Three Instant Observations From Illinois' 43-27 Win Over Purdue

Coming off an emotionally draining win over USC, Illinois avoided what could have been a disastrous slip-up Saturday against Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Illini (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) didn't exactly dominate, but bleeding out the Boilermakers in a comfortable-in-the-end 43-27 win sure beat a repeat of last year's overtime scare.

Below Illinois on SI shares our initial impressions from Saturday's formidable (if flawed) Illini win:

1. It ain't luck if you keep it up

Fumble recoveries are considered by stats nerds to be mostly random fluctuations in the matrix, blips on the radar that can't be accounted for or controlled. So how does that explain Illinois?

After Saturday, the Illini have now forced eight fumbles on the season and recovered all of them. Linebacker Dylan Rosiek popped the ball loose on one play in the first half, and Ashton Hollins made a superb play poking it away on a punt return that put Illinois in instant scoring position. Statistical noise? Not exactly.

Illinois recovered a chaotic fumble to put themselves in great field position 👀 @IlliniFootball

📺: BTN pic.twitter.com/Wb2SoohAsF
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 4, 2025

Defensive coordinator Aaron Henry and his position coaches teach their players to attack the ball, and it seems Illinois' defenders are either also taught or intuitively understand that the second and third man in the area needs to be ready to hop on the ball in the event that it hits the turf. It fits with Henry's otherwise conservative scheme: prevent big plays, force opposing offenses to put together long drives of mistake-free football, then create and pounce on any every possible loose-ball opportunity. That 100 percent recovery rate isn't sustainable, but the Illini are 15-4 over the past season and a half sticking to Henry's defensive formula. Hard to argue against that.

2. The Illini have no one to cover Jeremiah Smith

That off-putting odor you smell? It's the burnt ends of cornerbacks across the Big Ten who have been cooked by Ohio State robo-receiver Jeremiah Smith. A projected top-five NFL Draft pick who draws Calvin Johnson comparisons, the 6-foot-3, 223-pound Smith had 28 catches for 396 yards and four touchdowns through four games going into the Buckeyes' Saturday evening game against Minnesota. He is arguably the best receiver in college football.

👀 Jeremiah Smith got these Minnesota DB's speechless... at a loss for words... 😳 translation... HEEELLLLPPP! 😭 #GOBucks pic.twitter.com/zRkDWviV0c
— B.Moses (@bmoses30) October 3, 2025

That should, frankly, terrify the Illini. With cornerback Xavier Scott injured and out, the defense has shown too many cracks to plug every leak. But a player like Smith could force the whole thing to blow open. Any scheme with any hope of neutralizing Smith would compromise Illinois' D so severely everywhere else that Henry will have to resort to half-measures and hope. Whichever poison the Illini pick is likely fatal.

3. Illinois isn't built to beat Ohio State

The Illini have landed on some tactics that are mostly keeping the pressure off Luke Altmyer, and the offense has scored a combined 77 points on Big Ten defenses over the past two weeks. Special teams has been a bright spot, and the defense is, at the very least, completing the assignment. (See above.)

It's not enough. Smith will be a problem for Illinois, of course, but OSU is loaded with talent across the board that can't just be schemed around. It starts up front. Consider one play late in the Purdue game: Up 40-27 with about five minutes left, the Illini were deep in Boilermakers territory and could have salted away the game with a first down on fourth-and-1. They set up in a tight formation, sent a tight end in motion to the point of attack and took their best shot hammering one up the gut.

Nope. Stuffed. Again, it was one play. But if you can't line up and win a my-guys-versus-your-guys battle at a critical moment against Purdue, sorry – it isn't happening over four quarters against Ohio State.