 points per game in 2016. He will have his work cut out for him in finding
a pass rush from an inexperienced defensive line. Senior James Crawford is the most experienced
of the D-line, returning with 18 tackles and four tackles for loss from his DE
spot. On the opposite end will be junior
Henry McGrew, with five tackles from a year ago. The interior figures to be manned by
sophomores Jamal Milan and Kenyon Jackson.
Milan led the group with 27 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss and Jackson
chipped in 18 tackles. The Illini
defense has better news at linebacker, as junior Tre Watson, second on the team
with 102 tackles, returns to anchor the front seven. Classmates Julian Jones and Del’Shawn
Phillips will also be in that linebacking corps. Jones had 32 tackles and Phillips, a JC
transfer, should get his first start for the Illini in the opener against Ball
State. The Illini defense had just seven
interceptions in 2016, but sophomore safeties Patrick Nelson and Stanley Green
return after posting 137 tackles between them.
The corner positions also appear to be in good hands with junior Chris
James and senior Jaylen Dunlap returning.
Dunlap is the most experienced secondary man, with 63 tackles and 4.5
tackles for loss, while James pitched in 23 tackles and an interception.
Junior kicker
Chase McLaughlin returns after connecting on 12 of 17 field goal attempts with
a long of 53. Punting last year was
handled by committee, but with both Ryan Frain and David Reisner gone, it
appears Illinois will turn to junior Ryan Tucker to handle the punting chores.
Smith is
hopeful to get more wins this year, as their non conference setup is a bit
easier than last year, although the game against South Florida is on the
road. Illinois hasn’t had a winning
record in conference play since 2007and have lost 21 straight against ranked
B1G opponents. Illinois will get their
chances in a tough mid=-season stretch that includes home games against
Nebraska and Wisconsin and road games with Iowa and Minnesota. The back half appears to be a bit easier with
only the game at Ohio State appearing to be out of reach of them. The other three in that stretch are winnable,
and with a win against Rutgers at home, could have Illinois close to .500 this
season.
PREDICTION: 4-8 (2-7) 6th in B1G West Division
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