
IlliniGuys.com 2025 Week 1 Film Review: Illinois Run Game Evaluation; Collin Dixon’s Value; A Barry Lunney Oldie But Goodie TD Call
IlliniGuys.com discusses specific details of the 52-3 season-opening win over Western Illinois.
By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst
August 31, 2025
CHAMPAIGN — In almost every way, the 52-3 victory for Illinois over a clearly overmatched Football Championship Subdivision program served as a prep work for the quickly upcoming future of the 2025 season.
The most obvious prepwork on Friday night was an evaluation of how the Illinois rushing offense would/could operate when there’s no mystery that a run call has come in from Illini offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. to the helmet of third-year starting quarterback Luke Altmyer.
Near the end of preseason camp this month, Lunney Jr. once again reiterated a major identity of this program will be how well they can run the football similarly to how they developed that element of the offense.
“The key to every offense, ours is not different, is about being able to physically dominate and change the line-of-scrimmage when everybody in the stadium, including the defense, knows you’re going to run the ball,” Lunney Jr. said in preseason camp. “Great teams run the ball even when the defense loads up to stop it. The fact is that is still how you normally close games.”