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102 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED Who Needs Defense? I llinois took a step forward by reaching a bowl game in Year 3 under Coach Tim Beckman, then a step backward by getting handled by Louisiana Tech in said bowl game. And so Beckman's place in charge of the Fighting Illini remains un- changed: Tenuous, at best. With that in mind, in addition to some controversy this off-season, this will be a critical year for the coach. Then again, it's that kind of year in the Big Ten, lots of hot seats. For Beckman's to cool, matching last season's .500 regular season may not be enough. For the Illini to exceed it, they sim- ply must figure out a way to stop op- ponents, some how some way. Illinois has been atrocious on de- fense under Beckman, bottoming out last season by allowing a league- worst 481-plus yards per game in eight Big Ten contests, 30 more than 13th-place Indiana in that particular statistical category. For the entire season, Illinois allowed the most points of any conference team, an av- erage of 34. Opponents averaged more than 288 rushing yards in conference play against an Illinois defense that was not only physically overmatched at times, but horribly mistake-prone at others, Purdue's 349-yard rushing outburst in Champaign among them. Defensive improvement has to start up front. "They just think they have more talent on the defensive line now," said Doug Bucshon of Orangeand- BlueNews.com, the Rivals.com site that covers Illinois. "… They think they have more talent, more experi- ence and more depth on the defen- sive line and obviously stopping the run is going to be their focus. They haven't been very good at it the last two or three years. They think they'll be better now just because of some of the guys they have on the defen- sive line that they think can be pretty good." 8/30 YOUNGSTOWN ST.. . . W, 28-17 9/6 W. KENTUCKY . . . . . . W, 42-34 9/13 at Washington . . . . . . L, 19-44 9/20 TEXAS STATE . . . . . . . W, 42-35 9/27 at Nebraska . . . . . . . . L, 14-45 10/4 PURDUE . . . . . . . . . . . L, 27-38 10/11 at Wisconsin . . . . . . . L, 28-38 10/25 MINNESOTA . . . . . . . . W, 28-24 11/1 at Ohio State . . . . . . . L, 14-55 11/15 IOWA . . . . . . . . . . . . . L, 30-14 11/22 PENN STATE. . . . . . . . W, 16-14 11/29 at Northwestern . . . . . W, 47-33 12/26 LOUISIANA TECH . . . . L, 18-35 Who's in Charge? COACH TIM BECKMAN Record at Illinois: 12-25 (three seasons) Record vs. Purdue: 1-2 IIllinois Josh Ferguson figures to be a big part of Illinois' offense this season, after he had nearly 1,200 yards offensively last year. Illinois Fighting Illini 2015 OPPONENT PRE VIE W N OV. 7 • RO S S - A D E S TA D I U M, W E S T L A FAYE T T E • T I M E: N O O N • T V: T BA 9/4 KENT STATE 9/12 WEST. ILLINOIS 9/19 at North Carolina 9/26 MID. TENNESSEE 10/3 NEBRASKA 10/10 at Iowa 10/24 WISCONSIN 10/31 at Penn State 11/7 at Purdue 11/14 OHIO STATE 11/21 at Minnesota 11/28 NORTHWESTERN 2014 Results (6-7) 2015 Schedule G O L D A N D B L AC K 'S E A R LY L I N E : P U R D U E - 3 Illinois was one of five teams in the country to allow more than 450 yards a game and make a bowl game. OF NOTE: Wide receiver Mike Dudek broke Illinois' school record for receiving yards by a freshman with 965, topping a mark previously set by Arrelious Benn in 2007. Dudek caught eight passes for 200 yards against Purdue. Arizona 451.0 yards per game Illinois 456.4 yards per game Bowling Green 493.6 yards per game North Carolina 497.8 yards per game Western Kentucky 509.9 yards per game