Illinois football finished the 2022 season with a strong 8-5 record. The team lost to Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Michigan, and Mississippi State. Each of those games came down to single digits and Illinois even led Michigan until the very end of the game. A blown call ultimately gave Michigan the win and cost Illinois a Big Ten Championship berth. Nevertheless, in this piece we’ll make some 2023 Illinois football predictions, including a look at their win total, with our season preview.
FanDuel Sportsbook has set the price on Illinois’s win total at 6.5, with the over juiced to -118. The Illini are also +6000 to win the Big Ten. They come in tied with Nebraska and ahead of only Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, and Indiana in terms of odds. With that said, let’s dive into some Illini football predictions, with a season preview and roster overview.
2023 Illinois Football Predictions & Season Preview
Illinois Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff
This will be Illinois’s third year under Bret Bielema. Bielema has improved Illinois’ total wins in each season as head coach. This year he retains offensive coordinator Barry Lunney, who initially came over from UTSA in 2022. On defense, Ryan Walters left for Purdue, leaving a void at defensive coordinator. To replace him, Illinois promoted defensive backs coach Aaron Henry to the position. Without much coaching staff turnover, Illinois will look to build on their recent success.
Illinois Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense
Quarterback
Former Illinois signal caller Tommy DeVito applied for an extra year of eligibility, but the NCAA denied that request. The Illini filled the void by adding former Ole Miss quarterback Luke Altmyer and former Ball State quarterback John Paddock in the transfer portal. Altmyer stands 6-2, 195 pounds and now enters his third season after initially coming to Ole Miss as a four-star recruit. He has 54 career pass attempts, which resulted in a 51.9% completion percentage and 5.9 yards per attempt. He doesn’t look to have much mobility, so Illinois is dealing with an unknown here.
The Illini also added former Ball State signal caller Paddock. Paddock stands 5-11, 196 pounds and threw for 2,743 yards, 18 scores, and 14 interceptions on 483 attempts in 2022. This resulted in a 59.8% completion percentage for 5.7 yards per attempt. Paddock finished as the 12 graded signal caller in the MAC, per ProFootballFocus, which doesn’t bode well here. He also routinely logs negative rushing totals. Quarterback wasn’t a strength for Illinois last year, but the position remains a complete unknown heading into 2023.
Running Back
Illinois lost stud tailback Chase Brown to the NFL, which will be a massive loss. They do return second-leading rusher Reggie Love. Love stands 5-11, 205 pounds and rushed 72 times for 332 yards, while catching all four of his targets for 16 yards. On a small sample, he averaged 3.33 yards after contact and a missed tackle on 34.7% of his attempts. If Love can extend this efficiency to a larger sample, Illinois might not actually see much of a drop off at the position. This remains to be seen.
Josh McCray also returns after a limited 2022 season. He is 6-1, 235 pounds and rushed for 549 yards on 112 carries in 2021. He only has six career catches, fitting into that bigger back role. The team also recruited a four-star freshman in Kaden Feagin, who enrolled early. He should play a role immediately in year one.
Wide Receiver
Ahead of 2023, Illinois returns three of their top four receivers, losing only Brian Hightower to the transfer portal. Former quarterback and top receiver Isaiah Williams returns after catching 82 balls for 715 yards. Williams stands 5-10, 180 pounds and played in the slot 83.3% of the time. His 2.16 yards per route tied for 11th last year in the Big Ten. Pat Bryant also returns as their second leading receiver. Bryant is 6-3, 195 pounds and caught 33 of 56 targets for 449 yards last year. Bryant played out wide 83.8% of the time, logging 1.77 yards per route (22nd).
Casey Washington also returns after catching 31 of 45 targets for 301 yards. Washington stands 6-2, 200 pounds and played out wide 94.7% of the time. His 1.31 yards per route ranked 43rd last year. For depth, Illinois should rely on Shawn Miller, who missed last year due to injury. Hank Beatty allegedly had a solid spring. From there, Illinois also recruited a four-star receiver in Malik Elzy, who will come in this summer as the 225th ranked player in this recruiting cycle.
Tight End
Illinois lost Michael Marchese and Luke Ford, but they do return Tip Reiman at the tight end position. Reiman stands 6-5, 260 pounds and led the tight ends with 19 catches for 172 yards on 30 targets last year. His 0.79 yards per route ranked 62nd last year in the Big Ten. However, he blocked on 62% of his 618 snaps last year. To help fill the void, Illinois added Colorado State transfer Tanner Arkin. Arkin enters his third year at 6-5, 245 pounds, blocking on 56% of his 444 snaps last year. As a receiver, he caught 14 balls for 116 yards (0.65 yards per route). Griffin Moore should provide depth here.
Offensive Line
Illinois lost center Alex Pihlstrom and right tackle Alex Palczewski. They return left tackle Julian Pearl, who played 843 snaps. He now has two years of starting experience for this unit. It looks like the Illini are going to try to keep incumbent left guard Isaiah Adams in place as well after 962 snaps in his first year starting with the program. At center, Josh Kreutz and Josh Gesky have split snaps so far, which could extend into fall camp. They played 23 and 17 snaps last year. It would not be surprising to see Gesky move out to tackle this fall either.
Zy Crisler returns at right guard after 766 snaps in his first year starting as well. From there, “sixth man” Jordyn Slaughter has taken some starting reps as well. Slaughter played all over the line last year, but mostly at guard. This arrangement could be shaken up at any point. Considering Illinois opted to lean on their depth over any portal additions, there is a chance this group takes a step back for 2023.
