51ºÚÁÏ

Like Missouri, Illinois steps up to play an important game this week. It travels to Duke to face a team with similar aspirations.

The Fighting Illini are aiming for their second straight upper-tier finish in the Big Ten, plus the opportunity to barge into the College Football Playoff discussion.

A quality non-conference road victory in Week 2 would help that cause.

“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,� Illinois coach Bret 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.�

After finishing 9-4 last season under new coach Manny Diaz, the Blue Devils opened this season by rolling over Elon 45-17 with quarterback Darian Mensah passing for 389 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s one of a handful of NFL quarterbacks we will face this year,� Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said. “He will be playing in the NFL.�

But now Duke faces an experienced Illinois team bolstered by ample returning talent for Bielema.

"Having played Illinois my last year at Penn State, so many of their players that were in that game are still playing for them today,� said Diaz, who was previously defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions. “[Bielema’s] ability to keep continuity, both on his coaching staff and on the roster, shows you that internally something is happening right there."

Writing for CBSSports, Tom Fornelli offered this breakdown:

What a time to be alive! Illinois going on the road to face Duke is one of the bigger games of a football weekend! While they may not be blue blood programs, it's an important game for both teams as both hope to make noise this season, with Illinois fancying itself a College Football Playoff contender. Both teams played FCS competition last week. Duke struggled for a half before pulling away, while Illinois didn't meet much resistance. Still, it's not worth drawing major conclusions for either.

Illinois is one of the more experienced teams in the country, but now it heads on the road as a favorite against a well-coached defense with a standout secondary. That matchup should push the Illini toward the ground game, especially as they work to sort out a receiving corps that lost its top two targets from last season.

On the other side, Duke's Darian Mensah has a big arm and loves pushing the ball downfield. He reminds me of LaNorris Sellers at South Carolina, and in last year's bowl win over the Gamecocks, Illinois neutralized that threat by taking away the deep ball.

Sellers was forced into short reads, which led to checkdowns and scrambles. I'd expect the Illini to use a similar approach here. It sets up as another low-scoring game where the outcome could hinge on one critical mistake.

This ranks among the top few matchups in the college football weekend. Enjoy!

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering how many people “Jalen Carter� in their “First NFL player ejected this season� prop bet:

• Can Springfield’s dominant season at the Double-A level provides a glimmer of long-term hope for the Cardinalsâ€�
• How much money is Caitlin Clark’s lingering injury costing the WNBA this year?
• Is the SEC headed for another painful non-conference loss with Michigan visiting Oklahoma?

THE GRIDIRON CHRONICLES

Here is folks have been writing about college football:

Jake Trotter, : “[Bryce] Underwood had a scintillating debut in Michigan's victory over New Mexico. The true freshman completed 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards -- more passing yards than any Michigan quarterback had in any game last season. It's already clear that Underwood's arm talent alone will elevate the Wolverines' passing attack. But what was most impressive was his poise -- he didn't look like a freshman playing in his first game. That poise will be put to the test at Oklahoma. The Sooners have been tough defensively under Brent Venables, especially at home. But if Underwood can remain poised, make a few plays with his feet and continue delivering accurate throws in his first road start, the Wolverines will have a chance to pull off the upset -- and send a message that with Underwood, they're ready to contend again for a playoff spot.”

Connor O’Gara, Saturday Down South: “Brent Venables was brought to Oklahoma for a matchup like this. In Week 2, the only matchup of ranked foes will be in Norman, Oklahoma. Hence, why College GameDay is making its second trip to Norman in its consecutive seasons. Brent Venables and the Sooners would prefer that this time goes differently than last time, wherein a 5-star (redshirt) freshman quarterback played well enough to lead Tennessee to a win in a hostile atmosphere. Check that. Venables needs this time to go differently when another 5-star (true) freshman quarterback rolls into Norman with a 7:30 p.m. ET spotlight game on ABC. If that’s not the type of matchup that favors Venables in Year 4, it’ll be fair to question why he should be at Oklahoma. Don’t get it twisted. Venables has done certain things well in Norman. Recruiting in the trenches and coaching up a defense are both things that he did better than his predecessor, and long term, that could be a reason why Oklahoma doesn’t fade into mediocrity in the SEC. But at the same time, he’s tasked with making sure this isn’t a 3rd losing season in 4 years. Specific to Saturday, Venables is tasked with making a true freshman quarterback in his first career road start feel like he’s getting his ‘welcome to college football’ moment.�

Pete Fiutak, College Football News: “Whatever you do for a living, and however your life is playing out, you’re not as bad at anything that you do as Texas is at coming up with productive plays in the red zone against Ohio State. Here’s the problem after the tough loss -- the Longhorn defense was lights out, by the way. Still on the schedule are at Georgia, Oklahoma (in Dallas), at Florida, and Texas A&M. After that 14-7 loss to Ohio State, Texas can only drop one more.�

Manny Navarro, The Athletic: “With redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr making his first career start, it was surprising that running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price were not a bigger part of the game plan. Notre Dame rushed for 93 yards in Sunday’s loss at Miami. Last year, the Fighting Irish failed to hit the 100-yard mark only once — in the national title game against Ohio State. But Irish fans should be encouraged by what they saw from their new quarterback. Carr made one costly decision, an ill-advised pass that turned into an interception following a series of tips, but he showed moxy under pressure (11 of 15 for 91 yards, one touchdown when blitzed, per TrueMedia) and nearly guided the team to a fourth-quarter comeback. Last year’s starter, Riley Leonard, couldn’t make the throws Carr made Sunday, and a talented Irish offensive line has plenty of time to fix some of the breakdowns that cost them against the Hurricanes. Carr is only going to improve, and Notre Dame has only one more game against a team that will be in this week’s AP Top 25 — Texas A&M at home in two weeks.�

Patrick Stevens, Washington Post: “Last year’s 2-10 was a nightmare without an excuse, which made this year’s opener an exceptionally important palate cleanser. Between scoring on its first three possessions, thoroughly controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and getting crisp work from Boston College transfer Tommy Castellanos at quarterback, Florida State delivered an outing that was part-celebration, part-exorcism. Not to get too ahead of things — besides banking on the Seminoles to dispatch East Texas A&M and Kent State before a Sept. 26 trip to Virginia — but if this is the start of a bounce-back year, will it be the sort of whipsawing that becomes more common in an era of fluid rosters? It’s not an unprecedented thing; Michigan State’s run of going 12-2 in 2015, then 3-9 the following year before recovering for a 10-3 season in 2017 comes to mind. But there aren’t many examples of such wild fluctuations. Florida State certainly has reason to think it can author one after its impressive debut.�

MEGAPHONE

“You remember me telling you, I don't think Ohio State's a great football team. I know their schedule is very, very good, but when you're at home and you're outgained by well over 100 yards, you just can't look at it and say, 'OK, we're great. We won the game.' They are 1-0 and that's the objective they had going in that game, but they're not a great football team. I would not be overwhelmed about facing Ohio State.�

Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, throwing shade at the Buckeyes during an interview with Outkick.