Coordinator corner 'You need them all'

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Oct. 3—Illinois offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. provides perspective from his side of the ball before the host Illini aim to secure three straight wins against Purdue, via beat writer Scott Richey:

"I thought we had a good plan. I thought (offensive line coach Bart Miller) did a good job with the guys that were in the game. I think they upped their game. The three mainstays that have been with us — the center and two tackles — played well, and then the new faces at guard increased their intensity and played well. Our tight ends are gritty. They don't get enough credit for what they do in there. They get in there and get after it. The backs ran hard. Obviously, (quarterback Katin Houser) helped bolster that a little bit using his legs at times.

"It was encouraging we took a step in the right direction. You've got to run the ball in this league to be able to have a chance. We'll have another challenge with that this week, but that was a positive for us."

"Sometimes, that's a little bit of trial and error within games. In practice, it's the same personnel you go against. It's the same front you go against.

"There's certain things you have to do against your own defense — whatever the structure is — to move the ball. When you get into game season, each week is a little bit unique in regards to what you're seeing structurally and how you want to attack them. We have enough flexibility in the system to tailor that to, A, who we're playing, and, B, who we're playing with. We've made some tweaks even in the last few weeks schematically, subtly, that seemingly showed up and helped us (against Ohio State).

"Now, it's back to the drawing board this week. What do we do well versus what Purdue does really well? What are they going to try to take away from us that we can take advantage of? That's coaching.

"It's a little cat-and-mouse game every week. More than anything, our coaches do a great job of being pliable, and our players, I've said this repeatedly here, have done a tremendous job of being pliable each week to absorb a tweak, a scheme. We ran a couple schemes last week we hadn't run through Week 3 that popped for some big runs."

"Well, you need them all. It's been a very unique year in that regard. Since I've been here, we've been relatively healthy for an extended period of time. It's just been one of those years that, for whatever reason, we've had a rotation of injuries there. It tells me, No. 1, that's football. No. 2, you've got to have bodies and you've got to have depth, which we do. We had more bodies going into camp at that position than we've ever had — more functional bodies. No. 3, it tells me Bart is a very good teacher and very good coach. He spends a lot of time with those guys, so when they get in game action, if they trust their training, they can function well within the offense."

"There's some familiar faces. That's the first thing that jumps out to you when you watch the film — guys (former Illini Curt Neal and Jojo Hayden) that helped us win football games here. Then a familiar face with (defensive coordinator Kevin Kane). I've got a great relationship with Kevin. I see them flying around to the football. They see the ball, and they go get the ball. I think they've got guys that can really run to the football and are aggressive in that regard. … I see a hungry defense that kind of plays to Kevin's personality, and, obviously, (coach Barry Odom) being a defensive guy, his track record and background as a successful defensive coach speaks for itself."

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