Ron Zook led the Illinois Fighting Illini to a Rose Bowl appearance in 2007 versus USC. They were demolished 49-17 and never reached the same type of success again under Zook. They went 5-7 in 2008 and further down to 3-9 in 2009. Zook's last two years produced identical 7-6 records, but it was not enough to save him from being relieved of his duties. Tim Beckman stepped into the fray in 2012 and things did not go well. The Illini went 2-10 in Beckman's first season despite the presence of Nathan Scheelhaase. Let's see how the Illini did in 2013 under Beckman.
2013 Illinois Fighting Illini Season
Tim Beckman made a major change on offense by bringing in former Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit as the offensive coordinator. Illinois opened up with a close win over Southern Illinois and then crushed Cincinnati to start 2-0. They played well versus Washington, but lost 34-24 and then beat Miami (OH) 50-14 to start the season 3-1. Against Big 10 opponents, Illinois struggled, as they opened 0-6 in Big 10 play. They did manage to beat Purdue, but fell in a close battle to rival Northwestern at the end of the season. The entire schedule is below.
Offense
The offense made huge strides in 2013. They went from 16.7 points and 297 yards per game in 2012 to 29.7 points and 427 yards per game in 2013. Nathan Scheelhaase was a big reason for the jump, but he is now gone at quarterback. The offense returns 6 starters from 2013. Wes Lunt steps in behind the center and he has game experience from his time at Oklahoma State. He ended up as the starting quarterback in 2012 with the Cowboys, but an injury caused him to lose his starting spot. He threw for 1,108 yards (62%), 6 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He should do well in this offense.
Josh Ferguson will lead the rushing attack after having a solid year in 2013. He ran for 779 yards and 7 touchdowns, but more surprisingly, he was the second leading receiver with 50 catches for 535 yards and 4 touchdowns. He will be joined by Donovonn Young who ran for 376 yards and 3 touchdowns. This duo should do well to help out Wes Lunt and the receivers on offense.
There was a mass exodus at wide receiver for the Illini. Steve Hull led the team with 59 receptions, 933 yards, and 7 touchdowns while Miles Osei was the third leading receiver with 35 catches, 349 yards, and 1 touchdown. Without those two, and several others, this team is missing serious amounts of depth and experience. The top returning receiver is Martize Barr and he finished 2013 with 26 catches for 246 yards and 1 touchdown. Tight ends Matt LaCosse and Jon Davis both will need to step up to help out the receivers. This unit will have a hard time matching the 288 receiving yards per game they put up last year.
The offensive line will be a strength with four starters returning. Left guard Michael Heitz has started 31 games over the last three years while left tackle Simon Cvijanovic has started 26 games over the previous three years. Also returning are center Alex Hill (12 starts in 2013) and right guard Ted Karras (22 starts over previous 2 years). They should do well protecting new quarterback Wes Lunt and making holes for Josh Ferguson.
Defense
With only four starters back in 2014, the defense gave up 35.4 points and 482 yards per game. 2014 should see better numbers with 8 starters back and it will start up front. Two starters return and nose tackle Austin Teitsma will anchor the line after recording 53 tackles, half a sack, and 5 tackles-for-loss. Teko Powell is the other returning starter, but he is in a battle for the defensive tackle spot with junior college transfer Jihad Ward. True freshman Paul James could find himself at the defensive end spot after coming in for the spring. After giving up 239 rushing yards per game in 2013, this unit should not do worse than that this year.
Two linebackers return led by Mason Monheim in the middle. Monheim recorded 97 tackles, 1 sack, and 5.5 tackles-for-loss. Joining him at the STAR position is 2013's second leading tackler, Earnest Thomas. Thomas recorded 101 tackles, 2 tackles-for-loss, and 7 pass breakups as the strong safety last year. TJ Neal and Dawaune Smoot are expected to get the other two linebacker spots. The experience of Monheim and Thomas should bode well for the linebackers in 2014.
The entire secondary returns, but as mentioned before, Earnest Thomas will move to the STAR position. Zane Petty at costless safety will lead the secondary after recording 75 tackles in 2013. Eaton Spence will take over the strong safety spot (49 tackles and 4 pass breakups last year) while V'Angelo Bentley will handle one of the cornerback spots. For a unit that gave up 25 touchdowns compared to 3 interceptions and a 65.3 completion percentage in 2013, they should do no worse than those numbers.
Special Teams
Taking all the units as a whole, the special teams unit is probably the best on the Illinois team. Kicker Taylor Zalewski returns after hitting 12 of 17 field goals with a long of 51 yards. Punter Justin DuVernois had 51 punts for an average of 41.1 yards per punt. Both should continue their solid play in 2014.
The return game is a bright spot with V'Angelo Bentley handling both punt and kick return duties. On punt returns, Bentley had 12 returns for 189 yards (15.8 average), and 1 touchdown. On kick returns, he had 31 returns for an average of 21.4 yards and 1 touchdown. He should have another excellent season, as should the entire unit.
2014 Season Outlook
Tim Beckman is in his third year with the Illini and there is some talk of him being on the hot seat depending on how the team performs in 2014. Despite Zook being a good recruiter, he did not leave Beckman with the best recruits. Beckman did get fortunate to have Wes Lunt transfer in with Nathan Scheelhaase still in school. Beckman has made improvements in his first two years. Bringing offensive coordinator Bill Cubit was a move that paid dividends immediately. Let's look at how the 2014 schedule sets up for the Illini.
Illinois looks to start 3-1 again, just as they did in 2013. The road game at Nebraska looks to be a loss, but Illinois could surprise, especially if the Nebraska defense suffers after losing three starters in preseason. Illinois can certainly handle Purdue, but are staring at a loss to Wisconsin. That would leave Illinois at 4-3 or 5-2, if they upset Nebraska.
The second half of the schedule does Illinois no favors. The Minnesota game could go either way, but games against Ohio State and Iowa seem to be firm losses. Illinois played Penn State close in 2013 (24-17 loss in overtime) and the same goes for Northwestern. Illinois will need at least two upsets to reach 6-6. Head coach Tim Beckman should be back with Illinois, even if they go 5-7 in 2014.