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ASU vs. Illinois: What's Worrying You? It's OK, You Can Tell Us

Presswire

It's GAME DAY! In just a few hours, ASU will take on the Illinois Fighting Illini.

We've brought you great coverage throughout the week, but now we have a question for you:

What worries you most about tonight's game?

Illinois Defensive Pressure: The Illini bring it...at least on defense. Last season, that battered Brock Osweiler in Illinois' 17-14 win. This season, they have a bevy of dangerous defensive playmakers like Michael Buchanan, Akeem Spence, Ashante Williams, Jonathan Brown and Houston Bates, and schematically, they bring even more heat that before.

Taylor Kelly vs. a Real Opponent: In his first career start, Kelly was very good, throwing for 247 yards and a touchdown and posted the nation's eighth best passer efficiency rating. However, that was against NAU. Now, he faces an Illini team that returns most of the nation's seventh ranked defense from a year ago. Can he be his same efficient self after taking some hard hits? Will he make smart decisions under pressure and with tight coverage downfield?

Sun Devil Wide Receivers: In the opener, the Sun Devil wide receivers were relatively quiet. Rashad Ross had a single 50-yard catch, Kevin Ozier had a pair of moderate catches and true freshman Rick Smith led the team with five catches for just 45 yards. The group was without Jamal Miles, who returns this week. The offseason question marks surrounding the position remain, and facing a very experienced Illini secondary, answers may be tough to come by.

ASU's Ability to Run: The Sun Devils ran for 305 yards against NAU, but that's not happening tonight. Illinois held Western Michigan to -6 last Saturday and can quickly neutralize an opponent's ground game. Behind a still developing offensive line, can the Devils' trio of Cameron Marshall, Marion Grice and DJ Foster be effective? Will the team stay committed to the run if they find no success early?

Nothing: We're ASU, man! We fear nothing.