Happy Sunday to fans of the first place team in the Big Ten West, the Illinois Fighting Illini!
Many things were different about these Illini than previous editions, but the biggest difference so far between the Bret Bielema Illini and their predecessors is also the biggest reason they won the season opener.
Illinois simply executed the basics of football correctly more often than not.
If you’ve seen any of my comments on Bret Bielema’s offseason on my Twitter or over on Off Tackle Empire, one phrase I’ve repeated about his tenure to date exemplifies this game: coloring inside the lines.