Struggling to improve
Smith gets 2-year extension as losses pile up for Illini
Patience appears to be the theme for fans of Illinois football. It has been seven years since the Illini last produced a winning season.
During three seasons under coach Lovie Smith, Illinois has won 25% of its games and 17% of its Big Ten matchups. Despite the losses, the Illinois administration offered Smith a two-year contract extension that could keep him in Champaign until 2023.
Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel ranked all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country entering the 2019 season. The Sentinel staff will take a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 130 to our projected No. 1 team. Today at No. 97: Illinois Coach: Lovie Smith (9-27, entering fourth season; 9-27 overall)
2018 record: 4-8, 2-7 in the Big Ten Conference; seventh in the West Division
Look back: Illinois opened the 2018 campaign with back-to-back wins for the second consecutive season, but the team dropped its next two games and five out of the next six. A win over Minnesota in early November was the last victory the team would earn, dropping the remaining three games to close out the season. Offensive starters returning: 7 Offensive starters lost: 4 Defensive starters returning: 10 Defensive starters lost:
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Key losses: QB AJ Bush Jr., WR Sam Mays, TE Austin Roberts, OL Nick Allegretti, LB Del’Shawn Phillips, K Chase McLaughlin
Top returnees: RB Reggie Corbin, WR Ricky Smalling, WR Trenard Davis, OL Vedarian Love, OL Kendrick Green, LB Jake Hansen, DL Bobby Roundtree, DB Jartavius Martin
Strengths: Illinois showed promise on the offensive side of the football under first-year offensive coordinator Rod Smith. The Illini incorporated a multi-formation spread offense that saw the team average more points (26) and more yards (409) per game than any other Illinois team since 2013.
Reggie Corbin became the first Illinois tailback to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season since Mike Leshoure in 2010. Corbin did so while missing two games due to an injury, but he managed to finish with a 9.29 yards per carry average against Big Ten opposition.
The offensive line returns four out of the five starters, all of whom started every game last season. Nick Allegretti is the only starter leaving. He started 36 consecutive games at the guard position for the Illini.
Weaknesses: Illinois featured one of worst defenses in the country, with the unit finishing near the bottom of Football Bowl Subdivision teams in just about every defensive category, including scoring defense (39.4 points allowed per game), rushing defense (245 allowed yards per game) and total defense (508 yards allowed per game) last season.
The sudden departure of defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson, who stepped away midway through last season due to health reasons, left the unit in flux. So Smith decided to step in and take over play-calling duties for the defense, adding Keynodo Hudson as the team’s new cornerbacks coach and promoting his son, Mike, to linebackers coach.
Defensive end Bobby Roundtree continued to provide pressure up front for the Illini, leading the team in sacks (7.5) and tackles for loss (12.5). Nevertheless, the group struggled to stop the run, allowing nearly 3,000 yards on the ground and a league-high 31 rushing touchdowns.
For the third straight year, Illinois will open the season with someone new at quarterback. AJ Bush (graduation) and MJ Rivers (transfer) took the majority of snaps last season, but both are gone, leaving the position up the air. A pair of redshirt freshmen in Matt Robinson and Coran Taylor along with incoming freshman Isaiah Williams will battle for the right to start the opener against Akron.
Outlook: Smith was given a two-year contract extension at the end of last season that runs through 2023, indicating the administration is standing behind the Illini coach. However, Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman indicated he needs to see massive improvement from a program that has four conference wins in the three seasons.
Illinois should start out strong thanks to a weak nonconference schedule, but it will face a tough stretch of conference games, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Purdue before closing with Michigan State, Iowa and Northwestern.