Illinois 42, UAB 23 Postgame

[Det_Illini_fan]

Now UAB is good??? Whatever...If you think our defense is better than the two prior years, more power to you

By logic of your first post, our win last year on a walk-off FG to USC, meant we regressed since the WIU game because we didn’t blow them out either.

There are vastly different leagues to College Football and UAB is obviously lower on the FBS scale, but the chasm between them and FCS schools is obvious. It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that we played a closer game against UAB than WIU…

 

[ChiefGritty]

It's funny how football is both endlessly complicated beyond the understanding of even the most dedicated fan, and yet also incredibly simple in some ways.

For all of the complexities and subtleties, the 3-3-5 went exactly the way every middle aged couch potato who last strapped on the pads in high school decades ago knew it would. The combined force of human mass you have at the point of attack matters a lot in this game, in 1926 or 2026.

And we've got to be honest and thoughtful about why we're doing this in the first place, as Bret has been willing to say publicly: it's cheaper! We were forced to choose between maintaining athletic size in depth on the DL or other priorities and we chose other priorities. That is the new college football, there is no "oh if we could just recruit better", it's Moneyball, you choose where you direct the resources you've got.

The good news is those other priorities look to have been filled well, it was a very sharp performance offensively, very little in the way of penalties or mistakes, executing things at a high level. We're very lucky Barry Lunney is just kind of a non-sexy HC candidate, because he's a really outstanding OC.

But despite that, were it not for UAB mistakes we really could have been in for a sweat at home against a bad team, because we couldn't stop them in the way a Big Ten team should in that game.

For this to work (and it CAN work) we are going to have to be a great tackling team. We were obviously the furthest thing from that last night. So we wait and see.

It's not fun being a team that can't ever get off the field on defense. We've been there and don't want to go back. Here's hoping.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

By logic of your first post, our win last year on a walk-off FG to USC, meant we regressed since the WIU game because we didn’t blow them out either.

There are vastly different leagues to College Football and UAB is obviously lower on the FBS scale, but the chasm between them and FCS schools is obvious. It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that we played a closer game against UAB than WIU…

yes
UAB would fare well in the MAC.

 

[Ander1345]

This is a "get there first" defense not a "hold my run fit" defense. It breaks a lot of rules that more traditional defensive schemes(even other variations of the 3-3-5) use.

It's why you saw Mathew Bailey having to clean up a lot of the plays. Guys were in the right spots they just have to move and tackle with a little more efficiency. In the next couple weeks if it's still a problem we can really start to worry. Lots to learn from this week and the extra time to prep for Duke should go a long way.

 

[mhuml32]

I totally disagree on two fronts..First based on last nights results (I know its only the first game) this defense is worse than last year and year prior.. we're going backwards..

2024 First Game
Illinois 45 Eastern Illinois 0

2025 First Game

Illinois 52 Western Illinois 3
____________________________________________________________

the team did not make the "fatal mistakes" that a Zook, Beckman, Turner, etc team would have.

If poor tackling is not a "fatal mistake" I don't what is....

.....

Regarding Zook and Turner...Zook took Illinois to the Rose Bowl in 2007 and won BT coach of the year that year..BB has yet to take the Illinois to a bowl game of equal stature... I know these coaches didn't end their Illini career on a high note but they had their moments..

For context, 2024 UAB went 3-9, was ranked 108th (out of 134 teams) by end of the season, and they beat FCS Alcorn State 41-3 to start the year. There is a big gap between the 2024 and 2025 first game experiences against FCS opponents for Illinois and this UAB game.

 

[Juju]

I just wanna take this moment and and acknowledge what Bret and his staff(both past and current) have done here. It's because of them that we're all kinda disappointed with the defensive performance last night, because we EXPECT more at Illinois now. That's due to their insane hard work the past almost 6 years now. During the Lovie era and * shudder * the Tim Beckman era, that game is not only even closer, we probably get upset. So, the fact that we're disappointed - with one side of the ball, at least - is a testament to how much things have changed here the past several years.

