(Video courtesy GFORCE)
Illinois is coming off consecutive seasons with bowl victories but has won more than seven games only once since 2001. The team is under first-year coach Tim Beckman, who guided one of the most explosive offenses in the country at Toledo. The Fighting Illini have regularly recruited top players from across the country. Now Beckman must find a way to mold the talent into a winner.
Offense: Offensive lineman Hugh Thornton is playing left tackle after starting at guard the past two seasons. The senior played right tackle as a freshman, but the nimble, 6-foot-5, 310-pounder will be counted on to bookend an offensive line that paved the way for an average of nearly 172 yards per game last season. Nothing makes a new offense look as good as quality blocking.
Defense: Defensive lineman Michael Buchanan will be counted on to anchor the pass rush. The senior finished fourth in the Big Ten last year with 7.5 sacks and helped lead a unit that averaged more than three quarterback takedowns per game. Buchanan will face more double-teams this season, so his overall production might go down, but his impact on the field could be even bigger than last fall.
Special Teams: Defensive back Tommy Davis is one of the best kick returners in the country. The graduate student transferred from Northern Illinois in June after finishing third in school history with 1,398 career kickoff-return yards and eighth in career punt-return yardage with 331. He should boost the Fighting Illini return game as the team finished at the bottom of the Football Bowl Subdivision in kick returns last season (15.71 yards per attempt).
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