Illinois
Five questions for Illinois & Bret Bielema to answer this offseason
The college football season ended Monday night. On to the 2024 season, and the big questions we have for Illinois this offseason.
5. Who replaces Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph?
Johnny Newton has the chance to become Illinois’ second top-10 draft pick in as many years. To no one’s surprise, Newton and Randolph affected opposing lines enough to change the game. We all know the impact an injury-riddled Randolph and the absence of Newton had on the defensive line in the Wisconsin game, so how does Illinois replace a key part of its 2023 defense.
Sure, there will be some growing pains, but Illinois has retooled quite well on the defensive side. Illinois added transfers Enyce Sledge from Auburn and Anthony Johnson from Youngstown State. Sledge didn’t see much playing time as a freshman at Auburn but was a top-50 recruit out of Louisiana in 2022. Johnson had 25 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks in 2022. Illinois also picked up 3 star edge Josiah Knight and Hutchinson C.C. Edge Daniel Brown. Brown was the highest ranked outside linebacker out of JUCO.
Knight has a high upside but will still be a development piece in 2024. It should be interesting how Sledge, Johnson, and Brown slot into the Illini front 7 and compete with the players currently on the roster.
4. Can Aaron Henry patch the holes on the defense?
The transition from Ryan Walters to Henry was all but rosy. The Illini lost their secondary after 2022 and will lose its most impactful players on its front seven in 2023. The players are one end of the spectrum but the other side is scheme. Illinois and Purdue were the worst performing defenses on most metrics in the Big Ten. It is possible that other teams have figured out the base Walters defense and after playing that same style of defense for 3 years something needs to change.
This is probably the biggest question of the off season, something that we really won’t be able to see until Illinois kicks off against an unnamed opponent on Aug. 31. We should see bits and pieces in the spring game and Illinois will have key players back in the secondary and hopefully a healthy Matthew Bailey.
3. Can Luke Altmyer bounce back?
Believe it or not, Altmyer had the fourth-highest yards per game in the Big Ten, eighth-most touchdowns, and fifth-highest passer rating. The hot hand was Paddock in the last four games of the season, but Altmyer’s first year was nothing but stellar for Illinois. Include Paddock and Illinois had the third-best passing attack in the Big Ten, and that should continue into 2024.
There are two things that would hinder Altmyer’s rise in the rankings in 2024: the wide receivers and a retooled offensive line. Pat Bryant would be the only returning receiver over 500 yards and will need to be more consistent in 2024. I need to dive a bit deeper into the offensive line (which can be a blog of its own) because outside of Josh Kreutz there are a lot of questions marks for guards and tackles. Luckily, the line looks deeper but lacks experience. More on that later.
2. How does Illinois compete in the new Big Ten?
Both teams from the national championship Monday night — Washington and Michigan — will be in the Big Ten in 2024. I think I will be the first to say it, but the Big Ten is now THE premier football conference, beating out the SEC. And rising tides raise all ships.
In the first year of this transition, Illinois should be able to compete with 50% of the new league. We are an incredibly average program and should be able to stay incredibly average. If you take out the premier teams — Washington, Michigan, Ohio State, and Oregon — Illinois has beaten almost every team in the last three years (Purdue and Michigan State stand out).
Illinois wasn’t the tough-smart-dependable team we all expected last year and that cannot continue into 2024. There also needs to be that gritty Illinois vs. The World mentality that this team needs to adopt. The days of controlling the clock and winning the Big Ten West are gone. Illinois will be competing with the big boys every week and need to act like it’s been there before.
1. The way-too-early-kool-aid-prediction for 2024.
- Week 1 – Group of Five opponent – Win
- Week 2 – vs. Kansas – Win
- Week 3 – vs. Central Michigan (Homecoming) – Win
- Week 4 – @ Nebraska – Win
- Week 5 – @ Penn State – Loss
- Week 6 – BYE
- Week 7 – vs. Purdue – Win
- Week 8 – vs. Michigan – Loss
- Week 9 – @ Oregon – Loss
- Week 10 – vs. Minnesota – Win
- Week 12 – vs. Michigan State – Win
- Week 13 – @ Rutgers – Loss
- Week 14 – @ Northwestern – Win
Illinois 8-4 and back to the Reliaquest Bowl.
