Illinois’ offense can’t keep going like this

Happy Sunday, Illinois Land!

After the first two games of the 2023 football season for Illinois, practically everyone and their brother had something to say about the defense (or lack thereof) in a close win against Toledo and a fake close-ish loss to Kansas on the road.

The first two games were by no means a picnic, or low-hanging fruit.

If you looked closely enough at the Kansas loss in Week 2, it was patently obvious, even for Illinois football, that there were glaring needs that required attention, and that the NFL Draft-depleted secondary was going to be a continual problem throughout the season.

The aggressive non-conference schedule was likely a series of unfortunate events, rather than a carefully crafted football test.

Nevertheless, it was the reality of team that had an abundance of validation to produce.