"On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been (aside from that one time in 1892)
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again."
For the first time this season, Illinois will hit the road, traveling to Lawrence, Kansas, to take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday night in the first meeting between the two programs in 55 years.
The two sides will square off for the sixth time in program history, with Illinois holding the all-time 3-2 advantage in the series, though it will be the first time the Fighting Illini are playing the Jayhawks in Lawrence since 1892.
The Illini head into the contest off a come-from-behind 30-28 victory over Toledo on Saturday, while Friday's hosts cruised to a 48-17 win over Missouri State behind a big 31-point second-half outburst.
Led by third-year head coach Lance Leipold, Kansas put together its best season since 2008 last year, a campaign that saw the Jayhawks start 5-0 and ultimately earn a berth in the Liberty Bowl. With seven all-conference players back in Lawrence in 2023, Leipold has his squad ready to square off with the Orange and Blue.
"Everywhere Lance has gone, they've always won," said Illinois head coach Bret Bielema. "It's just super important to realize that he is a solid, fundamental coach in offense, defense, and special teams. He's surrounded himself with coaches who have been with him a long time. They believe in their system. They believe in what they do, and it's proven to be successful everywhere he's been.
"It'll be a tremendous challenge on Friday. Super excited to get there and see where we're at."
With two resurgent programs set to play under the lights on national television, let's run through a few storylines to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest.
Offense: Can the Illini find more success with its run game?
As Illinois works to replace the production and replicate the success it had on the ground in 2022, the Illini have leaned on running backs Reggie Love III and Josh McCray to lead the offense's rushing attack this year. Both players registered double-digit carries on Saturday night, as they combined to average 3.8 yards per carry on their 23 attempts.
Quarterback Luke Altmyer, who will make his first-career road start on Friday, finished the game as the team's leading rusher with 69 yards on nine attempts, and the Illini accumulated 163 rushing yards throughout the course of the contest, a figure that ranked fourth among Big Ten teams.
In Kansas' win over Missouri State, though, the Jayhawks held their opponent to just 74 yards on the ground on 27 attempts while holding the Bears' Jacardia Wright to a career-low 23 rushing yards.
Despite losing redshirt freshman RB Jordan Anderson to a season-ending knee injury, Illinois has plenty of talent within its running-back room to pose problems for the Kansas defense. The Illini offensive line continues to work toward developing chemistry and cohesion, as they look to take a step forward in Week 2 and help the team establish its ground game once again.
Defense: Will Illinois be able to limit big-yardage plays on first down?
The Illini defense shifted the momentum in Illinois' favor with a second-half pick six from Miles Scott, who made his debut at safety and earned Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors after tallying six tackles, an interception, and a pass break-up.
"I thought he handled the moment really well," Bielema said. "Obviously, that one play was a huge factor in the game, but he made so many other plays. Just really good awareness, common sense, demeanor, skill. Just a really, really good opening game for him. I think he's gonna be a very good football player here for a long time."
One of the biggest areas of improvement for the Illinois defense will need to be preventing big pickups on first down, an issue that led to several very manageable second- and third-down scenarios for the Toledo offense on Saturday. In fact, the Rockets managed to pick up a fresh set of downs within one or two plays every time it gained at least six yards on a first-down play, a phenomenon that happened 16 times.
Though Toledo only managed to go 7-for-15 on third down, the Jayhawks will take advantage of big-yardage plays, especially after averaging 6.4 yards per rush and 12.5 yards per completion in its 31-point win.
Illinois will also have to work on improving its defensive discipline, as Toledo picked up six first downs via defensive penalties. The Illini tied for the second-most penalties among Power-5 teams during Week 1, an issue the coaching staff is working to correct heading into Friday.
Opponent: What challenges does the Jayhawk offense pose?
Headlined by quarterback Jalon Daniels, who was voted the 2023 Big 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, the Kansas offense averaged 35.6 points per game last season, which ranked second in the Big 12 and 21st overall.Â
The Jayhawks return multiple pieces from that unit, including Daniels; running back Devin Neal, who led the team in rushing and was a 2022 second-team All-Big 12 selection and 2023 preseason all-conference honoree; and offensive lineman Mike Novitsky, a second-teamer one year ago and a preseason inclusion on the All-Big 12 team.
Though Kansas scored 48 points in its season opener, it did so without its starting quarterback, who is expected to return on Friday. Regardless of who the starter is, eight different receivers and five different rushers registered at least catch or carry, respectively. QB2 Jason Bean also proved just as effective as his injured counterpart against the Bears on Saturday, totaling 276 passing yards, 41 rushing yards, and two touchdowns while completing 78.6% of his passes.
Whether Kansas goes with Bean or Daniels as its starting quarterback on Friday, both players provide a danger through the air and on the ground. Daniels recorded over 2,000 passing yards and 425 rushing yards in his nine starts while registering 25 total touchdowns – 18 passing and seven rushing – last year. Through Saturday's game against Missouri State, Bean has over 2,500 passing yards and 600 rushing yards throughout his career.Â
Illinois is familiar with dual-threat quarterbacks after playing against Toledo's Finn, though Bielema understands the different challenges the Jayhawk duo poses.
"Depending on who we see at quarterback," Bielema said, "I just know their quarterback and the way he moves, whichever quarterback they play or roll with, the ability for them to run and create plays with their athleticism is real with all of them."