On to the next. I-L-L, baby!!

 

[lstewart53x3]

Yards per play:

Illinois: 7.7
UAB: 5.2

Ballgame.

This wasn't an "oh if we didn't get that pick 6, this is actually a close game!".

No, we dominated.

 

[Oracle21]

I totally disagree on two fronts..First based on last nights results (I know its only the first game) this defense is worse than last year and year prior.. we're going backwards..

2024 First Game
Illinois 45 Eastern Illinois 0

2025 First Game

Illinois 52 Western Illinois 3
____________________________________________________________

the team did not make the "fatal mistakes" that a Zook, Beckman, Turner, etc team would have.

If poor tackling is not a "fatal mistake" I don't what is....

.....

Regarding Zook and Turner...Zook took Illinois to the Rose Bowl in 2007 and won BT coach of the year that year..BB has yet to take the Illinois to a bowl game of equal stature... I know these coaches didn't end their Illini career on a high note but they had their moments..

The team last night reminded me of Ron Turner’s teams. Crisp innovative offense with solid QB play, don’t seem to beat ourselves, but really lacking athletes.

Defense looks small and slow. Offense lacks speed outside of Valentine. We got lot of possession WRs.

We can still win games by executing and not beating ourselves, but if you can’t stop the run on defense it’s gonna be difficult. Bringing blitzers from the second level rarely works (credit Rhea he got there and wrapped up). But lot of times these guys either aren’t fast enough to get to the QB or are caught up in line traffic

 

[thefalcon5]

I totally disagree on two fronts..First based on last nights results (I know its only the first game) this defense is worse than last year and year prior.. we're going backwards..

2024 First Game
Illinois 45 Eastern Illinois 0

2025 First Game

Illinois 52 Western Illinois 3
____________________________________________________________

the team did not make the "fatal mistakes" that a Zook, Beckman, Turner, etc team would have.

If poor tackling is not a "fatal mistake" I don't what is....

.....

Regarding Zook and Turner...Zook took Illinois to the Rose Bowl in 2007 and won BT coach of the year that year..BB has yet to take the Illinois to a bowl game of equal stature... I know these coaches didn't end their Illini career on a high note but they had their moments..

And remind me how good 25 WIU and 24 EIU were?

EIU finished 3-9. WIU finished 4-8. They were bottom feeder FCS programs.

If you really want to start whining about first game results check out years like 2013 and 2014. We beat SIU 42-34 and Youngstown St 28-17.

THOSE are telling results. Maybe the defense will be worse than the previous two years, but don’t start acting like we’ve regressed back to the dark ages. This team is orders of magnitude more competent than pre-Bret.

 

[2X2L]

Katin Houser's 4 incompletions: 2 drops and 2 throw aways.

Really a flawless debut.

And he wasn't on the field all that much. Great job, Katin. Great composure, arm, release, accurate and can run and scramble. What more do ya want? Sorry, stronger arm than Cool Hand Luke.

 

[ChiefGritty]

Yards per play:

Illinois: 7.7
UAB: 5.2

Ballgame.

This wasn't an "oh if we didn't get that pick 6, this is actually a close game!".

No, we dominated.

Eh, take the hail mary out of the calculation and it's 6.6 to 5.2.

That seems like a fairer reflection of the game. We were sharp offensively with big play potential and always looked likely to get as many points as we needed, but we were going to need a lot of points because UAB moved the ball with considerable ease as well.

41 minutes of possession for UAB. It was over 22 in the first half.

We did have 6 TFL's, so were were able to generate some negative plays as will be essential for this defense, but they were able to make solid gains over and over again for the whole 60 minutes.

They kicked two field goals inside the 10, gave up a hail mary and a pick 6, had a few back-breaking penalties, it definitely could have gone worse.

