Quick hits Red-zone woes continue
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 6—Illinois football's preparation for Saturday's game at Michigan State is underway, with Illini coach Bret Bielema, offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. and
defensive play-caller Roger Cooper available Monday for their regular weekly press conference. Beat writer Scott Richey highlights what each had to say:
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Red-zone execution a lingering issue
Illinois has started its spring practices and fall training camps the same way each year in Bret Bielema's tenure as coach — in the red zone. Those 20 yards, for both the offense and defense, are critical. Through five games, the Illini haven't handled either all that well. Illinois is tied for 129th nationally in red-zone offense, converting 67 percent of its chances, which is the lowest mark for the program since Tony Petersen's short stint as offensive coordinator in 2021. The Illini defense is tied for 133rd with five other teams for last, allowing its opponents a 100 percent success rate with 12 touchdowns and seven field goals in 19 total chances.
"We've been one of the best in the country the last two years and we're not this year, so, obviously, we've got to correct it," Bielema said. Illinois scored on 86 percent of its red-zone chances the last two years, ranking 56th and 50th nationally. The Illini's red-zone defense ranked 100th and 69th the last two years.
"The bottom line, the parts that have put us to a point to have three losses, is we've had some opportunities in the fourth quarter," the Illini coach continued. "Playing in the fourth quarter has been a big point of emphasis the last two weeks."
Effective run game necessary moving forward
Ca'Lil Valentine had surgery Monday after getting rolled up early in Illinois' loss to Purdue and suffering what turned out to be a season-ending leg injury. That complicates an Illini run game that struggled to move the ball against the Boilermakers in a 24-17 loss on Saturday at Gies Memorial Stadium. Without quarterback Katin Houser's efforts — mostly scrambles, but a couple designed runs — and a 15-yard end around by wide receiver Collin Dixon, Illinois had 18 carries for 63 yards. A clear step back after rushing for 198 yards against Southern Illinois and 199 yards at Ohio State.
"When we don't run the ball effectively, you're in a lot of predictable passing situations that allowed (Purdue) to tee off on us," Illini offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. said. "That's not who we are and not who we want to be. We throw the ball and throw the ball well, but we're going to feed off being able to run the ball effectively. ... We've got to scheme the run the right way. We've got to communicate up front and be on the right targets and the right IDs and play with strain to generate the run game. The run game's not lost. It got off track the other day. It wasn't good enough the other day."
Cleaner lines of communication defensively
A major point of emphasis for the Illinois defense last week, in the wake of defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck's departure, was communication. The Illini addressed that by combining its cornerbacks and safeties into one defensive backs room. They did the same with their inside and outside linebackers.
A single voice on game day — Roger Cooper's — also made a difference after the previous system had Cooper handling coach-to-player communication and Hauck calling plays.
Cooper took care of both against Purdue.
"(Bielema) made a great decision," Cooper said of combining the position groups, which also let him float between groups by taking the responsibility of coaching the inside linebackers off his shoulders. "Let's put these people in the same room, so they're hearing the same message. The safeties are giving calls to the rest of the guys, but it's never told to the corner why he's getting that call. Now, here's there, like, 'Hey, this is a tight split. Let's do this, and this is the reason why.' It cleans it up, and I think that's a huge part of why we cut some of the mistakes out."