CHAMPAIGN — Rod Smith is striving for balance in the Illinois offense. Not necessarily a 50-50 split between run and pass plays — running the football remains a foundational piece — but Smith wants the Illini to at least throw the ball as well as they run it.
Illinois is not there yet. Saturday's 46-7 lopsided loss to Purdue proved it. The Boilermakers stacked the box against the Illinois run game, challenging the Illini to rely more on AJ Bush Jr.'s arm.
"You never want to be one-dimensional," Smith said Monday. "You never want to say, 'OK, this is what we do and this is all we do.