 

[IlliniNash]

The chant works significantly better when it is bouncing between the East and West sidelines than when it is bouncing between the students and everyone else. The dimensions of the stadium and the speed of sound make it very difficult for fans sitting in the horseshoe to chant in unison with fans sitting on the sidelines in the north end zone. Ultimately, I think moving Block I out of the East stands has led to 20 years of mediocre ILL - INI chants.

I know it will not be like it was in the 1980s, but it seems simple enough to have the cheerleaders hold up large cards with ILL and INI on them and have the north end zone and the west stands on one side and the east side and the horseshoe on the other. Not sure why it is not done.

 

[Ramrod2010]

Eh, take the hail mary out of the calculation and it's 6.6 to 5.2.

That seems like a fairer reflection of the game. We were sharp offensively with big play potential and always looked likely to get as many points as we needed, but we were going to need a lot of points because UAB moved the ball with considerable ease as well.

41 minutes of possession for UAB. It was over 22 in the first half.

We did have 6 TFL's, so were were able to generate some negative plays as will be essential for this defense, but they were able to make solid gains over and over again for the whole 60 minutes.

They kicked two field goals inside the 10, gave up a hail mary and a pick 6, had a few back-breaking penalties, it definitely could have gone worse.

Point/counterpoint:

They had that 42 yard pass (which to be fair I didn't see so I don't know improbable it truly was, but radio made it seem like an impressive play) on 3rd down which they got a FG out of.

But I do agree that ypp doesn't feel truly reflective of the game.

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

I totally disagree on two fronts..First based on last nights results (I know its only the first game) this defense is worse than last year and year prior.. we're going backwards..

2024 First Game
Illinois 45 Eastern Illinois 0

2025 First Game

Illinois 52 Western Illinois 3
____________________________________________________________

the team did not make the "fatal mistakes" that a Zook, Beckman, Turner, etc team would have.

If poor tackling is not a "fatal mistake" I don't what is....

.....

Regarding Zook and Turner...Zook took Illinois to the Rose Bowl in 2007 and won BT coach of the year that year..BB has yet to take the Illinois to a bowl game of equal stature... I know these coaches didn't end their Illini career on a high note but they had their moments..

UAB is not at our level, but still plays in a reputable conference. They would beat the absolute brakes off of EIU and WIU. Not a good comp.

 

[OB positive]

Now UAB is good??? Whatever...If you think our defense is better than the two prior years, more power to you

I don't think our defense was particularly good at anything the last two years except giving up big plays on 3rd downs and not stopping them on 4th. It won't take much for this years defense to be an improvement.

 

[AirTran]

And remind me how good 25 WIU and 24 EIU were?

EIU finished 3-9. WIU finished 4-8. They were bottom feeder FCS programs.

If you really want to start whining about first game results check out years like 2013 and 2014. We beat SIU 42-34 and Youngstown St 28-17.

THOSE are telling results. Maybe the defense will be worse than the previous two years, but don’t start acting like we’ve regressed back to the dark ages. This team is orders of magnitude more competent than pre-Bret.

UAB had 4.0 yards/carry, 7.0 yards / pass attempt and threw a pick 6. Last year, we allowed 3.9 yards/rush in 2025 and 6.7 yards / pass attempt - we didn't have a pick 6.

We scored on three - 3 play drives in the first half and the pick 6 in the second half. UAB had 8 possessions and 2 TDs -

There is not a possible chance - that this defense is behind last year's defense.

When you score as fast as we did last night, you are going to give up yards and points because there isn't enough time either rest or make material adjustments.

I think drawing any conclusions about last night's performance given that 28 points that we scored came in a total of less than 3 minutes of possession. The numbers do not bear out any of the "regression" statements.

Duke is far better team than UAB and they will run right at as well as move the ball from sideline to sideline. I am going to wait and see how the D plays in a more balanced (time wise) game.

The part I am scratching my head about is ... why all negativity? Absent scoring on their last drive, UAB had 16 points.

