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Illinois

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · 2026 · Big Ten

Efficiency
+5.9
45th FBS
Record
1-1
Conf. record
Conf. finish
14th
proj. of 18
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Illinois is 1-1 and ranked 45th in overall efficiency. Their 12th-ranked offense is the engine, backed by a 102nd-ranked defense. They run the ball on 55% of offensive plays with a 97th-ranked rushing attack and pass the ball on the remaining 45% of plays with a 10th-ranked passing attack.

Quadrant record

By opponent strength, adjusted for where the game was played.

Q1
0-0
+1 left
Q2
0-0
+7 left
Q3
0-1
Q4
1-0
+2 left

Projected wins

Per-game win probabilities combined across the full schedule.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Expected: 5.8 wins
Strength of Record
102nd
-0.7 wins above a 25th-ranked team's expectation
Strength of Schedule
to date
76th
full season
30th
AP poll
Unranked
Conf. sched. difficulty
29th
a 25th-ranked team would win ~5.0 conference games on this schedule

The resume

Every game on the schedule. Click a row for the game breakdown (played) or the matchup projection (upcoming).

WkOpponentConfOpp rankResultExp. marginWin probGameScoreQuad
1vs UABAmerican Athletic#119W 4223+22.4100%12.5Q4
2vs DukeACC#44L 2731+2.70%-1.5Q3
3vs Southern IllinoisMVFCPreview+33.097%Q4
4@ Ohio StateBig Ten#2Preview-21.910%Q1
5vs PurdueBig Ten#65Preview+8.870%Q4
6@ Michigan StateBig Ten#54Preview-1.946%Q2
8vs OregonBig Ten#24Preview-4.340%Q2
9@ MarylandBig Ten#46Preview-2.744%Q2
10vs NebraskaBig Ten#29Preview-2.045%Q2
11@ UCLABig Ten#31Preview-6.535%Q2
12vs IowaBig Ten#28Preview-2.145%Q2
13@ NorthwesternBig Ten#50Preview-2.644%Q2

2 played · 1-1. Expected margin and gamescore use the latest ratings — a completed game shows what the model would say now, not that week.

The season

The model’s read on Illinois, recomputed after every week. Toggle between overall, offensive, and defensive efficiency (each with a dot for that week’s game) or the FanBoardHQ CFP rank.

-0.3+5.5+11.412-1Week 0Week 2
Line = the model's read each week; dots = that week's game (green above the line, red below).

Passing & rushing

Opponent-adjusted, FBS-only. The bar is the blended Eff rank — EPA/play (scoring value), success rate (staying on schedule), and yards/play (explosiveness), each standardized against the FBS field. The three ranks below each bar are those components, so you can see what's driving it.

Offense
PassingEff 10th
SR 6thYPP 22ndEPA 10th
RushingEff 97th
SR 73rdYPP 91stEPA 109th
Defense
Pass defenseEff 134th
SR 133rdYPP 115thEPA 135th
Rush defenseEff 106th
SR 95thYPP 97thEPA 114th
Dropback rate 45%Tempo -0.6 snaps/game vs. averageFaced pass defenses ranked 114th on average
Success rate by down

Their offense vs. what their defense allows.

1st · Offense: 49%1st · Defense allowed: 44%1st2nd · Offense: 62%2nd · Defense allowed: 43%2nd3rd/4th · Offense: 48%3rd/4th · Defense allowed: 53%3rd/4th
OffenseDefense allowed
Points by quarter

Scored vs. allowed, all regular-season games.

Q1 · Scored: 24.0Q1 · Allowed: 10.0Q1Q2 · Scored: 21.0Q2 · Allowed: 24.0Q2Q3 · Scored: 10.0Q3 · Allowed: 10.0Q3Q4 · Scored: 7.0Q4 · Allowed: 10.0Q4
ScoredAllowed

What kind of team is this?

Every team by offensive and defensive efficiency (points/game vs. an average team, higher is better on both). Click a dot for that team.

elite bothdefense-ledrebuildingoffense-ledIllinoisOffenseDefense
Illinois Offense vs Defense, 2026
Offensive EffRanked 12th
+10.9
Field position: +0.1Finishing drives: +10.8
Field position +0.1Finishing drives +10.8= +10.9
Offensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 63rd · Finishing 10th

Defensive EffRanked 102nd
-4.2
Field position: -0.5Finishing drives: -3.7
Field position -0.5Finishing drives -3.7= -4.2
Defensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 91st · Finishing 99th

3.65 points per drive on offense, 3.18 allowed — starting, on average, at their own 29.

Play-calling & efficiency

What the offense did, by quarter and by down — raw, not opponent-adjusted.

By quarter
Quarter (att.)Pass / rushSuccessYd/play
Q1(27)44% / 56%63%8.0
Q2(32)56% / 44%44%7.4
Q3(28)46% / 54%68%5.6
Q4(24)42% / 58%38%4.5
how play-calling and results shifted through games — (n) = plays, season total
Passing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(20)10.065%7.7
2nd(21)7.667%10.3
3rd(9)4.867%5.3
4th(3)2.333%13.3
All (53)64%8.7
Rushing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(29)10.038%4.0
2nd(18)5.756%6.6
3rd(9)3.133%2.8
4th(2)1.050%0.5
All (58)43%4.5

Illinois, all games.