Opponent View: Illinois
GoldandBlack.com caught up with Doug Bucshon of OrangeandBlueNews.com--Rivals.com's Illinois site--to break down the Fighting Illini in advance of Purdue's visit to Champaign on Saturday.
GoldandBlack.com: Give us the skinny on the Illini. It was a tough debut for Illinois, 45-7 loss Friday night in Madison. Tell us what Purdue fans can expect from Illinois on the offensive side of the ball.
Bucshon: It’s hard to say. Week One against Wisconsin, just about everything went wrong. They didn't move the ball on the ground or in the air. Brandon Peters, in just his second year after transferring from Michigan, had a really rough day (8-of-19 passing for 87 yards; team-high 75 yards rushing). ... He just didn't move the ball. He didn't really spread the wealth around. He focused in on Josh Imatorbhebhe, a senior wide receiver. He targeted him about 10 times, but nobody else really got the ball. (Running back) Mike Epstein is back from an injury this year. We don't really know at this point if we credit (Illinois' struggles) to a great Wisconsin defense, because it is one the best in the country, supposedly. We don't really know what to expect there this week against Purdue.
GoldandBlack.com: What do you think they need to try to accomplish offensively if they want to get win against Purdue for the second year in a row?
Bucshon: We’ve got to get the running game going. They’re not a team that you're going to want to see throw the ball 50 times, so they have to get this running game going. They really missed (running backs) Reggie Corbin and Dre Brown, the two seniors from last year who graduated and had really good numbers at Illinois. The o-line’s performance was really not good and really surprising. They have four starters back this year. Kendrick Green, the left guard, is an All-Big Ten-type of player but just did not open up any running lanes. They ran a lot of zone-running plays off tackle. Epstein was just running into the back of offensive linemen. They just couldn't get anything going on the ground. So, they're going have to run the ball against Purdue and set up the pass and score some touchdowns. They didn't score on offense (at Wisconsin). The only touchdown came on a recovered fumble returned for a touchdown. So, it’s a really big week for them to come back home and just to get things going.
GoldandBlack.com: Defensively, break down the Illini and tell Purdue fans some players to watch and what to expect from the Illini defense.
Bucshon: Well, we expected big things from Roderick Perry, the nose tackle who transferred from South Carolina State, and he really delivered against Wisconsin. You don't see it on paper because of 45 points and all those throwing yards for Graham Mertz (20-of-21 passing for 248 yards and five TDs). But Roderick Perry is really disruptive in the middle of the defensive line. He got a sack, he spent a lot of time in the offensive backfield. He’s just a disruptive guy. The time of possession was so much in favor of Wisconsin (43:28 to 16:32) that he kind of wore down in the second half. Tarique Barnes, a sophomore linebacker, had a big day. He had a sack, which caused a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and they credited him with 11 tackles. That was all in relief of Jake Hansen, the senior middle linebacker. He went out, took a blow to the head in the first half and went out. He's in concussion protocol, so Tarique Barnes came in and really stepped in and had a big day.
GoldandBlack.com: How do you think this game could unfold, and who do you like?
Bucshon: I like Purdue. I like what I saw at the Iowa game (24-20 Purdue win). Mertz from Wisconsin carved up the secondary against Illinois. There were a lot of throws in the middle of the field, down the deep middle to the tight end. Illinois plays Cover 2 defense in the middle of the field, and it was just wide open for Mertz. Purdue’s going to watch the film and do the same thing. I think Mertz only threw six passes outside the hashes and everything else down the middle. Five touchdowns, most of them down the middle. (Wisconsin's) Jake Ferguson, the tight end, had three touchdowns, so more of the same. Purdue puts it in the air a lot. They run that wide-open offense. I think they threw 50 times against Iowa and we're going see them throw the ball around again on Saturday.
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