 

[Stevegarbs]

Honest question - is the new scoreboard so visually and audibly overwhelming that the fan base is reacting like they are at an IMAX theater instead of a football game? I know our crowds have always been pretty sedate, but watching on TV last night, it just felt like we were in an empty stadium again.

Alternately, is it just that the TV production turns down the crowd mic because the board is so loud at times? Or is it just me?

For such a full stadium, it just didn't seem like it to me (on TV).

It was really, really, swamp !!! hot last night. Just blinking had sweat pouring down my face. Cheering loudly for any duration risked heat stroke.

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

Yards per play:

Illinois: 7.7
UAB: 5.2

Ballgame.

This wasn't an "oh if we didn't get that pick 6, this is actually a close game!".

No, we dominated.

That was dominating????

They imploded, multiple times in the first half, including getting a first down, inside the 15, on a hold call. They ended up putting on that possession.

The score with 10 seconds left in the first half was 14-13. The hail Mary happened because UAB decided to rush 1. If they rush 3 and drop 8, a tiny bit of pressure is hugely different than no pressure.

1/3 of our total rushing yards came on one play.
A little more than 1/4 of our passing yards came on one play.

They were 10 of 19 on third down, they were 3 of 4 on 4th down and they had the ball for 41 minutes.

If you want to say that we were never really in danger, that's a solid point. Saying we dominated, unless it's sarcasm, is a pretty brutal take.

 

[lstewart53x3]

That was dominating????

(1) They imploded, multiple times in the first half, including getting a first down, inside the 15, on a hold call. They ended up putting on that possession.

The score with 10 seconds left in the first half was 14-13. (2) The hail Mary happened because UAB decided to rush 1. If they rush 3 and drop 8, a tiny bit of pressure is hugely different than no pressure.

(3) 1/3 of our total rushing yards came on one play.
A little more than 1/4 of our passing yards came on one play.

(4) They were 10 of 19 on third down, they were 3 of 4 on 4th down and they had the ball for 41 minutes.

If you want to say that we were never really in danger, that's a solid point. Saying we dominated, unless it's sarcasm, is a pretty brutal take.

You're right. Dominate was too strong of a word.

But let's discuss a few of your claims:

1. Why did they hold? Why do lesser teams typically need to hold?

2. The Hail Mary was a fluke, for sure. You can't count on catching one in future games. But why did they rush just 1? Isn't that poor coaching? Do you praise our team for being the better coached team?

3. We scored 5 touchdowns in our first 7 drives of the game. Had this been a close game, how many more touchdowns would we have scored?

4. Need to improve defensively, especially at tackling and on 3rd and 4th down. No argument there.

 

[ChiefGritty]

But why did they rush just 1? Isn't that poor coaching?

SEC Twitter was having a field day with Todd Grantham as the new UAB DC doing that.

I suspect our children will live to see a world where no one can imagine not blitzing a hail mary, that's so clearly correct.

 

[Gbop]

Eh, take the hail mary out of the calculation and it's 6.6 to 5.2.

That seems like a fairer reflection of the game. We were sharp offensively with big play potential and always looked likely to get as many points as we needed, but we were going to need a lot of points because UAB moved the ball with considerable ease as well.

41 minutes of possession for UAB. It was over 22 in the first half.

We did have 6 TFL's, so were were able to generate some negative plays as will be essential for this defense, but they were able to make solid gains over and over again for the whole 60 minutes.

They kicked two field goals inside the 10, gave up a hail mary and a pick 6, had a few back-breaking penalties, it definitely could have gone worse.

I’m not trying to be disagreeable but using that logic you should take out that desperation pass that UAB caught at the 2 yard line.

 

[ChiefGritty]

I’m not trying to be disagreeable but using that logic you should take out that desperation pass that UAB caught at the 2 yard line.

I'm not trying to be disagreeable either, and we can of course drive ourselves crazy nitpicking things, but that's a very non-desperation dime thrown into single coverage against a blitz.

Check it out, timestamped it on the highlight video: