CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The No. 11 Illini are hitting the road for the first time this season, as they’re making the trek to North Carolina to take on the Duke Blue Devils.
Like Illinois, Duke is a team that started its season off strong as they took down Elon University in convincing fashion, winning by a score of 45-17.
While looking ahead to this weekend’s game, Illini head coach Bret Bielema expressed why he’s looking forward to the non-conference
road match-up.
“I think just the excitement to play a team as good as Duke, to play some of the caliber of players they have out there, I have a huge respect [for] Manny,” Bielema said.
Duke head coach Manny Diaz is known for being a defensive-minded head coach, who isn’t afraid to get aggressive when it comes to play-calling.
For Bielema and the Illini, that’s going to bring about some things they haven’t quite seen before.
“He’s always been a very aggressive, pressure-oriented guy,” Bielema said. “This is by far the most pressure we’ll see, on early downs especially, than any other team we’ve played or prepped for.”
On the other side of the ball, the Illini are going to be tasked with slowing down a Blue Devils offense led by quarterback Darian Mensah.
In this year’s season opener, the Tulane transfer threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns, an impressive start to his Duke career.
When it comes to getting ready to slow down the young QB and the Duke passing game, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
“I think we’ll get a little bit of everything,” Bielema said. “Just a lot of different things that [Mensah] brings to the table that are difficult to defend.”
After a Week 1 game that felt more like a warm-up for the schedule that lay ahead, the Illini are faced with one of the more difficult tests of their season.
At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Illinois and Duke will face off on ESPN, where college football fans across the nation will watch on as two good teams go head-to-head.
“I’ve been asked to do a lot of media this week, I think that’s because of who we were playing, not because of us,” Bielema said. “Duke’s a really good football team, and to get a chance for us two teams to meet early, I think, is a good deal.”
