Illini Film Review - A Dreadful Pass Defense & Coran Taylor’s Roller Coaster Ride

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- After Wisconsin completed four passes that went 20 yards in the air in the season and 14 passes down the middle of the field and mostly to the tight end, Illinois head coach Lovie Smith wanted to see improvement from game one to game two.

On Purdue’s first play Saturday, after a week of practice and corrections being made, the Illini defense allowed a completion of a 21-yard pass down the middle of the field to a tight end.

Not exactly the improvement Smith and the Illinois defense, which is now last in all of college football (among teams that have played multiple games this season) in nearly all categories against the pass.

In this weekly edition of Illini Film Review, I thought we’d begin with that first play of the game to illustrate the communication issues and fundamentals that veteran players are involved with in an Illinois defense that is surrendering passing yards in bulk without much resistance.

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The Play: Purdue ball, 1st and 10, Purdue 20-yard-line

Before the snap: Illinois is in man coverage with safety help over the top (classic Cover-2 look). Cornerback Nate Hobbs drawing wide receiver David Bell and Illini linebacker Milo Eifler having the responsibility of tight end Payne Durham. Illinois safety Tony Adams is the safety on that side of the field.

After the snap: Bell and Durham both beat the Illini defenders off the line-of-scrimmage and this is a problem because the middle of the field is now vulnerable because of the RPO action in the backfield drawing middle linebacker Jake Hansen forward to honor the run element. When Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell pulls the football back, his choice is either to hit Bell on a flag route toward the sidelines or Durham in the middle of the field. O’Connell correctly lets Illinois linebacker Eifler decide his throw for him as Eifler helps Hobbs on coverage on Bell.

The issue, as I see it, with this defensive action is Adams and the fact that at the snap of the ball he’s already turning his hips and sprinting ten yards downfield. By doing this, with Hansen being forced to honor the run, the middle of the field is wide open. This is almost a carbon copy of how Wisconsin managed to get tight end Jake Ferguson open consistently in the 45-7 loss to the Badgers. In the first play following that blowout loss, Illinois (0-2) is still managing to have the middle of the field uncovered.

Game Result: According to Pro Football Focus, O’Connell managed to complete 22 of 26 passes for 231 yards in between the hash marks. This is one week after Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz completed 14 of 15 for 160 yards. This is obviously a major problem for Lovie Smith’s Cover-2 scheme created by veteran pieces of his defense.

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The Play: Purdue ball, 1st and 10, Illinois 45-yard-line

Before the snap: Illinois is in man coverage with safety help over the top (classic Cover-2 look). Hobbs draws wide receiver Milton Wright and Illinois safety Sydney Brown is the safety on that side of the field.

After the snap: This is a classic example of Lovie Smith calling a defense to eliminate a deep ball and designed to keep all plays in front of his defenders. Wright runs a straight deep route past Hobbs and that’s not the worst possible result as he’s supposed to be covered over the top by Brown. However, and you can’t see this via your television screen, Brown is very late in recognizing Wright breaking down the seam and is too slow to make up the difference before O’Connell’s throw is made. This is basic stuff that the Illini aren’t executing and has to be very frustrating for Smith to watch.

Game Result: According to CFBStats.com, Illinois is one of the worst pass defenses in terms of completion percentage, yards per pass and pass plays of 30 yards or more. The communication issues between cornerbacks and safeties is becoming a disturbing trend for Smith’s defense when they were supposed to have reliable, veteran pieces.

“Well there are some great plays, at least one great play on their side. Them getting behind us, especially the longer 40-50 yard throws, those are the ones that are tough,” said Smith, who is 8-30 in Big Ten Conference play at Illinois. “The other plays they made were good plays for them, but we continue to get plagued from touchdown passes and it's something we need to clean up.”

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CORAN TAYLOR'S UPS AND DOWNS vs. PURDUE

Before Saturday, Coran Taylor’s last significant action at Memorial Stadium was his junior year of high school. Taylor passed for 215 yards and two touchdowns along with running for 134 yards and three touchdowns in a 62-48 win for Peoria High School in the IHSA Class 5A state title game over Vernon Hills. Taylor, who woke on Thursday as the fourth-string quarterback, was given the opportunity after the first series of this game and provided several exciting game-changing moments and four disappointing turnovers in what might be expected in an up-and-down performance against Purdue on Saturday.

“When you’re fourth on the depth chart you don’t get a lot of plays during practice preparing for the opponent. But Coran has paid attention, he knows our offense, and I thought he did a great job considering the tough situation we were forced to be in,” Smith said. “There were some other things we needed to do better but he gave us a chance to win.”

The Play: Illinois ball, 1st and 10, Illinois 41-yard-line

Before the snap: While nearing the end of the first half, Illinois is in an empty-set formation with four wide receivers and a tight end split outside. Purdue is in a prevent defense with a three-man rush but the second level of the Purdue defense isn’t as deep as you’d think or how they played afterwards in a third-and-long prevent situation.

