Illinois left Friday night with a loss to No. 4 UCLA, but the trip still gave Bret Bielema something to point to beyond the final score.
The Illini had a chance to steal the game late, with the ball and a five-point deficit in the closing minutes, before the result slipped away. Even so, the postgame conversation quickly turned to the defense - and to interim defensive coordinator Roger Cooper, whose name is starting to sound a lot more like a real candidate than a stopgap.
Bielema didn’t shut that door when asked about Cooper’s future.
“Yeah, I think two things. The kids have a lot of fun. I think our defensive guys really believe in our coaches.”
He also praised the way the staff is working together on game day, contrasting that communication with the issues another Illinois team is facing right now.
“I just love being on that defensive headset to hear the communication that is happening between Coop, Archie (McDaniel), Corey (Parker), and Robbie Hauck. Those guys really are a team effort to put the ball in a position to be successful, and our guys have really battled.”
Illinois’ defensive staff has been through a lot this season. Bielema hired Bobby Hauck as defensive coordinator in February after Hauck arrived from Montana, where he had been a successful head coach. But Hauck’s run in Champaign was short-lived; he lasted only four games before Illinois moved on.
Since Cooper took over the play-calling, the results have changed fast. Illinois has gone 4-2 in that span and is headed back to a bowl game for the third straight year.
The numbers back up the turnaround. Under Hauck, Illinois allowed 32 points per game in its three FBS games.
Since the change, the defense has given up 20.5 points per game over six games, including an overtime game in which it allowed 37. Over the last four games, that number has dropped all the way to 15.5 points per game.
That kind of swing is hard to ignore, and it’s why Cooper’s case is getting louder. While the instinct after a firing is often to look outside for a fresh voice, the current setup has clearly clicked. Cooper has steadied the unit, the players have bought in, and Bielema’s comments suggest Illinois may already have its next defensive coordinator in-house.
In Other News...
Illinois Loss Exposed One Big Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Illinois had enough on the defensive side to keep UCLA from running away with the game, but the offense never found a steady rhythm in the 22-14 loss. Katin Houser had a rough day, and the problems up front were hard to miss as UCLAs defense kept disrupting Illinois plans. Even so, there were a few encouraging signs, including Kaden Feagins smooth move to tight end, which added a different dimension to the offense and gave the Illini something to build on.
The bigger concern is how often Illinois looked stuck when it needed a response. The defense did its part and gave the Illini chances to stay in it, but the offense could not consistently take advantage of them. For a team trying to find its footing, that kind of imbalance is tough to ignore, especially when the pressure keeps landing on the quarterback and the line to sort things out before the next game. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Just Lost More Than A Winning Streak In Pasadena
Illinois trip to the Rose Bowl ended with more than just a loss on the scoreboard. The Fighting Illini fell 22-14 to UCLA, snapping a four-game winning streak and running into a Bruins defense that made life difficult from the start. Illinois also had to navigate a thin rushing attack because of injuries, which only added to the pressure on quarterback Katin Houser.
UCLA got enough from Ty Dieffenbach to control the game even after he missed part of it with an injury, as the Bruins quarterback still managed 232 passing yards and two touchdowns. Illinois could never fully recover from Housers three interceptions, and the drive-killing safety only deepened the frustration on a day when the Illini had chances to stay in it but couldnt finish enough possessions. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Has A Duke Problem After This Sloppy Sam Houston Win
Illinois got the result it needed against Sam Houston, but the way it got there offered a reminder that cleaner play will be required once the schedule tightens. The Illini were sloppy in the first half before settling in and lighting up the scoreboard after halftime, with upperclassmen Tomislav Ivisic, Andrej Stojakovic and Stefan Vaaks helping steady the offense and push the game into comfortable territory.
Quentin Coleman also gave Illinois a useful lift as a freshman, even if the growing pains showed up along the way, and Zvonimir Ivisic added a defensive spark off the bench. For a team trying to build toward bigger tests, the win was encouraging enough on the surface, but the uneven stretches are the kind of thing that can become a real issue when the competition rises. [Read more 🡒]