The Daily Hoosier
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Trending
    • IU football snap counts, notes and numbers for the defense through four weeks
    • Six questions about IU men’s basketball, six weeks from the start of the season
    • IU women’s basketball is top-10 in ESPN’s preseason rankings
    • More IU basketball recruiting housekeeping notes as field continues to narrow
    • Watch: IU basketball media day Q&As with Kel’el Ware and Anthony Walker
    • The Daily Hoosier Report: The Latest in IU News and Recruiting Notes (9/28)
    • Tip time and television revealed for IU basketball vs. Auburn in December
    • Watch: IU football coach Tom Allen with final Thursday thoughts on Maryland
    • Sign Up
    • About/Support
    • Jobs
    • Tickets
      • IUBB Tickets (Stubhub)
      • IUFB Tickets (Stubhub)
    • Shop
      • Official IU Store
      • IU Adidas Store
      • Amazon: Support TDH
      • IU Memorabilia
      • IU Press (Books)
      • The Daily Hoosier T-Shirt
    • Radio/Podcasts
    • Pro IU
      • IUBB NBA
      • IUFB NFL
      • IUBASE MLB
    • Forum
      • Disqus Forum
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    The Daily HoosierThe Daily Hoosier
    Friday, September 29
    • IU Basketball
      • Latest IU Basketball News
      • IU Basketball 2023-24 Schedule
      • IU Basketball 23-24 Roster/Staff
      • Offseason Roster Activity Tracker
      • Scholarship Chart
      • Future Schedules
      • 2022-23 Big Ten Standings
      • 2022-23 IU Basketball Stats
      • Rankings & Bracketology
      • IU Basketball Media Guide
    • IU Football
      • Latest IU Football News
      • IU Football: The 2023 Schedule
      • Roster
      • 2023 IUFB Stats
      • 2023 B1G Standings
      • Future Opponents through 2031
      • IUFB 2023 Media Guide
    • IU Recruiting
      • IU Basketball Recruiting News
      • IU Football Recruiting News
      • IUBB 2024-2026 Prospects
      • Recruit Interviews
      • Recruit Highlights
      • CBB Team Rankings
      • IU Football Recruiting Commits
    • IU Women’s Basketball
      • IU Women’s Basketball News
      • 22-23 Schedule
      • Big Ten Standings
    • IU Men’s Soccer
      • 2022 schedule
      • 2022 NCAA Tournament Bracket
      • Indiana Men’s Soccer: Program History
    • More Hoosiers
      • Fan and Business NIL options
      • IU Baseball
        • Baseball Schedule (links to iuhoosiers.com)
        • 2021 Stats (links to iuhoosiers.com)
        • Big Ten Standings
      • IU Swim & Dive
      • IU Olympic Results
    • Hoosier History
      • March Madness Classics
      • Basketball History
      • Football History
      • IUFB Best Seasons
      • IUFB All-Time Top 10 Players
    The Daily Hoosier

    Indiana football 2023 opponent preview: Illinois

    Seth TowBy Seth TowAugust 24, 2023 IU Football No Comments
    Photo by Mike Schumann / The Daily Hoosier
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    As college football season draws ever-closer, we’re running down Indiana’s schedule to preview its opponents for 2023.

    Indiana travels to Champaign, Ill. for the first time since 2017 in November to take on Illinois. IU has won four straight games over the Fighting Illini, dating back to 2012. The Hoosiers opened their 2022 season with a dramatic 23-20 win over Illinois in Bret Bielema’s Big Ten debut with the Illini.

    • Opponent: Illinois
    • Date/Time/TV: Saturday, November 11, TBA
    • Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Ill.
    • 2022 record/postseason result: 8-5, 5-4 Big Ten, lost to Mississippi State in the ReliaQuest Bowl

    Returning production, offense: 64 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN)

    Offensive outlook: Illinois’ offense was a middling unit last season, statistically. And the Fighting Illini have some big pieces to replace this season, starting at quarterback and running back. Tommy DeVito had a solid season under center for Illinois last year, but he departed after the season. Sophomore Luke Altmyer won the starting quarterback job in fall camp after transferring from Ole Miss. 247Sports rated him as the 10th-best quarterback available in the transfer portal this offseason. He played very sparingly for the Rebels last season, but the former four-star recruit is talented. 

