Illinois 2023 Season Preview
Last season, the Fighting Illini were one of the surprises I was not expecting when looking at which teams would be competitive in the Big Ten West. Coming off of a 5–7 season under first year head coach Bret Bielema, I anticipated similar results as he tries to get “his players” in to build this team up. Success came sooner than expected as Illinois earned a solid 8–5 record in 2022 while finishing 2nd in the Big Ten West. While I think this team will remain competitive with in a wide open Big Ten West Division, they are experiencing some turnover heading into the season that could lead to some growing pains for newer players.
The cup of joe we have today is a fresh cup of Nespresso Melozio. While I love coffee, I was thinking recently about how horrible I am at picking up on different “notes” within a cup of coffee. Some people have the talent of picking up random flavors present within a cup of coffee. While I can taste an overall flavor like hazelnut for example, I have zero ability to tell if there is are “distant cinnamon notes and aroma”. Maybe my pallet with develop one of these days.
Synopsis
Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmyer comes into Champaign with high hopes to lead the Illini in a successful first campaign. Altmyer has an opportunity to settle in and truly make some noise the next few years with 3 years of eligibility remaining. This was a great landing spot for the former 4-star QB recruit out of Starkville, Mississippi.
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In addition to Altmyer, Illinois dove into the transfer portal to snatch up safeties Demetrius Hill (FIU) and Clayton Bush (Southern Illinois). Two necessary additions for a defense that lose two of their top safeties in Jartavius Martin who is now with the Washington Commanders, and Sydney Brown with the Philadelphia Eagles.
I love the Big Ten West being as open as it is because we have the opportunity to see a handful of teams compete for the spot to go to Indianapolis. The only reason this division is competitive is thanks to Iowa not having an efficient offense. Any form of impactful offense paired with the Iowa defense would be a lock for a conference championship game appearance, especially in the Big Ten West. Enough Iowa, we’ll dive into that soon. Bret Bielema truly has an opportunity to get Illinois to the top of the division. It has to happen soon, though. Nebraska brings in Matt Rhule with a terrific coaching record (collegiately at least), Wisconsin brought in Luke Fickell who I trust will have Wisconsin gaining strength each year that he is there, and Iowa remains elite defensively. Unless Bielema has some tricks up his sleeve, the recruiting and incoming talent will need to be kicked up a notch if Illinois is going to hang with the rest of the division in the years to come.
The schedule for Illinois is far tougher than it was last season. Instead of a non-conference with Wyoming, Virginia, and Chattanooga; Illinois will face Toledo, Kansas and Florida Atlantic. Toledo won the MAC last season, Kansas shocked the world and earned a Liberty Bowl appearance and almost a win in 3OT to Arkansas, and Florida Atlantic should probably be the one guaranteed win for Illinois in their non-conference games. Illinois does get a date with Penn State in Campaign early in the season to prove their worth in week 3. Traveling to Maryland later on doesn’t help the schedule but this roster should be more than capable of remaining competitive in most if not all of their Big Ten games.
2023 Outlook
For the 2023 season, I’m anticipating Illinois to go 6–6. I wanted to give this team more wins but the roster turnover and step up in schedule make it difficult to see them improving upon an 8–5 record from 2022. I trust that Bielema is the right coach to do the job and knows the Big Ten well enough to know what it takes from his Wisconsin days where he earned back to back Big Ten Titles and Rose Bowl Game appearances with the Badgers in 2010–2011.
