Back at home, No. 23 Illinois faces nemesis Purdue and former defensive coordinator
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Illinois hasn’t played a home game in a month.
Road games at then-No. 22-Nebraska and then-No. 9 Penn State and a bye week left Memorial Stadium silent since Sept. 14.
The Illini (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) will return home Saturday to face rival Purdue (1-4, 0-2) in their first home Big Ten game of the season and the 100th meeting between the two teams.
Illinois beat Nebraska 31-24 in overtime and lost 21-7 to Penn State in its back-to-back road games.
Purdue is coming off a 52-6 thrashing by Wisconsin last week a few days after offensive coordinator Graham Harrell was fired and replaced by Jason Simmons.
Following the game, four-star CB Dawayne Galloway Jr. decommitted from Purdue, becoming the third recruit in a week to do that. Earlier, three-star WR Lebron Hill and four-star QB Oscar Rios decommitted.
While the Boilermakers have struggled this year — including a 66-7 beating by Notre Dame on Sept. 14 — they’ve beaten Illinois four straight times and haven’t lost at Memorial Stadium since 2010. Purdue defeated Illinois 31-24 in their last matchup in Champaign in 2022, clinching a trip to the Big Ten title game.
The winner of the Illinois-Purdue game each year takes home the Cannon Trophy. Illini coach Bret Bielema, in his fourth year at the helm, doesn’t know much about the trophy.
“Never had it, never saw it, never touched it, never smelled it,” he said.
What Bielema does know is the Illini can’t take Purdue lightly. Not after seeing Michigan and Southern California lose to unranked Washington and Minnesota in Big Ten games last week and three Top 10 teams — Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri — get upset.
“In the Big Ten, there’s no greater indication of what can happen than this past weekend,” Bielema said.
This will be the second time the Illini will go up against second-year Purdue coach Ryan Walters. He was Illinois’ defensive coordinator in 2022, when the Illini had the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense. The Boilermakers beat Illinois 44-19 last year in West Lafayette.
Walters brought four Illinois assistant coaches with him to Purdue.
“I know a lot of those guys personally,” Bielema said. “I know what this game Saturday means to them and their players.”
Walters doesn’t think this season is a lost cause.
“I don’t see any reason why we can’t turn things around,” he said. “You take lessons from your struggles. You take lessons from adversity. You identify your problems and fix them.”
Defensive improvements
Bielema knows exactly why Illinois’ defense has improved dramatically from last year. It’s second-year defensive coordinator Aaron Henry. “Every coordinator I’ve been associated with has been better in Year 2 than Year 1,” Bielema said. “It’s a process you have to go through.” The Illini rank No. 12 nationally in points allowed and No. 26 in yards allowed.
Turnover troubles
Illinois’ defense is seventh in the nation and leads the Big Ten in forced fumbles and 13th in the nation and third in the Big Ten in interceptions. That doesn’t bode well for Purdue, which has lost four fumbles and QB Hudson Card has thrown four interceptions. Worse yet, the Boilermakers are No. 120 in the nation in points scored and yards gained.
Love returns to Illinois
Former Illinois running back Reggie Love III will face his former team Saturday after transferring during the offseason. Love is Purdue’s No. 2 rusher with 41 carries for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Devin Mockobee has gained 375 yards on 60 carries and has one TD.
Silver linings
Some Purdue players are having decent seasons. In addition to DB Dillon Thieneman, who is 11th nationally in solo tackles, TE Max Klare leads the team in receptions (15), receiving yards (219) and receiving TDs (2) and Keelan Crimmins is averaging 45.0 yards per punt, which would be the second-best average in Purdue history.
Close calls
Illinois is making a habit of winning close games. The Illini are 7-3 in one-score games in 2023 and 2024, including wins this season over then-ranked Kansas and Nebraska. The Illini were underdogs in four of the seven one-score wins, including three road games.