Illinois' defensive performance against UAB didn't lower any red flags
- Story byThe News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
- Illinois' defensive performance against UAB didn't lower any red flags
Sep. 4—CHAMPAIGN — The 13 yards Roderick Robinson II covered on the first play of Thursday night's game at Gies Memorial Stadium was a glimpse of what could turn into a growing problem for Illinois .
Robinson took advantage of an Illini defense that overloaded one side of the field, cutting back to his left and plenty of open green turf.
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James Kreutz missed the first attempt to tackle the UAB running back, and Robinson managed to drag Illinois safety Mac Resetich to extend his carry past the first-down marker.
The Blazers didn't repeat that kind of big play often, managing a total of eight chunk plays for the game, but it didn't make them any easier to stop during defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck's first game at Illinois.
UAB out-gained Illinois, compiling 413 yards to the 332 yards by the Illini. Ran 79 plays to the Illini's 43. Totaled 24 first downs to the home team's 17. Converted 10 of 19 third downs and 3 of 4 fourth downs to Illinois' 3 of 6 and 1 of 2 efforts, respectively, in those two key categories.
An upset didn't happen at the end of those 60 minutes for the Blazers — the Illini still managed a 42-23 victory — but it was the type of performance that didn't lower any preconceived notions about the new Illinois defense.
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"Obviously, it wasn't a great performance by us," Ismael Kante said. The fifth-year linebacker had one of the few highlight plays for the Illini, returning an interception 59 yards for a touchdown with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter to seal the nonconference win.
"We know that, and we expect more out of ourselves," Kante continued. "We'll clean that up. I feel like we turned it up more in that second half, but we've got to start from the jump bringing that energy. Be nasty. Be mean. I don't want to say there's anything that really sparked it for the second half, but we just came out with more energy. We should have done that at the beginning of the game."
That tackling was an issue for Illinois didn't necessarily surprise Bret Bielema.
The Illini coach made a conscious decision during training camp to limit how much his team hit. It turned into the least amount of tackling he's had a team do during the preseason in nearly two decades as a head coach.
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"By far," Bielema said. "Not even close. We just had kind of gotten a little bit injury-riddled in fall camp. The one scrimmage we were going to go live (wide receiver) Jayshon Platt got hurt in the first five plays. So I canceled tackling.
"I consciously made that decision. That's on me. I knew we were going to be a little rough on the tackling front, and it played out."
The final tally for Illinois' defense was a bit of a mixed bag.
Kante's pick six off Ryder Burton was the result of pressure on the UAB quarterback from Illini defensive lineman Will Holmes. Illinois finished Thursday's game with six quarterback hurries and an early sack from Division II Emory & Henry transfer linebacker Ean Rhea.
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"Reacting to different moves, we did OK, but I definitely missed some key plays that I could've gotten some (tackles for loss) and impact plays," Holmes said. "We will definitely get that through practice and film."
Despite a presence in the UAB backfield, Burton was still able to escape pressure and extend plays, throwing for 219 yards and rushing for 38 yards and a touchdown. His efforts on the ground were part of a 194-yard night for the Blazers, who leaned on Robinson and Braylon McReynolds. The running back duo combined for 27 carries and 115 rushing yards.
"It's not just a cliché, it's very true, in all my years of coaching, you make your biggest jumps, especially defensively, from game one to game two," Bielema said. "I think that's going to be a big part. (Burton) escaped up the middle on some pass-rush stuff, so there's some things we're going to have to definitely take care of there. There wasn't communication breakdowns. I don't think there were a lot of busts."
But there were missed tackles. Some full-on whiffs. Kante said limiting those mistakes comes down to the defensive players trusting their eyes and trusting what they've seen on film during game week preparation.
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More live reps wouldn't hurt.
"Playing football, right?" Kante said. "You can work on air and tagging, but you really get better in the game. We know it was an issue. We'll work on that and be better moving forward."
