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Miami Herald

Illinois Defense Preview 2025: The Fighting Illini D Will Be One of the Big Ten's Best

The defense finished 14th in the Big Ten, was miserable at generating third down stops, and didn't do much at coming up with any tackles for loss. But outside of a few weird performances - like, allowing 49 points to Purdue, 31 to Rutgers, and 28 to Northwestern, all wins - it found ways to bend hard without a ton of breaking. 2025 Illinois Preview Illinois Offense BreakdownSeason Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season- The secondary is loaded. Almost all of the stars are back, starting with All-Big Ten safety Xavier Scott and fourth-leading tackler Miles Scott. These two are all over the field - Scott is one of the conference's best ball-hawkers - and junior Matthew Bailey is getting to everything else. The team's leading tackler with 94 stops and seven broken up passes, Bailey is about to get a whole lot more corners aren't as strong as the safeties, but they're good. Kaleb Patterson, Jameim Clarke, and Torrie Cox Jr. weren't always air-tight, but they're veterans who know what they're doing. - The linebackers will push the safeties for the star power. Gabe Jacas is a game-wrecking pass rusher, earning All-Big Ten honors, making 74 tackles, eight sacks, and 13 tackles for loss. Fifth-year senior Leon Lowery comes in from Wisconsin - he was great at Syracuse for two years before going to Madison - to work on the other side. Dylan Rosiek eats up tackles in the middle, but he got knocked out with a broken leg. He's expected to be back and fine, and Kenenna Odeluga should step up after getting his feet wet last year. They'll do the dirty work to let the outside guys shine. - The Illini might be loaded with experience across the board, but the defensive front will be all about the transfer portal. Former Wisconsin Badger James Thompson was one of the biggest and best gets in the portal - more on him in a bit - and Tomiwa Durojaiye has a world of upside, but without a ton of stats at West Virginia and then Florida State. 6-0, 300-pound Curt Neal (Wisconsin) is a bowling ball who can hold up on the nose. Season Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season2025 Illinois PreviewIllinois Offense Breakdown © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.