By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

November 18, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Illinois won a second straight workmanlike game on Saturday with a 24-6 win over a struggling Maryland team. It wasn't sexy. And it didn't create any highlights that you'll remember forever, but it was a solid win over a Maryland team that wasn't to be trifled with. Illinois held a dangerous Maryland offense to six points and 293 yards, which is 20 points and 50 yards under Maryland's averages. To me the defense was the star of the show, but since I'm limited to highlights that are in the public domain, I can't give you the play by play excellence that Illinois showed today. However, this 4th down play late in the game was pretty representative of the great work that Aaron Henry and his crew turned in today.

Maryland quarterback Malik Washington was a top 50 prospect last year and the 5th rated QB in the nation. And, despite what you might conclude after watching him today, he's had a very good freshman year in the Big Ten. However, Illinois kept him in the pocket and didn't let him get anything easy all day, and when Washington has to stay still and fit his throws into tight windows, he fails. Illinois keeps it simple on this play. They only rush three and keep their defenders in the middle of the field to clog the passing lanes. Washington could have handled the situation better rather than rushing the throw, but that's exactly what Illinois is banking on with this defense. This play was a microcosm of the day. Excellent work by the Illini defense.

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This isn't a defensive highlight, but I wanted to include it because Maryland obviously noticed a trend from Illinois' linebackers. They over pursue and get themselves out of position. Check out Malachi Hood and Dylan Rosiek on this clip from the end zone. They both move out of position. Rosiek moves out of position based on the counter action to the running back, and Hood moves out of position based on the blockers pulling. Gabe Jacas has outside contain responsibilities, but Hood sees the linemen coming to pull on the left and incorrectly presumes the play is going outside. He ends up running himself out of the play. Rosiek holds still based on the running back feinting to the right on counter-action, and in doing so sets himself up for two blocks. I also wanted to give credit to a guy I've been tough on this year: Torrie Cox. He's all by himself in open field against a 215 running back but he makes a perfect tackle. Gold star to him.... 10 demerits to Hood and Rosiek.

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Maryland's defense has been a mess all year. They have talent, but they've been disorganized and haven't shown a lot of heart and drive either. Its a total coaching fail. And speaking of coaching fails... what are they doing here? Flip up two spots to Illinois' defensive line-up on 4th and goal from the 3. Illinois is ready for a pass, but has enough guys ready to do job 1: stop the run up the middle. I would love to know how Maryland DC Ted Monachino was thinking the simple run up the middle would get stopped here. The Terps have 2 defenders with their hands on the ground, and they both get double teamed. There are only two other defenders on the line of scrimmage and he has them staying outside in containment. The most direct route between two points is a straight line, and Maryland isn't prepared to stop the straight line. Check out Josh Kreutz. He has no one to block!

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I wanted to highlight this one because it shows the other side of the RPO game. We've all seen RPO plays where Luke Altmyer pulls the ball back from the runner and hits a quick pass if the receiver on the play side isn't covered. However, Illinois uses RPO action as a way to open a running lane in this case. They've done this frequently this year but I haven't had a good opportunity to highlight it until now. Focus on Hudson Clement. There's no way he's getting the ball here because if Altmyer were to throw to him the linemen would certainly be too far from the line of scrimmage. However, when you bring him in motion you force the corner to stay wide instead of crashing down on the run. You put him in conflict and ensure that your runner is going to have an easy 10 yards given how many blockers Illinois has dedicated to sealing the edge. Josh Gesky barely has anyone to lean on when he comes around the edge.

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When I saw this play at first, I thought it was a sight adjust based on two of the defenders collapsing on Hank Beatty. However, after re watching a few times, I think Clement was the primary option on this play. Altmyer keeps his eyes firmly on Clement the whole time even as he pump fakes to Beatty. Either way, this is more poor defensive planning from Maryland. Altmyer really had his pick of good options here as Dixon had position on his defender in the end zone, and even if cornerback Jamare Glasker hadn't bitten on the pump fake to Beatty, he was going to have a hard time staying with Clement on a corner route. Bunch formations like this are always tough to deal with, but this one was particularly poorly defended.

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Illinois salted the game away with this inside handoff to Jordan Anderson. Illinois has run this a few times in short yardage situations this year, but Maryland didn't seem to know it. Altmyer adds a fake to Kaden Feagin on this play that I haven't seen before, but you'd still like to see Maryland defend this a little better given that Anderson has run it 5 times already this year. Christian Abney shows you why he's earned so much playing time this year with a great kickout block, btw.

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As we discussed on I on the Illini, it was a bit of an uninteresting match-up given that Illinois was in control for most of the game and there were no "wow" plays on either side of the ball, but at the same time I need to remind anyone who's bored out there: This is what you've been waiting for your entire lives. Illinois just secured its first back to back 7 win seasons in more than a decade (since 2010-11). If Illinois wins over a resurgent Wisconsin team in Madison, it would be the first consecutive 8-win seasons since 1989-1990. And in case you're wondering, two more wins would bring the first back-to-back 9-win seasons EVER. So yes, this season is a little bit of a letdown since Illinois has missed its best chance to make the CFP, but keep in mind that Illinois is poised to have its best back-to-back seasons ever, and that it is the result of a building program rather than a couple of star players. Not only that, but the Big Ten is the strongest it's ever been and Illinois has continued to schedule a credible out of conference schedule. Given the number of repeat plays I saw against Maryland in the week after a bye, I am also guessing that Illinois has put in some new wrinkles specifically for the tougher games coming up at Madison and at home against the resurgent Wildcats of Northwestern. Despite the Mike Locksley factor, both of those upcoming games probably mean more to Bret Bielema. So, if you're a little unenthused right now, think back to the days when Illinois had a tough time winning any Big Ten game at all. It wasn't that long ago.