Barry Lunney Jr. is entering his 1st season as the offensive coordinator of Illinois after a 2-season spell at UTSA. He oversaw a Roadrunners offense that set numerous program highs during his tenure in 2020, while 2021’s team played to a program record in wins and was ranked as high as 15th in the national polls.

Lunney is hoping his success in San Antonio carries over to Champaign, with the Illini’s first game coming up on Saturday against Wyoming. The Cowboys were the Mountain West’s top team against the pass in 2021 (189.8 yards per game allowed) while holding opponents to 23.7 points per game.

“I think they’re so well coached. They’re tough. They’ve got a system. Their system is not necessarily altogether unique,” Lunney said on Monday, according to 247Sports.com. “They’re just really good in what their system is and I don’t mean that in any disrespect to their scheme. They’ve got a really good scheme. They line up and play really good, solid defense. They adjust their defense. You can tell they’ve been doing it for a while.”

Lunney didn’t think that the fact that it was his first year as Illinois OC would give the Illini any significant advantages.

“Their DC has been there for a little while, but who knows what they did in the offseason to study, change and tweak,” he said. “They’re going to have surprises for us. Just like they don’t probably know entirely what to expect, I’m sure they’ve had an educated guess of what they worked.”