Tom Herman, former Head Coach of the Texas Longhorns, brings his Owls to Champaign for another tough power 5 matchup in his first year as Head Coach for FAU. A great opportunity for Bret Bielema and his Fighting Illini to get back in the win column, and regain momentum before diving headfirst into 8-straight Big Ten matchups to round out the 2023 regular season.
The big news coming out of this matchup early is that Herman’s starting quarterback, and former Nebraska QB Casey Thompson Tore his ACL vs Clemson last week, and will now rely on their backup to try and rally a big win vs a Big Ten team, after some really tough blow-out losses. Truthfully, its a massive amount of pressure on FAU, and as long as Illinois does not make a pitiful amount of avoidable mistakes, the Illini should take care of business here.
However, lets also remember that the Illini are coming off of a couple pretty tough losses of their own, and need to find some footing before they can start playing to their fullest potential.
OFFENSE
The Owls Offense has really struggled for the first three games of the season, however, they are looking for the opportunity to catch a spark with Richardson in at Quarterback. This is an experienced player, who has never really gotten the shot, and his team is going to strongly rally around him. FAU sees Illinois as an opportunity just as much as Illinois sees them as an opportunity. Which is why Illinois cannot let off the gas. The Illini have been their own worst enemy at many times, and any good coach can see that on film. Those are the teams that find themselves in upsets if not careful, and Illinois needs to shut any fascinating idea of that down fast.
Richardson is a South Florida native, and a Transfer from Central Michigan who is looking to come home and be the guy. Richardson is a Good pocket passer, and can talented enough to get the job done. His teammates are going to rally around him, as well as his South Florida community, and it could be a concoction for danger for Illinois if the Illini don’t play to their fullest potential.
Florida Atlantic sports a tough Offensive Line with quite a bit of experience. This unit dominated a season ago in the C-USA, and the question is, how quickly will that translate up a level to the AAC? I can’t imagine that it’s going to be easy to get things rolling against Johnny Newton and this Illini DL. I would imagine this probably won’t be a game FAU’s offensive line bullies on the line of scrimmage.
LaJohntay Wester is a speedy, small receiver who is not new to making power 5 Defenses pay. As of last weeks, matchup versus Clemson, Wester leads the programs history in receptions, with an entire season to go. This room for FAU has solid depth, and could be a big help to Richardson.
Tom Herman had a very deep running back room to start the 2023 season. After a strain of injuries throughout the first three games of this extremely tough stretch for FAU, they most likely are not going to have all of these guys available and 100%. Larry McCammon is an All AAC type player, and a stud overall. However, it is unsure whether he will be the guy on Saturday after getting banged up heavy vs Clemson. This position group could be a huge weight lifted off of Richardson’s shoulders, if McCammon plays Saturday and gives the Owls a pop of offensive production. However, it’s not likely he will play, and if he does, there is not a good chance he will be at the top of this game after a rough outing Vs Clemson.
DEFENSE
Defense overall is the weakest link for this FAU program. The one group that does have solid depth is the Defensive Line. They have quite a bit of talent, and could easily become a problem for in Illinois OL that has young guys figuring it out on the interior, with some shuffling of positions as well. I think Illinois shouldn’t have too much of an issue, but it would not be a major surprise if Illinois had to work for their money against a talented AAC line.
The back end of the Owl Defense is pretty torn up at the moment. Many positions in the secondary for FAU have been injury bugged over the first couple of weeks of the 2023 season. Being real, the already struggling Defense, is going to have a really tough time having teaching moments facing a Big Ten school on the road. Despite Illinois having five turnovers vs the Nittany Lions, Luke Altmyer is a very talented leader of this Offense, and it would be shocking if his level play did not go up drastically in this game, to help himself bounce back from last week. I don’t see the FAU giving many issues to Altmyer, that are not self-inflicted.
Prediction
FAU is a really talented program, with a talented coach, but there is a lot of moving parts in this game with injuries for FAU. Starting quarterback being the most important, as well as a ton of movement on the back end of the defense. Of course, this is always the big IF, but as long as Illinois is not their own worst enemy on Saturday, they should have no problem taking care of the injury ridden Owls. Giving the Illini a quality non- conference win at home to get the momentum wheels turning once again.
Illini 38- FAU 13
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