For Big Ten fans, it’s scary to imagine the league’s best passing offense as better this season. It’s even scarier for Illinois fans, who know their team’s defense will likely be much worse.
With the return of Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn on offense, paired with the losses of arguably the top four players on defense, that discrepancy might become all the more noticeable for the Fighting Illini.
Williams, a senior quarterback from Chicago, led the Big Ten in passing (3,173) and total yards (3,892) last season. At the Big Ten media days in Chicago, Illinois head coach Ron Zook said he expects more balance.
“We don’t have to put the team on Juice’s back,” he said. “Juice can just be who he is. And with the weapons that we have, we feel like we’ll have enough.”
In Illinois’ first game against then-No. 6 Missouri last year, Williams threw for 451 yards and five touchdowns in a losing effort. His production ranged from fantastic to mediocre throughout the rest of the season, highlighted by 431 yards of total offense at Michigan (the most ever surrendered by a Maize-and-Blue squad).
Williams later set a career mark for passing yards (462) in a 27-20 loss to Minnesota. By season’s end, it was enough for the conference media, which honored Williams with a second team All-Big Ten selection.
While Williams is undoubtedly the leader on offense, Illinois is still searching for its man on defense.
“I think he understands the position much, much better, and there’s no reason to believe that he can’t be a guy in the middle that [succeeds],” Zook said.
Aside from Wilson, the Illini are short on returning defensive playmakers. Cornerback Vontae Davis is gone, and linebacker Rodney Pittman, and tackle David Lindquist also need to be replaced in a defense that ranked ninth in the Big Ten in both scoring defense and turnover margin. While the offense wasn’t always perfect, it was no secret the defense was largely responsible for a disappointing 5-7 season and no postseason bowl — just one year after going to the Rose Bowl.
“I would express that as a slap in the face with wet hands,” Benn said.
Benn — one of the most dynamic receivers in the Big Ten, if not the nation — is returning for his junior year after catching 67 passes for 1,055 yards. He is the first since 2002 and one of only four players in Illinois history to top 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
Senior running back Daniel Dufrene was somewhat underused last year, but with the arrival of new offensive coordinator Mike Schultz, he could have a solid year.
The newest weapon in the offense is receiver Jarred Fayson, who transferred from Florida after playing two years as a reserve, the first of which was the Gator’s 2006-07 national championship campaign.
“I think that’s one of the exciting things about our team right now,” Zook said. “These guys understand that it doesn’t have to be just one guy.”