After the snap: This is an example of Taylor creating a play out of nothing simply by his ability to freelance after a play breaks down. Taylor’s primary target, which is either Daniel Barker or the outside receiver on his left (likely Josh Imatorbhebhe) is covered up, he’s able to scramble away from a Purdue rush with his eyes staying downfield. Due to this fundamental principle of keeping his eyes down the field, Purdue’s zone coverage loses Brian Hightower down the sideline (likely because either the safety, cornerback or both have to honor Taylor’s ability to run because he’d just shown a 33-yard quarterback draw) and it becomes an easy throw to set up three points for the Illini.

Bell and Durham both beat the Illini defenders off the line-of-scrimmage and this is a problem because the middle of the field is now vulnerable because of the RPO action in the backfield drawing middle linebacker Jake Hansen forward to honor the run element. When Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell pulls the football back, his choice is either to hit David Bell on a flag route toward the sidelines or Payne Durham in the middle of the field. O’Connell correctly lets Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler decide his throw for him as Eifler helps Hobbs on coverage on Bell.

Game Result: This is why Taylor, who finished with 305 total yards (273 passing and 32 rushing) has to be the option going forward for Rod Smith’s offense. His ability to do the running and improvise after the initial targets are covered is why the Peoria native can adapt so quickly to the responsibility that Illinois asks from the quarterback position. Imagine a Juice Williams-type athleticism but with clearly a stronger arm.

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The Play: Illinois ball, 2nd and 3, Illinois 8-yard-line

Before the snap: I show this play because it exemplifies the idea of how watching the film afterwards helps you understand how decision-making isn’t necessarily a problem but poor execution is the culprit of a mistake. Illinois is in a single-back set with a tight end in motion (Luke Ford) and two receivers, including tight end Daniel Barker, split out wide to the right. Ford goes in motion and nobody goes with him and Purdue’s linebackers never indicate they’re handing him off so that should indicate the defense is playing some zone principles.

After the snap: Purdue doesn’t honor the RPO handoff at all, which is surprising in a 2-and-3 situation. However, Taylor still has plenty of options to deliver the football despite seeing a free rusher in his face. Taylor should still be able to see Ford out on the flat that would easily pick up the first down but he’s also correct to notice Barker has found the open space in Purdue’s zone coverage. Here is the specific problem for this throw that eventually turns into an interception - the mechanics of Taylor’s throw is terrible. A habit that Taylor needs to break as soon as possible is throwing, with all arm, with his feet going in a different direction should be cause for concern. Believe it or not, this is a timing route and a touch pass is needed. However, because Taylor’s footwork is not sound, the throw is zipped way too hard and it is also sailed too high, again because his bottom half isn’t helping him make this throw. The decision is actually fine and Barker may have actually been able to get more yards after the catch than Ford would’ve but the execution of this throw needs to be better especially when the Illini are near its own goal line.

Game Result: This is one of four turnovers Taylor had to take responsibility for, which caused Illinois to lose this game. These are the kind of throws that Taylor will need to improve on because it is likely Illinois offensive coordinator Rod Smith will want to get him on the perimeter for higher percentage throws.

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The Play: Illinois ball, 2nd and 9, Illinois 3-yard-line

Before the snap: Similar single-back set as the previous play we showed. I have to be honest when I say that I’m just not sure what Illinois offensive coordinator Rod Smith is trying to accomplish with this call. It is an option run to the strong side after Mike Epstein couldn’t get any more than a yard on a first-down carry.

After the snap: Purdue doesn’t bite on an awkward RPO action to Epstein but Illinois, specifically Luke Ford on the perimeter, does actually get this play blocked up well. However, Taylor will still have to account for the free rusher on any option play and that player is safety Marvin Grant. The play for Taylor is to pitch the ball to Epstein and you can almost see Epstein waiting to get the football but this has all the looks of Smith’s play call putting Taylor in a really difficult position. You might understand why Taylor, who might remember the interception he threw near the goal line, doesn’t feel comfortable to pitch the ball backwards into his own end zone. What if the pitch isn’t on target causing an instant safety or touchdown for the defense? Taylor then decides to keep the football, which is exactly what Grant wants him to do.

Game Result: Grant executes a textbook hit on Taylor causing a fumble and Jalen Graham recovers the football in the end zone for a gifted touchdown. By the way, once Grant made the hit, Daniel Barker flat-out whiffs on his block of Jalen Graham, who Barker never touched, on the perimeter. For a fourth-string quarterback, this play call had the potential of more bad occurring than good. In future games, you would hope Taylor has more confidence to make that pitch but it is logical in that moment understanding how this inexperienced third-year sophomore was afraid of another turnover and because of that, his fears were realized.