Ad Disclosure
Fighting Illini defense speaks on strong effort versus Wyoming
By Ethan Stone
Published:
The Illinois Fighting Illini took advantage of opportunity and buried Wyoming in Week 0 of college football action.
It was a solid performance against an inferior opponent. Even still, the Fighting Illini defense was al over the field early and often. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon was asked how the team kept up its defensive identity through the offseason and into a strong performance Saturday. Witherspoon recorded just one tackle but snagged a key interception early in the 38-6 win.
“Just keep the edge on our shoulder, keep that chip,” Witherspoon said, via 247Sports. “We could have been way better last year so we carried that over into this year. We’re just trying to execute and be the best us. …The losses that we took. They were hard losses. Now we’re just trying to work on finishing the game.”
Linebacker Tarique Barnes wants to make Saturday’s performance the new norm.
“I think it’s more so who we’re becoming,” said Barnes “Just the simple fact we can kind of maintain what we’re doing at a steady rate and keep trying to tell ourselves that we can fix this or there’s still something to fix. I think that makes us a lot better as a team in its entirety.”
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.