Illinois +7.5 5.5% POD
I know this canât be an exciting play on Illinois after last
weekâs game against Ball State, but Western Kentucky did not look good in an
under the radar game against a bad FCS team (Eastern Kentucky â 3-8 LY). This is a much different Western Kentucky
team than previous years as they return only 10 starters. Mike White is back at QB, but he loses Taywan
Taylor and Nicholas Norris who combined for 31 of his 37 passing TDâs last year
and over 3,000 receiving yards. Those
are major losses on top of losing your head coach Jeff Brohm. In comes a non-impressive coaching staff that
is young without head coaching experience or coordinator experience.
This is a coaching mismatch if I ever saw one. You have Lovie Smith on one side with former
HC and DC as his coordinators. Lovie has
coached an NFL team to the Super Bowl with an awful QB. On the flip side the Hilltoppers have Mike Sanford
a first time head coach and I really donât like the coaching tree he comes
from. His defensive coordinator Clayton
White has no coordinator experience he was NC Stateâs special teams coach since
2013 and those units have never finished in the top 50. Sanfordâs offensive coordinator is Junior
Adams who has been a âpassing game coordinator,â and is another guy with little
experience. Couple that with the fact
that the Hilltoppers return just 10 starters, and Illinois has been out
recruiting them ranking 49th vs. 90th this past year.
Illinois does have an experienced offensive line, running
backs they get an injured WR back from 2015 and although it did not show
against Ball State the defense is going to be better, and I truly think the
offense will be to. ITâs also worth
noting that Western Kentucky has Louisiana Tech next week their main rival in conference
play as they met them in the Championship game a year ago. I can easily see Illinois coming up with the
outright upset.
Where to find Freddy?