Everyone was shocked seeing 3-1 Illinois go down the way they did to No.11 Indiana. The consensus was that Bret Bielema’s team didn’t even try. 20 missed tackles, QB1 sacked almost 10 times, 0 points in the 2nd half, everything went fighting against the Fighting Illini. Lincoln Riley was just like one of us, seeing all this, waiting with his defense to do the same thing as the leading QB troubles in FBS.

Lincoln Riley didn’t sugarcoat his thoughts when asked about Illinois’ roster. “When you look back at, you know, returning, you know, production, the amount of snaps and starts and players that they have back. I mean, especially in this age of college football, it’s almost honestly shocking,” Riley said in a post-game presser. He pointed out that Illinois wasn’t some rebuilding project; this was a team that returned veterans across the board, a group that had 10 wins not long ago. “They didn’t, I’m sure they would admit, you know, didn’t play probably quite up to their standards,” Riley added.

That’s where the facts sting. Illinois QB1 Luke Altmyer has been sacked 16 times in just four games, including seven times against IU. That’s one of the most allowed in the entire FBS. Riley praised the quarterback’s ability to make plays, calling him “an outstanding player,” but even he couldn’t dodge Indiana’s pass rush. To his credit, Altmyer completed 14 of 22 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown, taking some of the blame off his offensive line. But an experienced group up front that returned all five starters has not delivered, and Bret Bielema himself admitted after the Indiana debacle, “We definitely can’t live this way.” USC’s defense has 16 sacks, tied for the most in the country. Illini plays Troy in Week 5.

Riley, though, didn’t just harp on Illinois’ offense. He gave a full scouting report. “They bring back a ton offensively. Quarterback’s an outstanding player, experienced O-line, really good skill guys around them,” he said before adding, “And I would say a lot of the same things defensively, a lot of experienced players, really experienced front, some really good players in the back end, linebackers that have been there forever.” Wait for another twist, Illinois’ defense just gave up 579 yards to Indiana. That included eight plays of more than 15 yards and, most embarrassingly, 20 missed tackles.

Defensive coordinator Aaron Henry fell on the sword, saying he hadn’t prepared his players well enough. Bielema echoed it, saying, “The challenge is going to be to keep the ball in front of us and stop the big plays from happening defensively.” That’s a tall task considering USC’s skill talent is humming, and its defense has been a wrecking crew.

Bret Bielema faces the tape of humiliation

Bret Bielema doesn’t usually dive into film study on Saturday nights. As he put it, he’s often “a little bit too high or a little bit too low” to make sense of it that quickly. But when you’ve just been on the wrong side of a 63-10 drubbing, the rules change. With 2 ½ hours to kill on the bus ride back from Bloomington, the Illinois coach sat down and relived every ugly detail.

“The worst thing that we can do is ignore it as if it never happened,” Bielema admitted. “So we had to relive it and really understand the process of why.” Now comes another Big Ten road test, this time against USC. Lincoln Riley, fresh off their 45-31 win, kept it blunt. “We’re excited about the win. We’re not satisfied. We know we got a big opportunity here.”

While it’s finally happy times back in LA, where the Trojans are 4-0 after Jayden Maiava’s five-touchdown showcase against Michigan State, Illinois is just trying to patch the holes. And Riley knows they’re about to face a line that has already been battered beyond recognition.