Illinois football postgame press conference: Illinois head coach Bret Bielema

Illinois head coach met with the media after the game to discuss Illinois’ 31-24 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers.

Dreams of playing in the Rose Bowl — or even the Citrus Bowl — seem far fetched now. 

After back-to-back home losses to Michigan State and Purdue, respectively, the Illini sit at 7-3 on the season and the division title hopes took a serious hit. With undefeated Michigan still on the schedule and Purdue finishing the season with Northwestern and Indiana, a trip to Indianapolis seems far from possible.

Bret Bielema met with the media after the game and discussed the path forward for his program. 

Failure to get pressure on Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell 

“The two fastest (throwers) in the Big Ten are Purdue, number one and (Illinois is) number two on quarterback delivery getting the ball out. So we knew on early downs, especially you weren’t gonna be able to get to them. It’s just not part of their scheme. It’s not part of their plan. I thought our defense made some nice adjustments.”

Analysis:

Illinois’ defense — and overall success — has thrived when they sack quarterbacks. It’s why Virginia couldn’t get back into the game against Illinois. It’s why Wisconsin couldn’t comeback back in the second half. It’s why Nebraska failed to score in the double digits. 

The defensive line pressure was patching a bandaid on other Illini struggles. 

But in the last two weeks, Michigan State’s screen passes and Purdue’s quick throws have neutralized the defensive line, leading the secondary to be exposed and giving O’Connell time to find the open man. 

With Michigan State and Purdue being able to eat clock and put a respectable amount of points on the board, it makes it very hard for the Illini offense — centered around Brown and time of possession — to keep up and win a higher scoring affair. 

Title hopes fading away? 

“Some of the seniors I know were very emotional — even just walking up the stairway there. So the good news is they’ve done a lot of good things. The tough news is right, we didn’t do enough last two weeks to let us to where it is today. Obviously (the West Division race is) nowhere close to being done.”

Analysis:

Division title hopes are pretty much over. Purdue will finish the season with a 6-3 conference record, most likely, and a loss to Michigan would drop the Illini to 5-4. 

However, before the season, Illinois was supposed to be battling out for last place with Northwestern. Illinois has made great strides on defense and even offense and is a win away from its first eight-win season since 2007. 

The senior class is a trailblazing bunch that has helped the Illini leave the Big Ten basement, and their early success this season provided positive public relations for the program. Recruits like Malik Elzy are now considering the Illini. 

However, the team will still need to make changes for next season — such as opening up the passing game and bringing solid defensive line transfers from the portal.

Bielema thought the team was focused in practice this week

“But this group really just kind of all we just talked about (it being) rematch number six playing Purdue.

“I showed, you know, the last play of the (Purdue game) a year ago really frustrated that we weren’t able to close that thing out. And then this year, I think we focused on more of the same. I think the part that really jumps out to me the opportunities that we had earlier this year that made us win those games, we’ve kind of had those same moments, we just weren’t able to push ourselves over the top right.”

Analysis:

Believe it or not, Purdue is not a good matchup for Illinois — and neither was Michigan State. 

Virginia has one of the worst offensive lines in America. Wisconsin has struggles in the trenches, too, and they lost the turnover battle 3-0 to Illinois. Iowa has a putrid offense. Nebraska was playing with a backup quarterback for more than half the game. 

The product on the field has obviously improved under Bielema, as they’ve lost only two games by double digits. However, expectations may have become unrealistic after a 7-1 start. A Rose Bowl appearance after playing Ohio State tough in Indianapolis seemed plausible a couple of weeks ago, but in reality, Illinois’ defense was beating up on mediocre offenses. 

And even if Chase Brown is prepared to play well, it’s hard to register chunk plays when teams know he’s going to get the ball often. While the players may have been prepared, was the coaching staff prepared to get the ball in their best players’ hands? 

Isaiah Williams finished with only three touches. 

Rushing attack has slowed due to multiple factors

“If we do have a (team loading the box), we gotta be able to spit it out on the perimeter and execute that. There were a couple of those we’d like to have back today. And then, you know, bottom line is, you know, to have success for four quarters, it can’t be a random ball well in the second quarter in the fourth quarter. We didn’t do well in the first and third (quarters).

“It can’t just be all on one player, right? So that’s why, you know, Josh, unfortunately, when he got that penalty last week, when he got rolled up, he actually rolled his ankle up as well. So that took him out of today’s lineup.

“So we just got to continue to develop, recruit, and continue to build our depth, have our players make moments of learning along the way and to hopefully get back on track and to go to Ann Arbor and put our best performance forward.”

Analysis:

Barry Lunney Jr. recently got a contract extension, but offense has played well below their defensive counterparts this season. Brown’s production has slowed down significantly, and DeVito struggled with accuracy today. 

As mentioned before, why did Williams only touch the ball three times? Williams was the bright spot of Michigan State last week — 95 yards and two touchdowns. If Lunney doesn’t trust the personnel to be deep ball threats, why wouldn’t Williams get more quick passes or screen passes and make some plays in space? 

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