Nebraska Opponent Spring Review: Illinois

As Nebraska enters a critical fifth season under head coach Scott Frost in 2022, we decided to look at where things stand with the Huskers’ 12 opponents coming out of spring practices.

Today we continue with Illinois, which will have a new offensive in 2022 and a big hole in the secondary. Doug Bucshon of OrangeandBlueNews.com gave us his thoughts on the Fighting Illini's spring and their midseason matchup with the Huskers.

Related: Northwestern | North Dakota | Georgia Southern | Oklahoma | Rutgers | Purdue |

1. New offensive coordinator

Barry Lunney Jr. joined the Fighting Illini as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after Tony Petersen was fired after the 2021 season. Lunney Jr. was an associate head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at UTSA before heading to Illinois.

Illinois installed a completely new offense that is a more uptempo, no-huddle type offense.

The Fighting Illini's offense ranked No. 11 in the Big Ten in 2021 while its defense stood at No. 6. Illinois went 5-7 in Bret Bielema's first season as head coach and is hoping to build on its success with a new offense.

2. New man under center

Not only does Illinois have a new offense they also have a new man under center in Syracuse transfer quarterback Tommy DeVito.

DeVito started in 15 games over his five seasons (redshirted in 2017) at Syracuse. He was the starter at Syracuse in 2019 as a sophomore but he suffered a season-ending injury after four games in the 2020 season.

The six-year senior completed 337-of-572 passes for 3,866 passing yards and rushed for 218 career yards at Syracuse.

Bucshon said from the limited practices the media was allowed to watch this spring, DeVito looked pretty good.

3. Big shoes to fill in the secondary

Illinois needs to replace All-Big Ten first team and PFF All-America second-team safety Kerby Joseph. Joseph was selected in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Detriot Lions in the third round.

Bucshon said the Fighting Illini coaching staff is still shuffling around the secondary to find who is going to replace Joseph.

Six-year senior Kendall Smith, who has been primarily a special teams, was the starting free safety in the spring. Redshirt freshman Kionte Curry is also on the shortlist and could play at free or strong safety, Bucshon said.

Safety Sydney Brown, a fifth-year senior, could potentially be moved from strong safety to free safety. Brown was an All-Big Ten honorable mention by the league coaches and media in 2021.

Bucshon: "I don't know a lot about Nebraska right now as far as who they got coming back and who they lost. But it's been an interesting matchup for the last several years. I think both teams had their share of wins in the series, and it's been competitive.

"For Illinois, they're kind of in a transition year or rebuilding year. So we don't really know what to expect, especially offensively with a big group of seniors and super seniors graduating. So it's really early to try to figure out the matchup, but it's been a pretty good matchup the last few years."

Bucshon: "It's a kind of a rebuilding year for them, a transition year. So I think a bowl game is always your goal, getting to the six wins, but I think that's going to be difficult for them.

"With losing all the seniors and a new offensive coordinator, realistically they're probably looking at a five-win season. I haven't really taken a deep dive into the schedule yet to figure out which ones are going to win and lose, but they don't look like a bowl team right now."