It wasn’t all bad for Illinois through the first three weeks of the season.

The Illini started the year 2-0 with wins over Ball State and Western Kentucky and the defense and played fairly well in a pair of victories. But after last Saturday’s lopsided defeat at the hands of USF, it feels like Illinois needs a break to figure things out.

Fortunately, Illinois will be off this Saturday before opening the B1G slate with Nebraska on Sept. 29.

After Tuesday’s practice, head coach Lovie Smith spoke with a reporter to provide an update on the team, how he felt about the non-conference schedule and how his team needs to improve through the bye week.

 

Illinois has struggled offensively through the first three games and now appears to have a quarterback battle on its hands between Chayce Crouch, Jeff George, Jr., and potentially even UCF transfer Pete DiNovo. Smith and the coaching staff will have his hands full over the next 10 days.

Nebraska and Illinois are scheduled to play Friday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. and the game will be aired on FS1.