The difference of one year has been monumental for the Illinois offense.

Considered to be one of the worst statistical offenses in the country last season, the Illinois football team has flourished with an increased workload in the passing game.

As opposed to 2012, Illinois has taken more shots down the field — and been successful. The improvements have been all across the board with a new offense under coordinator Bill Cubit, but the big plays down the field have been an added element to this year’s offense.

Illinois already has more plays of 20 or more yards from scrimmage this season than all of last year. The Illini racked up 36 such plays in six games this season, while the 2012 Illinois offense mustered only 34 in twice as many games, which was last in the country.

With four senior wide receivers paired with a senior quarterback, wide receivers coach Mike Bellamy said there shouldn’t be any surprise with the improvement.

“When I first took over the group, I felt like I was cheating,” he said. “You got guys who’ve been in three different offenses so you know they’re smart enough to pick it up, they pick it up fast. The learning curve was easy for them because it’s just different terminology.”

The change has been apparent for quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, especially as he has put up some of the best statistics of his career in his final campaign.

In only six games this season, Scheelhaase has already surpassed his 2012 numbers. The senior has eight passing plays of 20 or more yards, seven plays of 30 or more and four plays of 50 yards or more as compared with his numbers last season. Not only is the offense hitting on more big plays, it is stretching defenses by forcing them to cover the entire field.

Last season, Scheelhaase averaged just 5.5 yards per pass attempt but that number has jumped to 8.8 per attempt this season in this year’s offense, which is to be “seen through the quarterback’s eyes.”

“We’ve got some speed,” Bellamy said. “We’re going to utilize their skill set and if you can catch them, catch them if you can. That’s our mind set.”

But as the calendar pushes into the final phase of the season, cold weather and wind looms on the horizon, which normally hinders air-raid offenses.

The Illini already experienced a taste of this in their Big Ten games against Nebraska and Wisconsin. In Lincoln, Nebraska, the weather was cold (temperature was in mid-40s throughout the game on Oct. 5) and windy (the average wind speed was 17 miles per hour). That day, quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase had his worst statistical game of the season: 135 passing yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

This past Saturday against Wisconsin, the Illinois offense was only able to move the ball in the second and fourth quarters, when a stiff wind was at its back. The Illini put up 33 points on the scoreboard but were shutout with the wind in their face.

“We’re a Big Ten team, we’ve got Big Ten expectations. These kids know that it’s going to be like this,” Bellamy said.

Despite a few early warning signs, Bellamy was unconcerned about losing this year’s potent passing game when the temperature drops.

“I don’t worry about it,” he said. “Sometimes our passing game might be shorter, sometimes guys just got to wear gloves and prepared to catch the ball with their body instead of their hands.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.