Know the Foe: A closer look at Illinois

By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

First-year coach Lovie Smith didn’t exactly take it easy on his Illinois football team during its bye week.

He held full-padded practices, yet mentioned he saw an eagerness from his team following a 34-10 home loss to Western Michigan that dropped the Illini to 1-2.

“You try to hit on all phases of your game,” Smith said of his team’s bye week. “We’ve given up some big plays, we haven’t made enough big plays on the other side of the ball. Just really tightening the bow on what we really want to be.

“I think it’s pretty obvious, to a man, on what we need to do better.”

Smith said he needs improvement from every position, the coaches included, as Illinois prepares for its first road game, and its first Big Ten Conference game, Saturday at No. 15 Nebraska (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten).

Illinois visits Memorial Stadium for the third time in four years. The Illini edged Nebraska 14-13 with a last-second touchdown in last year’s meeting in Champaign.

Here’s a closer look at the Illini, the Huskers’ homecoming opponent.

Illinois offense

Let’s start up front, where there’s been a fair amount of instability after a 2015 season in which Illinois featured the same five starting offensive linemen in all 12 games.

This season, the Illini are starting a true freshman, a redshirt freshman and a sophomore, and there’s been some consternation with players flipping tackle-guard combinations from left side to right side.

“With us, it really doesn’t (matter),” Nebraska defensive coordinator Mark Banker said. “It could possibly be an indicator, because we’ve looked at that. If you’re looking to pick on somebody, it makes it more difficult because they’re moving around.

“It’s just the way they go about things and it really doesn’t cause us a problem.”

Quarterback Wes Lunt, who engineered last year’s game-winning touchdown drive in the final minute against Nebraska, returns for his senior season. He’s thrown 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his three years with Illini after transferring from Oklahoma State. This season, he’s completing 62.2 percent of his passes for 665 yards and six touchdowns, with one interception.

Lunt’s most dangerous target is junior wide receiver Malik Turner, who has a team-best 15 catches for 233 yards, including touchdown catches of five, 68 and seven yards. The 68-yard reception in among five plays covering 50 yards or more by Illinois, a mark that ranks No. 7 among FBS schools.

Illinois relies on a backfield duo of Kendrick Foster and Ke’Shawn Vaughn. They’ve combined for 362 yards rushing over three games, with four touchdowns.

Illinois defense

Nebraska coach Mike Riley said Illinois has the best defensive line Nebraska will have faced this season. Illinois is tied for the NCAA lead in sacks per game (4.33) with Miami and Boise State and ranks third in the nation and second in the Big Ten in TFLs with 10.7 per game.

Carroll Phillips, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior defensive end, leads the nation in sacks per game and is fifth nationally in TFLs per game. He wears No. 6. When you hear coaches refer to No. 91, that’s the other defensive end, 6-3, 255-pound senior Dawuane Smoot, who caused Nebraska problems last season.

Nebraska offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf said Phillips and Smoot are both quick, athletic and have simply run around offensive tackles in each of Illinois’ first three games. In other words, tough to block.

They’re most dangerous, of course, on third-and-long situations, meaning Nebraska wants to produce on first and second down to help neutralize the speed rush as much as possible. The Huskers could do that by establishing the run against a defense that’s allowing 158 rushing yards per game.

“I think they’ve really got some defensive ends that are scary,” Langsdorf said. “When you have that and you don’t have to run a lot of pressure to get more pressure on the quarterback, you can do some more things on the back end.”

Senior linebacker Hardy Nickerson Jr., a graduate transfer from Cal, averages 9.7 tackles per game to lead the Big Ten. He twice played against Riley-coached teams from Oregon State in 2013 and 2014, and Langsdorf remembers him well.

“He was All-Pac-12 when his dad was defensive coordinator,” Langsdorf said of Hardy Nickerson Sr., now defensive coordinator at Illinois. “He’s a really good player.”

Illinois plays mostly man in the secondary but will mix in some cover-2 and disguise its coverages well, Langsdorf said.

“(Smith) has been pretty influential in that Tampa 2 defense,” Langsdorf said. “He’s had some outstanding defenses wherever he’s been. Being a defensive head coach, I’m sure he’s got his fingerprints all over it. You see that in some of the things they do.”

Meanwhile, Smith is most concerned with defending quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr.

“This is the best running quarterback we’ve played. Nebraska has great skill at tight end, running back, wideout, and their quarterback really can beat you,” Smith said. “Last week they were about as balanced running and passing the football as you can get (310 yards rushing, 246 passing).

“A lot of it has to do with their quarterback. He can throw it, also. He’s one of the better players in our conference, and you can see why.”

Illinois special teams

Sophomore kicker Chase McLaughlin has been strong in his first season. He’s perfect on 11 PATs and two field goals, including one from 48 yards.

Nebraska will need to keep an eye on senior defensive tackle Rob Bain, who’s already blocked a field goal attempt this season, the fourth of his career. Illinois last season blocked five kicks to rank fourth among FBS teams.

David Reisner is averaging 39.7 yards on punts, with three of 50 yards or more, including a season-best boot of 61 yards.

Illinois has been quiet thus far on returns, with its longest punt return of 22 yards and its longest kickoff return of 35 yards.

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.