    Chase Brown was one of the top running backs in the Big Ten last season, but he moved on to the NFL. Junior Reggie Love III will step into a lead back role this year after posting 317 yards on 70 carries with two touchdowns last year as the No. 2 option. Illinois does return three of its four leading receivers from last season in senior Casey Washington and juniors Isaiah Williams and Pat Bryant. The team’s top receiving tight end, junior Tip Reiman, is also back.

    Illinois’ offensive line graded well last season — Pro Football Focus ranked the unit 22nd in the country and fourth in the Big Ten in run blocking, and 39th in the nation and 7th in the conference in pass blocking. Isaiah Adams ranked as the 12th-best guard in run blocking in the country, and he’s back this year. The Illini have three returning starters on the offensive line, though they’re replacing two All-Big Ten selections.

    Returning production, defense: 62 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN)

    Defensive outlook: Illinois had one of the top defenses in the Big Ten and the country last season. UI led the nation by allowing just 12.8 points per game, and the Illini boasted top-10 passing and rushing defenses. They allowed just 273.5 yards per game, good for third in the nation. While that level of dominance may be hard to repeat, Illinois has enough back from that group for this year’s defense to be promising.

    Junior defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton is back after a huge sophomore season that saw him earn first team All-Big Ten honors. Newton led the Illini with 5.5 sacks (seventh in the Big Ten) and 13 tackles for loss (second in the conference). PFF graded Newton the seventh-best interior defender in the country. Junior defensive tackle Keith Randolph Jr., a third-team All-Big Ten selection, also returns off a 13 TFL campaign.

    Coupled with three returning starting linebackers, Illinois has continuity in the defensive front. But there’s a lot of turnover in the secondary. Just one starter returns from last season’s stout group, junior cornerback Tahveon Nicholson. It will be tough to replace the All-Big Ten secondary trio of Devon Witherspoon, Sydney Brown, and Jartavius Martin. Sophomore safety transfer Demetrius Hill could be an important piece of the new-look defensive backfield — at FIU last season, he was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team.

    Illinois’ secondary play could go a long way in determining how good this team can be.

    Returning starters, special teams: kicker Caleb Griffin, punter Hugh Robertson, punt returner Isaiah Williams

    Special teams outlook: Griffin went 14 for 19 on field goals last season, the third-worst clip in the Big Ten; but he converted all 32 of his extra-point attempts. Robertson finished last in the conference in punt average, at 40 yards flat. Both will look to improve this year. Williams posted the best punt return average in the Big Ten at 7.5 yards per return.

    Overall Outlook: Illinois has enough departed talent to replace this season to raise questions about potential regression after a solid 2022 season. But the Illini have enough back from that group and enough potential to feel like they have a solid floor. It’s hard to see this team being outright bad. The Illini may be a step below the top teams in the Big Ten West, but they should be in contention for a bowl game. Somewhere between five and eight wins feels right for Illinois.

    Prior Outlooks:

    • Ohio State
    • Akron
    • Louisville
    • Maryland
    • Michigan
    • Rutgers
    • Penn State
    • Wisconsin

    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

    • Find us on Facebook:  thedailyhoosier
    • You can follow us on Twitter:  @daily_hoosier
    • Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.

    Share this:

    • Tweet

    Related

    illinois
    Seth Tow

    Keep Reading

    IU football snap counts, notes and numbers for the defense through four weeks

    Watch: IU football coach Tom Allen with final Thursday thoughts on Maryland

    Cornerback Jamison Kelly no longer with the IU football program

    Latest Hoosier News
    • IU football snap counts, notes and numbers for the defense through four weeks
    • Six questions about IU men’s basketball, six weeks from the start of the season
    • IU women’s basketball is top-10 in ESPN’s preseason rankings
    • More IU basketball recruiting housekeeping notes as field continues to narrow
    • Watch: IU basketball media day Q&As with Kel’el Ware and Anthony Walker
    • The Daily Hoosier Report: The Latest in IU News and Recruiting Notes (9/28)
    • Tip time and television revealed for IU basketball vs. Auburn in December
    Sign Up



    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    © 2023 The Daily Hoosier, LLC.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.