** 2023 Opponent Preview: Illinois (Game 6) **

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
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HuskerOnline: Illinois Spring Preview

In 2021, Bielema and Illinois surprised their fans with a 5-7 season, Barnhart said. Many thought they would win two or three games in Bielema’s first season as Illinois’s head coach. Last season, the Fighting Illini went 8-5 but were 7-1 heading into December and had a chance at the Big Ten West title.

Illinois’s success in 2022 has raised expectations for them.

“I think a lot of alumni fans are thinking, “Hey, what easily could have been 10 or 11 wins with some games they gave away,” Barnhart said. “They lost to Indiana and a game they just flat-out gave away at the end.”

The Illini lost four games by a total of 20 points during the regular season. All four of them were decided by one score.

“You could look at other close games and say, “Yeah, they could have lost,” but I think the expectations are, “Hey, this team could win seven, eight games again,” he said. “And maybe they could sneak another one in.”

Just like usual, Barnhart thinks the competition in the Big Ten West will be very tight and that there isn’t a clear winner at this point.

“Some of the games in the Big Ten West, I think are coin flips, frankly,” he said. “I think it’s gonna be a lot like last year, could be win eight or nine, but if you’re not careful, you may win six or seven. So Illinois is gonna be in a lot of close games. I think it’s gonna be similar.

“Those things we talked about earlier with the defense replacing the secondary, how good will the defensive line be and the quarterback question getting those settled, I think all kind of factor into how many wins. But I think people’s expectations have certainly risen. Season ticket sales are way up. I think people are excited about what Bret Bielema is doing and hopefully, he can continue that momentum.”

https://www.on3.com/teams/nebraska-cornhuskers/news/nebraska-opponent-spring-review-illinois/
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AthlonSports: 2023 Illinois Preview & Prediction

Illinois posted its first winning season since 2011 last fall, finishing 8-5 overall and winning five games in Big Ten play. Exceeding that win total won't be easy for coach Bret Bielema's team, however. A standout defense lost coordinator Ryan Walters to be the head coach at Purdue, and this unit is dealing with a lot of turnover in the secondary. Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmyer was brought in to fill the void left behind by Tommy DeVito at quarterback, but the offense will also miss running back Chase Brown. 

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/illinois-football-fighting-illini-prediction-preview-2023
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Illinois Football Schedule 2023: Game Predictions

2023 CFN Preseason Prediction: 7-5
2022 Record: 8-5
Aug 26 OPEN DATE
Sept 2 Toledo W
Sept 9 at Kansas W
Sept 16 Penn State L
Sept 23 Florida Atlantic W
Sept 30 at Purdue L
Oct 7 Nebraska W
Oct 14 at Maryland L
Oct 21 Wisconsin W
Oct 28 OPEN DATE
Nov 4 at Minnesota L
Nov 11 Indiana W
Nov 18 at Iowa L
Nov 25 Northwestern W

https://collegefootballnews.com/cfn/illinois-football-schedule-2023-game-predictions-scores
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More To Come...

 
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Don't forget...  it a Friday Night game !   chuckleshuffle  

:3DN:

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Makes some sense, Bielema likes having defensive minds on staff and was Leonhard's DC for his senior year. But the wisky fans are gonna be pissed, there's already a fair amount of bitterness towards Bielema and getting crushed 34-10 at home last year was rough for them. Illinois is probably the most painful place for him to go from a Wisconsin perspective, quite possibly by design on Leonhard's part.

 
Yikes! This isn’t good from any opposing team. This guy can coach defense!!! Any team and staff would benefit. He will only be there a year, but he joins a team that has become fairly scary in the recent past

 
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