How Ilinois’ defense weathered the noise in dominant outing over Rutgers

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As the time on the hourglass dwindled, Rutgers found itself at Illinois’ one. With one second left in the game, Rutgers fancied itself some garbage time points against Illinois’ second team defense. Then, Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis lofted a ball into the end zone intended for wide receiver Ian Strong. Illinois backup cornerback Tyson Rooks pursued and eventually batted the ball to put the final touches on a bashing of Rutgers, 35-13.

When the play ended, Rooks happened to find Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman and was received with an emphatic double high-five. The team had also clinched bowl eligibility for the third season in a row.

On the surface, that play meant virtually nothing, but it typified the day for Illinois’ defense. The unit had battled major outside noise after allowing 30-plus points in back-to-back contests.

The unit allowed only one touchdown in Saturday’s game. A complete bounce-back effort.

“I thought it was fitting to come down there at the end, and to have that defensive play to walk off the field, it was an awesome feeling,” head coach Bret Bielema said.

It was 28 days since Illinois won a game, 35 since Illinois felt the rush of a win at Gies Memorial Stadium. But maybe more telling, it had been 56 days since the defense had held a power-four opponent to 20 points or less.

Illinois’ formula for success?

The program’s defense aimed to be the “aggressor” on Saturday. That was the message throughout the week. And to further emphasize the point, during Friday night’s film session, Bielema showed the team Illinois’ first two defensive plays from its last home win over No. 23 USC as a way to augment the impact of the message.

“Just the way our guys were flying to the football, playing with some attitude and playing with some energy, getting our crowd involved,” Bielema said. “I wanted them to go to bed Friday night knowing that they are a good football team that has played against good teams that have won. And I think that materialized.”

By no means was the unit flashy on Saturday; no, they didn’t force fumbles, no, they didn’t churn the stomach of Kaliakmanis with a pick-six. But perhaps they unearthed something more sustainable. It was the fire that was seemingly missing over the past month. They recorded more pass breakups in one game (nine) than they had in all of their conference games, and captain and star linebacker Gabe Jacas highlighted the defensive front, cashing in on two sacks and two tackles for loss with four total tackles.

“Anytime you watch yourself playing well, it reassures your confidence,” Illinois safety Matthew Bailey said after the game. “A lot of times you when you’re watching film back, you’re always watching your bad plays to see how you can get better, but when you focus on watching the good plays, it gives you that confidence to turn it around.”

Illinois’ defensive coordinator was under fire all week after a no-show performance at Washington last week, when a 19-year-old Demond Williams Jr. carved up Illinois’ defense. But his confidence didn’t waver. Perhaps we might’ve been more intense, but nothing other than a mentality changed according to the team.

“It’s just mentality going into the game, and has nothing to do with ability, so just letting the whole defense know, ‘Just do your job and have faith in it.’ That’s the most important part,” Jacas said.

While a mental shift recalibrated the unit, the schemating changes were a much more tangible contrast on Saturday. Henry often opted to send five more rushers. It allowed for playmakers to pressure the quarterback. Illinois had two garbage-time tackles for loss last week in Seattle. On Saturday, they had five.

“Last week wasn’t [Henry’s], he says, his best week, and he was being more aggressive in his game plan, and we just executed,” Jacas said.

The outing very much reestablished confidence inside the Illinois locker room; it reestablishes the expectations and the bar for the program. After two losses that crushed any notion of an Illinois college playoff bid, the team found itself refocusing on the small details.

True sophomore Angelo McCullum has seen a significant increase in snaps over the last month, and his focus has been on small details like foot placement and hand placement. Addressing those kinds of details was something team leadership noticed.

“I could just tell in their preparation, the way they practice, you know, with the way they came up here, watch that extra tape, and the way they were in the meeting rooms was just doing the little things repeatedly,” Jacas explained.

Some players, like Jacas, don’t pay attention to the outside noise. But in a world where everyone is chronically on their devices, even Bailey admitted everyone sees the criticism. Even if they don’t intend to. An outing of this caliber was a way for the unit to stand up for their coordinator.

“There’s no second-guessing when it comes to him. We just all knew,” Bailey said. “We all knew that we needed to play better.”

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos