Secondary Scaries: Players to watch from Illinois’ defense

Illinois isn’t a stranger to facing ranked opponents. The Fighting Illini have already knocked off two and hope Penn State will be its third.

First, it was No. 19 Kansas and last week in an overtime thriller, No. 22 Nebraska fell and Illinois climbed into the top-20 of the AP Poll.

James Franklin called for “White Out…energy,” but Bret Bielema doesn’t seem to care. He’s already coached Illinois to its best start since 2011 and is bringing a tough defense into Beaver Stadium.

Franklin knows it’ll be a challenge - he said so during his weekly press conference on Monday.

Even after a strong performance by Nittany Lion wide receivers against Kent State — 718 total yards and eight touchdowns scored by eight different players, there’s still reason to be wary about how they’ll perform against the Fighting Illini. There’s certainly been improvement, but how it translates against Big Ten opponents is yet to be determined.

Illinois has a disruptive secondary. In the Big Ten, it’s tied with Minnesota for having the most interceptions in the conference.

Xavier Scott and Miles Scott were names Franklin specifically noted as players they’ll pay extra attention to. The two have five interceptions between them — Xavier three, Miles two — and Torrie Cox Jr. added the other two.

The trio has caused havoc ranking No. 1 in the nation for their seven combined interceptions. It only took them four games to match last season’s team total.

Not every pick has been an easy grab:

That’s Cox Jr. robbing Nebraska of a touchdown. The junior who transferred from the Ohio Bobcats has been a difference-maker as an Illini. Cox Jr. has assimilated to the Illinois defense early, recording two interceptions and three passes defended already.

Regardless of the threat Illinois is bringing to Beaver Stadium, Drew Allar has confidence in his wide receiver room, “I don’t think we get credit for the amount of weapons we really have.”

Well, if Penn State’s offense wants to be successful, the receivers are going to need to fight for separation from Illinois’ secondary.

The Fighting Illini play a tight man-coverage scheme. Allar called their defensive backs “patient” because they don’t allow receivers much room.

“It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before,” Liam Clifford said confidently. “It’s just honing in on the little details that we know and just doing our jobs, that’s what it comes down to.”

During Wednesday’s practice, receivers were working on contested catches while getting hit as they were coming down with the ball. As rain drizzled periodically, they worked through the air trying to complete the rep with one of the Titan practice dummy’s serving as a mock defensive back.

But receivers watch out because sometimes it looks like Xavier comes out of nowhere:

Against the then No. 19 ranked Kansas, the junior was the only player in the FBS to force three turnovers in a single game. That performance earned him Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.

“[Xavier] sticks out a lot,” Allar said. “He’s on the field everywhere.”

His speed jumping in front of incoming passes is what makes his moment unpredictable, yet effective. Xavier has five passes defended and a sack in addition to his turnovers.

Miles, one of Illinois’ six captains, switched from wide receiver to defensive back during spring practice in 2023. Since then, he’s been a defensive playmaker. The junior forced his first fumble of his career against Eastern Illinois and already has two interceptions, one of which was also against Kansas.

In terms of the deep ball, there’s certainly a higher risk with Illinois’ secondary. Allar has appeared more comfortable in situations under pressure, but with a tougher opponent on deck, Andy Kotelnicki will have an interesting task on his hands when it comes to regulating explosiveness.

“I do not want to overthrow deep balls,” Franklin said. “I think, if the ball is thrown perfectly in stride, or even underthrown, you still have a chance to make a play on the ball or get the interference call.”

Amanda Vogt is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email amandaevogt@gmail.com