The time has come for Illini football to return to Memorial Stadium for their Orange and Blue spring game this Saturday, April 20. The scrimmage is considered to be one of the most important practices of the year and will demonstrate both areas that need improvement and areas that look promising for the upcoming 2024 season.
Illinois finished with a 5-7 record overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten this past season. This time around, the team will be missing some of its top players who are likely to be selected in the NFL Draft next week. Most notably, defensive tackle Johnny Newton and defensive lineman Keith Randolph Jr.
A couple of weeks ago, head coach Bret Bielema touched on the team’s first scrimmage and its takeaways. Given their performances here and in additional practices, there are high expectations for the team going into the spring game.
“Luke did extremely well, did a lot of positives today. Just one negative that’s an easy pick-up,” Bielema stated. “Donovan had one interception, responded really good after that and played extremely well. He’s really been awesome the first three weeks. So excited for those guys overall.”
Junior quarterback Luke Altmyer will presumably be the starting quarterback for the 2024 campaign. This past season, he started in nine games and went 175-for-270 passing, completed 1,883 passing yards and had 13 passing touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Donovan Leary redshirted this past year and did not make any appearances in a game, but based on Bielema’s comments, there’s hope he will adjust to the competitive collegiate scene well.
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There have been positive signs for the rest of the team, especially the younger players, despite some injuries that have come along the way. One of whom is sophomore defensive back Matthew Bailey, who missed 11 of the 12 games last season due to an ankle injury. In his freshman season, he played all 13 games, made 10 tackles, three interceptions, two pass breakups and recorded a fumble recovery.
“As I learned from the struggles that I went through, during that time, I just took it day-by-day,” Bailey described regarding his recent injury. “Just more mental reps, I’m not getting many physical reps out there so I just take it from a mental point of view just like I have been since last winter.”
While Bailey noted that he’s not “100%” yet, he’s still a lot more comfortable now as opposed to where he was months ago. His positive outlook for the rest of the year bodes well for an Illinois secondary with uncertainty heading into the spring game.
Another noteworthy player to watch out for on Saturday is sophomore wide receiver Malik Elzy. This past season, he played in nine games and caught his first touchdown against Penn State. For his second season at Illinois, there’s hope he will step up and take on a bigger role as other Illini have endured injuries, and he may fill a starting role to begin play.
The spring game is set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, with temperatures expected to be in the mid-50s. As Illinois nears the end of its Spring season, the game serves as a preview of what Illinois fans can expect in the fall as the program looks to return to a bowl game.
@tess_eken
