Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and defensive coordinator Aaron Henry don’t believe Illinois can rely on one player to fill the void of inactive defensive starters Gabe Jacas and Matthew Bailey.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Unlike the Music City Bowl replacement for left tackle J.C. Davis, the Illinois coaching staff realizes it may take more than one person to replace each of the spots for its two lost defensive starters.

When it comes to finding a left tackle replacement for Davis, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and Illini offensive line coach Bart Miller both know one player is likely to be in that spot for 60-80 plays on Tuesday as offensive linemen aren’t typically subbed out.

Bielema confirmed Monday what he’d been hinting at for several days that Nathan Knapik will get his first career start on Tuesday in the 2025 Music City Bowl.

Knapik, a 6-foot-7 and 300-pound offensive tackle, played in five games as a reserve lineman at Idaho in the 2024 season before transferring to Illinois with his older brother, Ayden, before the start of spring 2025 workouts.

“I’ve spoken with Josh Gesky about playing at left guard next to Nathan for the first time and how he can really help him throughout that whole experience,” Bielema said Monday. “It’ll be by committee with the outside linebacker deal and I think it’ll be a host of guys that try to replace everything we got from Matt Bailey.”

And except for working contingency plans for an injury, Knapik will slide into the open spot on Illinois’ veteran offensive line on Tuesday when they face Tennessee (4:30 p.m. CST, ESPN).

However, Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry has a different idea for trying to cover up the losses of outside linebacker Gabe Jacas and safety Matthew Bailey. The by-committee approach will be plan for the bowl game as second-year talent Joe Barna is expected to lead the charge of replacing the Illini’s sack leader each of the last two seasons but Barna will have the help of veterans Alec Bryant and Leon Lowery Jr.

“You can not replace a Gabe Jacas with just one person. That is just impossible, not gonna happen,” Henry said. “We need a host of guys that we like to sub in and out play to the best of their capabilities and it’s been so rewarding to see so many guys get those practice rep opportunities.”

Bielema said Saturday he also enjoyed what he saw a week ago from third-year player Mason Muragin during on-campus bowl practices for the little-used Illini players during the 2025 season. According to Pro Football Focus data, Muragin played just five total defensive snaps in one game (35-13 home win over Rutgers on Nov. 1) but could see some action Tuesday. After being a special teams stalwart for most of his Illini career, it was Ryan Meed who attributed eight tackles and a key fourth-down pass breakup in the end zone to prevent a touchdown in Illinois' 21-17 Citrus Bowl win over then-No. 14 South Carolina. With Jacas, who led the Big Ten in sacks during the regular season with 11 while ranking sixth in the nation, providing 529 total defensive snaps this season, the question remains which underutilized player can find success in the spot of the All-Big Ten edge rusher.

In the secondary to cover for Bailey, who is inactive after having offseason shoulder surgery, Illinois has the veteran option of Mac Resetich or the youthful potential option of 6-foot-3, 210-pound Saboor Karriem. The former three-star prospect played in just seven games this past season after seeing much of his production in a four stretch of games that featured No. 1 Indiana, No. 2 Ohio State and Southern California as opponents.

The irony of this decision for Henry, who leads the safeties positional room throughout the season while also calling the defensive sets on game day, is it’s the same decision he had in his first game as the Illini defensive playcaller. With Sydney Brown opting out of the ReliaQuest Bowl, Bailey used that opportunity against Mississippi State’s ‘Air Raid’ scheme to showcase his talents as a first-year player.

“One of things I give Aaron so much credit for over the past two weeks is the preparation of our [scout] team to give us a realistic look at the way Tennessee wants to play offensively,” Bielema said. “It’s always the exciting thing with these bowl games where you have all these new faces coming in for this game mixed in with the challenge of facing a quality opponent like Tennessee.”

The good news for Illinois (8-4) is Tennessee will be without one of the Southeastern Conference’s best receiving targets as Chris Brazzell II declared for the 2026 National Football League Draft and will not play in bowl game. Brazzell was named a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, and a third-team Associated Press All-America selection while leading the SEC in receiving yards (1,017), receiving yards per game (84.8) and receiving touchdowns (nine).