Illini Now Pregame Preview: Kansas

The Illini are set to take on Lance Leipold and the Kansas Jayhawks in what is sure to be another Barn Burner for the Fighting Illini.

Bret Bielema’s Illinois team find’s themselves at 1-0 on the season after a thrilling 30-28 win over preseason MAC favorite Toledo in week 1. Luke Altmyer connected to WR Casey Washington with pressure in his face for a 33 yard completion on 4th and 4 to put the Illini in FG range. Danville Native Caleb Griffin booted a 29 yard game-winner to put Illinois in the win Column in week 1.

Illinois week 2 opponent, the Kansas Jayhawks, snagged a 48-17 win over FCS opponent Missouri State. The Jayhawks were led by backup QB Jason Bean and despite finding themselves only up 17-10 at the halftime break, Bean settled in and had a great 2nd half to open up the flood gates for the Kansas Offense. The Jayhawks finished the day with 521 yards of total offense, and finished off Missouri State with a big win.

Jayhawks Head coach Lance Leipold was a D-III football coaching monster at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, winning 6 national titles before making the Jump to Division 1. After a short and successful stop at Buffalo University, Leipold took the job at Kansas, and brought the program out of the gutter, bringing them to the 2022 Liberty bowl, where they fell 55-53 to Arkansas, finishing the season 6-7. Remember, the Illinois coaching search came down to Bret Bielema, and none other than Lance Leipold, who was at Buffalo at the time.

This matchup will surely be a tough one for Illinois this early in the season, and you can expect another tough back and fourth battle on the road in front of a sold out crowd. There is a lot of big changes happening in Lawrence, Kansas, including a new coach, new stadium and a new uniform look.

The Illini kickoff vs the Jayhawks at 6:30 pm on ESPN 2 on Friday night, 9/8.

Kansas returns 10 starters from last year’s breakthrough squad, bringing back more offensive production than any team in college football in 2023. This is massive from a team that averaged 438.6 yards and 35.6 points per game In 2022.

That 10 of course including pre-season All-Big 12 Quarterback and incredible athlete Jalon Daniels.

Daniels threw for over 2,000 yards passing and tabbed 18 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions in 2022 through the air. He also ran for 419 yards and seven TD’s with his legs. Despite missing four games in the middle of the season, Jalon was still able to put up record numbers for the Jayhawks in 2022. Daniels led the nation in Total QBR in 2022 and found himself as preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. After cleaning up some off-season injuries that Daniels had suffered throughout the 2022 season, he is ready to make his 2023 debut vs the Illini. However, Daniels will be a game day decision, and it would not be a total surprise if the Illini see Jason Bean on Friday night. Even if it is only for a quarter or half. He is expected to play, but starting has not been clarified.

The backfield for Kansas is led by a 1,000-yard rusher. RB Devin Neal had a nice breakout season in 2022 and will look to break over 1,000 yards rushing again in 2023. He is a speedy back, that is a great compliment to Daniels in Leipolds offense. The Illini front 7 will once again have their work cut out for them, and need to see more results from this area Friday night. Again, what did scheme cover last Saturday? You would assume that we will certainly see more stunts and blitzing to put pressure on Daniels, and try to force bad plays from a QB who has struggled with  injury issues in his past.

Kansas also of course returns all of their star WR and TE targets. Mason Fairchild is a highly talented TE that produced 6 receiving TD’s for the Jayhawks in 2022, and over 443 yards receiving. Fairchild is a sure handed TE who is a great asset for Daniels and this offense. He will be a sure red-zone threat, and with Illinois replacing as much talent as they have in the secondary and LB core, Mason will be a potential mismatch threat. Lawrence Arnold and Quentin Skinner are the big play makers on the outside, and a major key in the success of Kansas’s breakout year in 2022. Daniels will utilize these two heavily, and Illinois young, yet talented secondary will have a big bite to chew. However, Illinois DB’s had a nice game overall vs Toledo and were crucial to the momentum swing that led the Illini to a 30-28 win. A big start to that swing, a pick-6 from Miles Scott.

Kansas returns 4 of their 5 starting offensive linemen from a group that was talented in 2022, and carried this team to over 5.2 yards per carry. Center Mike Novitsky is the leader of this unit, and is looking to be an All Big 12 center in 2023. The Illini DL, led by Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph, will have to do a much better job of getting penetration in week 2, and put pressure on Daniels. Not an easy task for Illinois, facing an OL with the depth and talent of this Kansas line.

Brian Borland defense gave up 35.6 points per game, and found themselves ranked 124th nationally in 2022. Lets just say, defense is not the strength of this team, and there is a reason that despite incredible offensive production, the Jayhawks still managed to lose 7 games in 2022.

D-line was a massive hole and problem for this team in 2022, and now, Kansas must replace all four starters. The front seven struggles with the run game, and gave up the most Defensive line yards allowed in the conference in 2022. Jereme Robinson had moments last year with 8.5 tackles for loss, but has not been a consistent player game in and game out. Robinson will have a good opportunity vs a young interion OL for Illinois, but the opportunity is just as strong the other way.

All five starters in the secondary are returning for Kansas, and this is a group that was a somewhat solid unit a season ago. Cobee Bryant leads the way, as he has found himself on the All-Big 12 preseason list.

Toledo QB Dequan Finn is not as fast or quite as talented as what the Illini are about to face in Jalon Daniels, but Rocket QB Dequan Finn is the exact type of player that Illinois needed to face to prep the Illini for Kansas. It was shown what will happen if the Illini defense does not force more pressure, and clean up the sloppy mistakes. Finn was able to beat you at will for the fist 2 and 1/2 quarters of game play Saturday night, and until the Illini started playing Bielema ball, they were setting themselves up to lose. Illinois was their own biggest enemy and this cannot be a continuing issue as we ease further into the season.

If the Illini can make some good stops defensively, and force Daniels to make a few bad plays as he shakes off the early season injury bug, Illinois will be in decent shape. Kansas returns 7 starters to a defense that was flat terrible in 2022, and as long as Illinois can maintain an offensive rhythm, they will get theirs. I truly believe as the scheme continues to open, the TFL, sack, and turnover flood gates will start to open up as well. This game will come down to who can make the most defensive stands, and in that scenario, I trust the Illini defense to get the job done.