Illinois Fighting Illini (1-1, 1-0 B1G)

Head Coach: Bret Bielema (98-59 overall, 1-1 at Illinois)

Series: Illinois leads the series 2-0

Last Meeting: UVa fell to the Illini in the 1999 MicronPC.com 63-21

After handling their business last week against William & Mary, the Cavaliers turn their focus to their first FBS opponent of the season.

Illinois comes to town for a Saturday morning kickoff, in the first meeting between the two programs in more than two decades (11 a.m., ACC Network). It will also mark the first regular-season meeting between the two programs, having squared off in a pair of bowl games in the 1990’s.

While most teams have only played one game to this point, the Illini have already played a pair, going 1-1. They beat Nebraska in “Week 0,” pulling the upset at home in a game that was originally supposed to take place in Ireland. Beating the Cornhuskers to start the Bielema era was a success, but Illinois wasn’t able to keep the train rolling last week, dropping a home decision to UTSA. Still, 1-1 isn’t a bad start for an Illinois team in the early stages of a reboot. Bielema piloted successful programs at both Wisconsin and Arkansas, and was a solid hire for the Illini, who have struggled for most of the last two decades.

They were picked to finish dead last in the B1G West, though their win over Nebraska may help them exceed preseason expectations by the time we get to late November.

Performance: It’s probably safe to say that the offense has exceeded expectations to this point given the circumstances. Under new offensive coordinator Tony Petersen, formerly at Appalachian State, the Illini have scored exactly 30 points in both of their games. The offense has been balanced to this point, with 83 rushing attempts and 62 passes. They have had one game where they played with a lead most of the day (Nebraska) and another where they played from behind (UTSA), so the offense has had one game skewed towards the run, and another towards the pass.

Illinois runs a blended scheme, one that is fairly typical for a college football offense. The Illini will line up in shotgun and pistol quite a bit, with some under center looks as well. They will spread the ball around in the passing game and use “spread to run” concepts on the ground, running the ball out of shotgun with three or four receivers on the field. Virginia’s defense saw similar sets last week with William & Mary but the Illini have far better athletes all over the field.

In the passing game, they have had to deal with an injury to their starting quarterback in the first half of the season. Michigan transfer Brandon Peters hurt his non-throwing shoulder against Nebraska and missed last week’s game against UTSA as well. His status for Saturday’s game appears to be uncertain with Bielema saying that Peters was practicing earlier in the week but wasn’t cleared for contact yet. He did announce Thursday that Artur Sitkowski will be the starting QB on Saturday, though Peters could still factor in. Sitkowski has done a nice job in relief of Peters in Illinois’ two games. The former Rutgers QB has completed 59.6 percent of his passes, throwing for 390 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. He had to go to the air quite a bit against UTSA, and went 22 of 42 for 266 yards and three scores.

On the ground, Illinois has not yet been explosive. Through two contests, the Illini have rushed 83 times for 317 yards and one score, averaging 3.8 yards per carry. And like quarterback, the Illini running back room has been short-handed to this point in the season. Chase Brown saw limited action against Nebraska and couldn’t play against UTSA, but is set to return this week according to Bielema. He was named Third Team All-B1G in the preseason, and rushed for 540 yards on 104 carries last season. The Illini will be without this season’s leading rusher, Mike Epstein, who was injured last week and has been ruled out for Saturday’s game. Epstein has rushed for 107 yards on 25 carries this season.

WR Isaiah Williams: Listed as a freshman despite being in his third season of college football, Williams has been a major bright spot on offense. He is the team’s leading receiver with 14 receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown. Williams is a speedy 5-foot-10 wideout who had an impressive eight-catch, 101-yard effort against UTSA last weekend. Virginia’s defense wasn’t tested at all by William & Mary’s passing game but the defensive backs will need to find a way to slow down Williams this week.

TE Daniel Barker: Barker was a bright spot in a disappointing loss last week and is a player to keep an eye on tomorrow. He didn’t make a single catch in the win over Nebraska but broke out last week with five receptions for 74 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the loss to UTSA. Barker is a physical target at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, and is coming off of a 19-catch, 268-yard, two-touchdown 2020 season (eight games). Virginia has had mixed results on defense against tight ends in recent years and Barker should be a challenge, regardless of who plays QB for the Illini.

Performance: Illinois is a work in progress on this side of the ball under first-year defensive coordinator Ryan Walters. Joining the program after years with Missouri, Walters is tasked with turning around a unit that allowed 35 points per game last year and nearly 40 points per game in 2018. So far this year, the Illini have looked improved, if not yet a solid unit. They have surrendered 29.5 points per game and had a rough outing last weekend against UTSA. They have surrendered 4.24 yards per carry on the ground and 256 yards per game through the air.

Illinois hasn’t created many turnovers, with just two fumble recoveries to its credit, and no interceptions. Opponents are converting 45.2 percent of their 3rd-down tries, coincidentally the exact same conversion percentage that Illinois’ offense has to this point. Opponents have thrived in getting to and converting in the red zone, going 9-for-9 inside the Illini 20 this season. Illinois has done a decent job holding teams to field goals, however, with four of those nine red zone trips not reaching the end zone. The Illini have recorded six sacks and 12 tackles for loss in their two contests, which are decent numbers but not quite elite. They do have one touchdown on defense, with a fumble returned 41 yards for a score in the upset win over Nebraska.

Illinois’ defense was expected to be a 3-4 base this year but the group may employ several different looks on Saturday. Nebraska coach Scott Frost said that he had to throw out his gameplan after seeing how Illinois lined up in the season opener, as the Illini did toss some different looks at the Cornhuskers. In its two games, Illinois has played a lot of two and three down linemen looks, with more defensive backs and linebackers on the field. Against UTSA that may have been more a byproduct of the Roadrunners’ spread offense forcing the Illini into more pass defense looks, but expect Illinois to run several different fronts against UVa on Saturday, including some two down linemen sets.

LB Tarique Barnes: Unfortunately for Illinois, the Illini lost one of their top defenders for the season in the win over Nebraska. Linebacker Carter Hart is done for the year and in his place they turn to Barnes to handle the load. He has recorded 13 tackles in two games this season and should be tested big time this week against a confusing UVa offense. Barnes played sparingly in his first two seasons in Champaign, so he could be a player that Virginia’s offense targets this week as the Wahoos look to exploit a defense in transition.