3 major areas for the Illinois Purdue football team to attack

Honestly, I'm more nervous about the Illinois football game against Purdue than against Penn State.

The Illini were not expected to beat the Nittany Lions. We played with house money. But against Purdue, Illinois is a big betting favorite. That scares me.

If you search for the term “disappointment game,” this game comes up. Illinois is the better team and Purdue has looked terrible this season. But none of that matters. It's the Big Ten and Illinois better get ready for big boy football.

There are a few areas where I think the Illini can attack the Boilermakers. I think Illinois can overwhelm Purdue, but these three areas are top of mind for me.

Illinois has been more of a passing team this season. We are under 100 in rushing attack, but our passing attack outperformed the running attack, which was expected.

On Saturday, the Illini have a chance to get it right in the running game. The program has only seen a 100-yard rusher once this season, against Eastern Illinois. I think we can get our second 100-yard rusher against Purdue.

It's not that Illinois can't run the ball. That's just not our main focus at the moment. In fact, Illinois' running backs are thriving locally.

Kaden Feagin leads the Illini in rushing this season, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Despite being a little banged up, Aidan Laughery averaged 6.3 yards per carry. Even our freshman running back Ca'Lil Valentine averaged an impressive 5.3 yards per carry.

The ability to run the ball is there in the Orange and Blue, but we were more of a passing team in 2024. However, I don't expect that to be the case against Purdue.

If you want to see a running attack, I fully expect the Illini to pummel Purdue with a rotation of three or four running backs during the game. The Boilermakers have one of the worst offensive defenses in the country, and Illinois should address that problem.

For the season, Purdue is giving up 273.0 yards per game on the ground. That's bad enough to rank 131st out of 134 teams in the FBS. Teams open holes and can play half-rounds through them during games.

Ultimately, I think there is a possibility that Illinois has multiple 100-yard rushers. We have the horses to crush the rock, and Purdue's biggest weakness is run defense. That could be fun.