In Illinois' opener on Thursday, the offense was spectacular. Transfer quarterback Katin Houser went 13-for-17 and threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns while tacking on a rushing TD. Running back Ca’Lil Valentine sliced and diced his way to 88 yards on just 11 carries and found pay dirt. Veteran wideout Collin Dixon reeled in two touchdowns.

But while the offense churned out 42 points, the defense gave up 23 – and, arguably, was fortunate to get away with yielding only that. The ballyhooed new scheme created some havoc: a sack, six quarterback hurries and a pick-six for linebacker Ismael Kante. Yet the Illini defense also kept giving up ground.

The defensive line seemed to play its role. The secondary, for the most part, lived up to its billing – especially Matthew Bailey. And even the linebackers were fairly solid. There didn’t seem to be any glaring, egregious mistakes – a sentiment confirmed by Illinois coach Bret Bielema. So what gives?

Illinois' defense was abysmal in one area – and with reason

“Overall, there wasn’t communication breakdowns,” Bielema said in the postgame press conference. “I don’t think there was a lot of busts. And there’s a lot of stuff coming at them.”

But there was one problem: tackling. As a team, the Blazers ran for 194 yards – approximately 194 of which came after an Illini got a hand or shoulder pad on a ball-carrier. OK, that isn't a precise number, but suffice to say UAB’s running backs’ yards after contact was off the charts.

Any Illini defender not named Matthew Bailey, it seemed, would have had trouble consistently wrapping up a sub sandwich on Thursday night. And according to Bielema himself, it’s no coincidence. 

“Consciously, this was the least amount of tackling I’ve ever done in my 18 years as a head coach – by far. Not even close,” Bielema said in the postgame press conference. “We just had kind of gotten a little injury-riddled early in fall camp. The one scrimmage we were going to go live, [wide receiver] Jayshon Platt got hurt in the first five plays, so I cancelled tackling. I consciously made that decision. That’s on me. I knew we were going to be a little rough on the tackling front, and it played out [that way].”

A little rough would be an understatement. We’re talking Oakmont Country Club rough. Illinois' tackling technique was borderline embarrassing – but, given Bielema’s explanation, it was also fairly understandable.

There isn’t a visual learning process for tackling. It isn’t a learn-on-the-fly kind of thing. If you don’t practice it, you’re not going to be very good at it in a game. Bielema and the Illini know that – and, clearly, Bielema is going to emphasize it in the coming week leading up to Duke.

And if Illinois is able to clean up that shortcoming over the next eight days, then the defense should see its numbers – surrendering 413 yards and 23 points to UAB is, frankly, a bit mind-boggling – settle into a more reasonable range.