Illinois Football 2023 Season Preview: Defense
Illinois ranked fourth on defense in 2022. This included the seventh-ranked run defense, 40th-ranked pass rush and third-ranked secondary. The Illini lost four starters from that elite secondary unit, which will be tough to replace. Their front seven comes back mostly intact, but this unit lost a ton.
Defensive Line
Along the edge, Illinois returns the services of Seth Coleman and Gabe Jacas. Jacas played 502 snaps last year, with solid pass rushing stats. He logged five tackles for loss and four sacks himself to go along with 36 tackles. Coleman returns with five tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks himself, along with 45 tackles. Behind the top pair, Alec Bryant will also return after 3.5 tackles for loss on 194 snaps last year. Altogether, this position brings solid depth for Illinois
On the defensive interior, Illinios returns stud Jer’Zhan Newton. Newton played 723 snaps for Illinois last year and led the team with 14 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He also logged an impressive 61 total tackles. Many consider him to posses first round NFL Draft potential. Next to him, Illinois also returns Keith Randolph, who played 597 snaps last year. Randolph’s 13 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks narrowly trailed Newton last year. The same can be said for his 53 tackles. Behind them, Illinois also returns TeRah Edwards, who played 206 snaps as a rotational piece. Finally, Denzel Daxon enters the fold as a transfer from Ohio. he played 327 snaps with the Bobcats over the last two years.
Linebacker
At linebacker Illinois will replace Isaac Darkangelo and Calvin Hart. Luckily, Tarique Barnes returns 608 snaps of starting experience from last year. However, there is very little proven depth behind him. Last year, Barnes logged 46 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss with the Illini. The other projected starter looks like Dylan Rosiek. Rosiek has only played 49 snaps with the Illini over the last two years. Kenenna Odeluga played 144 snaps last year, but he has allegedly fallen behind Rosiek. All in all, this young group with require a significant growth spurt to reach last year’s levels.
Defensive Back
Mentioned above, Illinois replaces four defensive backs from last year including Sydney Brown, Devon Witherspoon, Kendall Smith, and Jartavius Martin. The new boundary corners are expected to be Tyler Strain and Tahveon Nicholson. Nicholson has more experience between the two players with 392 snaps last year. He actually broke up six passes and found his way to an interception last year. Strain only played 172 snaps last year, but his coverage numbers look solid for the small sample size. He defended three passes and logged a pair of interceptions, despite plying in just six games. Behind them, Illinois has virtually no proven depth.
Illinois will generally use three safeties on the field with one acting as a nickel defender. Xavier Scott should act as that nickel defender this year, but he has a chance to move outside. He only played 143 snaps last year, but he started the bowl game against Mississippi State. He only allowed 97 yards into his coverage, which is a solid start. The true safeties look like Louisville transfer Nicario Harper and Matthew Bailey.
Harper only played in four games for Louisville last year, but he started for two years at Jacksonville State before that. Bailey only played 180 snaps last year, but he also started the bowl game. Highly productive on a small sample, Bailey logged a pair of pass breakups and three interceptions last year. Illinois also added Florida International transfer Demetrius Hill to provide depth. Hill played 818 snaps with the Panthers last year before transferring. While this unit has a lot to prove, all of the players have flashed on a small sample.
2023 Illinois Football Schedule & Predictions
Illinois Football 2023 Schedule
The Illini play a non-conference schedule consisting of Toledo, Kansas, and Florida Atlantic. Illinois should come away with at least two wins here. They have to travel to Kansas, making that game a little more dangerous. From the Big Ten East, Illinois will face Penn State, Maryland, and Indiana. They will be clear underdogs to Penn State, but the other two games remain winnable. From there, it’s the usual Big Ten West suspects, with trips to Iowa and Minnesota highlighting the schedule.
Illinois Football Futures Bet & Prediction
The Illini Over/Under 6.5 wins seems efficiently priced. However, this team does come with plenty of volatility. Quarterback, running back, offensive line, and secondary all suffered extreme losses. While Illinois seems to have a solid plan to replace them, it is still asking a lot of the young players. For that reason, under 6.5 wins will be the official bet here.
Best Illinois Football Futures Bet: under 6.5 Wins (-102 at FanDuel)
You can read the rest of Matt Gajewski’s 2023 college football season previews and predictions below!
- Alabama Season Preview & Predictions
- Arkansas Season Preview & Predictions
- Auburn Season Preview & Predictions
- Baylor Season Preview & Predictions
- Florida Season Preview & Predictions
- Georgia Season Preview & Predictions
- Iowa Season Preview & Predictions
- Iowa State Season Preview & Predictions
- Kansas Season Preview & Predictions
- Kansas State Season Preview & Predictions
- Kentucky Season Preview & Predictions
- LSU Season Preview & Predictions
- Michigan Season Preview & Predictions
- Mississippi State Season Preview & Predictions
- Missouri Season Preview & Predictions
- Oklahoma Season Preview & Predictions
- Oklahoma State Season Preview & Predictions
- Ole Miss Season Preview & Predictions
- South Carolina Season Preview & Predictions
- TCU Season Preview & Predictions
- Tennessee Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas A&M Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas Tech Season Preview & Predictions
- Vanderbilt Season Preview & Predictions
- West Virginia Season Preview & Predictions