Illinois
Thousands of birds could migrate over the Chicago area this week, and here’s how to protect them
Thousands upon thousands of birds are expected to cross over Illinois as part of their spring migrations in coming days.
Thursday night saw the highest migration totals of the season so far, but researchers at Cornell believe that Sunday and Monday nights could see even more avian traffic in the skies over the Chicago area, with hundreds of thousands of birds expected to traverse the area.
According to estimates from Birdcast, Sunday night and into Monday morning there could be “medium” activity for migrating birds, with thousands of birds per kilometer flying over the area.
Even more birds are expected to take flight Monday night and into Tuesday morning thanks to favorable weather conditions, with a “high” number of birds expected to take to the skies over the Chicago area.
According to estimates, up to 383 million birds could be in flight over the central United States during the peak of the migration overnight.
On Thursday night the Chicago area experienced its busiest night of the spring migration season so far, with more than 367,000 birds having been estimated to have passed over Cook County alone.
In all, more than 23,000,000 birds are believed to have crossed the state of Illinois so far during the spring migration.
Among the primary birds expected to be flying through the area are American Redstarts, Magnolia Warblers, Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings, according to researchers at the CornellLab.
As millions of birds continue visiting the Chicago area, here are some steps that residents can take to keep them safe.
When do birds typically migrate?
Peak migration for birds over the state of Illinois occurs in mid-to-late May, with hundreds of different species heading north for the summer breeding season.
Those migration flights for songbirds and other species typically take place in the overnight hours. According to experts, birds typically take flight 30-to-45 minutes after sunset, with the greatest number of birds in flight typically seen approximately two-to-three hours later.
When should residents turn lights off?
One of the best ways to help protect birds is to turn off lights during peak migration times.
According to Birdcast, the best time to turn off or dim exterior lights and interior lights is between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., when most birds are active.
Bright lights can disorient and attract birds, making them vulnerable to collisions and to predators on the ground, according to the website.
Hundreds of millions of birds are killed each year in collisions with buildings, and residents and businesses are being asked to do their part to keep the creatures safe.
In addition to turning off unneeded exterior lights, residents and businesses are also asked to dim or turn off lights in lobbies, and to draw blinds to help keep light from escaping through windows.
Finally, exterior lights should be aimed downward and be well-shielded so that birds aren’t attracted to them.
Are there other steps?
Another key step in protecting birds is to bring pet cats inside during overnight hours.
According to the American Bird Conservancy, cats kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds in the United States every year, and during migration season those impacts can be even more devastating, as exhausted birds typically seek refuge in plants and trees to rest on their journeys, making them vulnerable to attack.
Since cats like to hunt at night, active migrating birds can be a target, leading to experts asking residents to keep animals inside when possible.
Police are investigating after a motorcyclist was killed in a crash in suburban Oswego on Saturday afternoon.
Officers responded to the 4000 block of Route 34 near Wolf Road for the crash around 1:42 p.m. The motorcyclist was unconscious and was receiving CPR when officers arrived.
They took over medical care until paramedics arrived and took the victim, identified as a 20-year-old man, to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
The victim’s identity is being withheld pending an autopsy scheduled for Monday, police said.
Initial reports say the victim was traveling eastbound on Route 34 when he hit an enclosed trailer being towed by a van. According to the police, the van was also traveling eastbound and was attempting to make a right turn into a driveway when the crash occurred.
The driver and passenger in the van were not hurt, police said.
Route 34 was closed between Wolf Road and Boulder Hill Pass for four hours for crash reconstruction.
The crash remains under investigation pending completion of the traffic crash reconstruction report.
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