Any winning program throughout the entirety of college football has one thing in common: a solid defense. And it’s safe to say for the past few years, Illinois has struggled in this department.

During the 2020 season, Lovie Smith’s Illini were pitiful defending their opposition. Illinois conceded 467.3 yards per game last year, ranking last in the conference. And they allowed 34.9 points per game, which put Illinois at 13th in the Big Ten.

When Bielema arrived as the new head coach this past spring, he brought on several experienced assistant coaches to his staff. Ryan Walters, Kevin Kane and Andy Buh are just a few of these new arrivals for the defensive staff, and their impact has been seen immediately. 

Illinois won their first game of the season 30-22 against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the defense looked much improved from last year. The Illini were underdogs going into this matchup, as experts predicted Nebraska to make easy work of one the weakest teams in the Big Ten.

However from the get-go, Illinois made their presence known via special teams with a safety in the first quarter. A muffed punt and an illegal forward pass from Nebraska’s kick returner in the end zone saw Illinois go up 2-0. After the two sides traded scores, it was all tied up at nine with less than three minutes remaining in the half. With 30 seconds to go, the defense came up with their biggest play of the game.

Illinois’ Keith Randolph Jr. sacked Nebraska’s Adrian Martinez and Calvin Hart Jr. recovered the fumble and ran 41 yards for an Illinois touchdown. This play not only gave Illinois the lead, but it gave the Illini a huge momentum boost going into the halftime locker room.

In his first game as head coach, Bret Bielema was pleased with how his defense performed against Nebraska. However, he knows there is still much room for improvement during the next 11 games.

“I do think that for the most part we played and catered around 2 (Adrian Martinez),” Bielema said. “We did what we tried to do, but we need more depth at the outside linebacker position. Defensively, they were opportunistic, it wasn’t just a fumble, it was a scoring fumble, which was a huge deal.”

One of the biggest question marks going into today’s game was how the Illinois defense would contain Adrian Martinez. Over the course of his college career, Martinez has dominated Illinois. Although it would be impossible to limit Martinez’s impact on the game, the Illini did a fantastic job. 

The Fresno, California native went 16-32 with 232 yards and one touchdown, a relatively uneventful performance for the dual-threat quarterback. Part of the reason why Martinez was unable to play comfortably was the pressure put on him from the Illinois front seven, as the Illini sacked Martinez five times during the 60 minutes.

“We really know we’re an athletic group,” Newton said. “Martinez was fast but we know what we’re capable of. Before the season started, we knew it was due time before we would show everybody else what we could do. Now that the season’s here, we’ll continue to do it.”

The low moment of the game for the defense came during the third quarter, as Martinez broke away from the Illinois defense for a 75 yard touchdown run. 

One of the biggest indicators for Illinois’ strong defensive performance today was the time of possession. Illinois had the ball for a whopping 34:55 and Nebraska had it for 25:05. Bielema’s run-heavy offense coupled with quick defensive stops were a perfect recipe for today’s victory.

Senior Tony Adams was one of the strongest performers on the Illini defense today, as he led the defense with a team-high 11 tackles. The St. Louis, Missouri native was happy Illinois finished off the game, especially after the late scare from Nebraska.

“We went out there and we fought hard and came out with the W,” Adams said. “It wasn’t the cleanest game at all, we have some things we need to clean up. But that’s week one, things go wrong, but we got the win and that’s all that matters.”

Illinois hope to continue their strong defensive play when they welcome The University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners to Memorial Stadium next Saturday at 6:30pm.

@WillPayne33

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