Pop the Champaign!
A study of the 2024 Illinois Offense.
With an astonishing jump in success from the previous year, the 2024 Illinois Fighting Illini were one of the biggest surprises from this past season, improving from a pedestrian 5-7 record in 2023 to a 10-3 finish and a #16 final AP poll ranking in their 4th season under head coach Bret Bielema. This marks Illinois’ first 10-win season since 2001, and the best year that Bielema has had as a head coach since his days at Wisconsin.
It appeared that the Illini were beginning to lose their fight come mid-November, falling to 6-3 after a 2nd straight loss brought by a crushing 25-17 defeat against the Golden Gophers of Minneapolis. However, under the leadership of Coach Bielema and 2nd-year starting QB Luke Altmyer, the team was able to turn things around and finish the season strong with four straight victories capped off by a 21-17 upset over South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl.
Below, we’ll take a look at several examples of some of my favorite concepts. Let’s get into it.
RPO’s
With a decisive QB like Altmyer, Illinois is highly effective with their RPO package. Some of the RPO designs they are most successful with are their Glance RPO’s. Commonly, they will call the Glance RPO with inside zone or split zone as the run option and a Now Screen or Bubble Screen on the backside of the play.
Gap Scheme Runs
While Illinois does run a fair amount of inside zone, they do incorporate a generous amount of gap scheme into their rushing attack as well. The Illini do a great job of mixing it up, running a lot of Counter and Pin & Pull using a variety of formations and personnel packages.
Low Red Area Play-Action
When Illinois gets down into the low red area, they are anything but a one-trick pony. They can certainly ground and pound their way into the endzone, but they also quite frequently catch teams sleeping with play-action. Often times, they will run these plays out of heavy or condensed formations, so the primary receiver is usually either a running back or a tight end.
3rd Down Pass Concepts
Illinois has a solid 3rd down offense, good enough for 14th best in the nation in 2024. In passing situations, they have a few key concepts they love to go to. In long yardage situations, you’ll see more of their deeper concepts like Dagger and Y-Cross. On 3rd & Medium, you’ll see concepts like Mesh and Shallow Trail.
Heading into 2025, this Illinois program is one that is budding with optimism and elite focus. Bret Bielema should have this squad ready to go, and the majority of the media seem to agree — with many placing Illinois in their preseason Top 25 and some even going so far as to predict a Top 10 finish and a run at the College Football Playoff. Luke Altmyer will return as the starting QB, and looks to pick up right where he left off behind an offensive line which returns all five starters from 2024. The sky is the limit with this team. Needless to say… the top brass of the Big 10 better watch out.
Proverbs 27:17
“Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”