Lovie Smith's late additions — Keith Randolph, Shammond Cooper, Jeff Thomas (oops, is he re-reverting?), Luke Ford and A.D. Miller — have upgraded the Illinois football roster and changed the school's recruiting grade.
A breath of fresh air.
But let's get one thing straight. The husky fellows who resided on the UI campus while Penn State, Maryland and Iowa accumulated 63 points each, while Nebraska racked 55 and Purdue another 46 ... well, these are the same guys who'll be charged with handling the defensive assignments in 2019.
In college football, defense is where it's at.