{"id":81592,"date":"2025-10-24T13:00:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T17:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=81592"},"modified":"2025-10-24T10:48:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:48:02","slug":"pre-snap-preview-washington-v-illinois-prediction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/10\/24\/pre-snap-preview-washington-v-illinois-prediction\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-Snap Preview: Washington v. Illinois, Prediction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThey\u2019re a team that has thrown the ball exceptionally well the last year and a half,\u201d Jedd Fisch said of the Illinois Fighting Illini this week. \u201cAnd I think [Luke] Altmyer<\/a> has been one of the top guys in the Big Ten.\u201d The Illinois quarterback has thrown for an average of 260 yards per game this year and has completed 72.4% of his passes. Altmyer has thrown 13 touchdowns and one interception, the fewest of any quarterback in the Big Ten this season. Washington\u2019s Demond Williams<\/a> averages 262 passing yards per game with a nearly identical completion percentage of 72.1%. These two teams pass the football with similar success, and it figures to be the focal point of Saturday\u2019s matchup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Previewing Washington v. Illinois<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Illini Passing Game & Tempo<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Altmyer ranks second in the Big Ten in pass plays of more than 30 yards with 13 on the year. The Illini’s passing game has been its strength on offense, and it boasts a success rate of 51.1% in that category (11th nationally). In their 34-16 loss to Ohio State two weeks ago, the Fighting Illini outgained the Buckeyes. Of their 295 total yards, 248 of them came through the air. Offensive coordinator Barry Lunney directed Altmyer and the offense to run with tempo during portions of the game. And in the second half, it worked. Illinois opened the third quarter with a 12-play, 72-yard touchdown drive. It also put together a 61-yard touchdown drive later in the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the loss, head coach Bret Bielema said that he\u2019d like to go with the tempo offense sooner in games and more often. With the tempo, the Illini offense was able to keep the Buckeyes from substituting, and it created advantageous personnel groupings for their offense. Bielema made a clear note of that after their last game. Coming off a bye week, it\u2019s likely that the Illini utilize that tempo inside Husky Stadium as a way to get the defense, and potentially the crowd noise, out of rhythm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington’s Passing Game<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But it\u2019s not just the Illini with an effective passing game. As mentioned, Altmyer ranks second in the Big Ten in pass plays of 30-plus yards. Williams ranks first, and he has 14 of those throws. Similarly, the Husky passing success rate is just a few notches ahead of the Illini. It ranks 9th nationally at 51.9%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week at Michigan<\/a>, Williams faced the most adversity of his young career in the stats column. He threw three interceptions with 209 passing yards and completed 62.5% of his throws. But Fisch is not concerned about that performance. \u201cHe threw a couple interceptions that he normally wouldn’t throw for a lot of different reasons,\u201d Fisch said this week. \u201cWe don\u2019t do anything different [in terms of game planning]… He\u2019s going to go out there and we\u2019re going to get him better.\u201d Fisch reiterated that he\u2019s started just nine games in his career, and it was only two weeks ago that he became just the 16th college football player to ever record a 400\/100 stat line.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the Husky pass game will have an opportunity to get back on track this weekend against Illinois. The Illini rank outside the top 100 in passing success rate allowed this year (44.9%). The group continues to be without cornerback Xavier Scott, who will be out for much of the remainder of the year. His absence has made things difficult for the Illinois coverage defense. Through seven games, Illinois is tied for last in the Big Ten in passing plays allowed for 10-plus yards. It\u2019s given up 71 such plays on the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Offensive Line Update<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On Thursday, Fisch said that left tackle Carver Willis and left guard John Mills will both be game-time decisions. During the week, we examined the imbalance of the Washington run game<\/a> since Willis and Mills had been sidelined. Their presence on the offensive line will go a long way in shoring up protection and opening up running lanes for the running backs to be more successful on Saturday, should they be available.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Illinois EDGE rusher Gabe Jacas<\/a> leads the team in pressures (20), sacks (4.5), and tackles for loss (5.5) through seven games. He lines up on both sides of the formation and could make a game-changing presence against a potentially depleted left side of the line. Last week against the Buckeyes, Jacas recorded four tackles, and all four registered as stops according to Pro Football Focus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensively, the Illini front could be its best unit. Along with Jacas, Leon Lowery Jr.<\/a> lines up at the other EDGE spot and has recorded 10 pressures and three tackles for loss on the year. The group also features James Thompson Jr.<\/a> on the interior, who recorded five solo tackles against the Buckeyes and leads the team with 14 stops on the year. Washington\u2019s running back production has shown inconsistency in recent weeks, but Williams has provided a necessary boost. With health still a question along the offensive line, this week will be another tough matchup to predict a strong rushing performance from the Huskies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Washington and Illinois are two teams looking to move past disappointing losses in their previous outings. The Illini are coming off of a bye week, which makes them the fourth opponent to face the Huskies off of a bye week. Bielema is 6-1 coming off of bye weeks at Illinois. With the glimpses of success he saw in his tempo passing game against Ohio State, we\u2019ll likely see Illinois go to that early inside Husky Stadium.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Williams and the offense, it\u2019s an opportunity against a top-25 team at home. The Illini are ranked 23rd nationally with losses to the nation\u2019s top two teams in Ohio State and Indiana. Fisch delivered confidence in his young quarterback during his media availability this week, and it appears as though he\u2019s responded well during this week of practice after the loss at Michigan. There\u2019s rain in the forecast, but Saturday could be a day where two offenses look to their strengths in the passing game. With the uncertainty of Willis and Mills up front, protection will be critical against an Illinois defensive line that\u2019s the strength of the defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington – 31<\/span><\/p>\n

Illinois – 28<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Image: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThey\u2019re a team that has thrown the ball exceptionally well the last year and a half,\u201d Jedd Fisch said of the Illinois Fighting Illini this week. \u201cAnd I think [Luke] Altmyer has been one of the top guys in the Big Ten.\u201d The Illinois quarterback has thrown for an average of 260 yards per game […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3944,"featured_media":80861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35604,2,17,35612],"tags":[1894,1666],"class_list":["post-81592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-illinois-fighting-illini","category-featured","category-news","category-washington-huskies","tag-bret-bielema","tag-jedd-fisch"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81592"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81602,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81592\/revisions\/81602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}