Can Illini respond to greater expectations?

Expectations are a welcome addition for Illinois football.

The Fighting Illini are ranked No. 12 in The Associated Press preseason poll. That's the highest they've been ranked to begin a campaign since they were No. 11 under John Mackovic in 2010, and it's the first time the Illini have been ranked at all preseason since 2008.

Continuity is the biggest reason Bret Bielema's crew sits in high regard. The Illini return 16 starters and claim to be the only Power Four team returning its offensive and defensive coordinators, plus the starting quarterback, for a third straight season. The obvious hope is Illinois becomes the Indiana of 2025 and reaches the College Football Playoff.

The biggest question is whether there's enough actual juice in the Orange Crush to excel on a national level.

Quarterback Luke Altmyer doesn't think the pressure of higher expectations should be a burden.

“It's something that we asked for, to be talked about at this magnitude,” Altmyer told Big Ten Network. “It means you've done some good stuff. People can see it as pressure and a lot of expectations. I think we just see it as an opportunity to do something really cool for this community and this program.”

Three areas of this team stand out. First is the offensive line, a group with a combined 169 career starts in Division I (not all at Illinois, obviously). Two-time team captain Josh Kreutz (Loyola Academy, Bannockburn) at center has the most Big Ten experience, with 25 starts for the Illini.

Then there's Altmyer, back for his third year at starting quarterback. And the defensive secondary, which returns five starters, including first-team All-Big Ten corner Xavier Scott and last year's leading tackler, safety Matthew Bailey.

The offensive skill positions are where things could go wrong, especially wide receiver. Last year's duo of Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin moved on, leaving All-Big Ten kick returner Hank Beatty as the top returning receiver, with 20 catches for 294 yards last year. The pass game will count on a pair of transfers, Justin Bowick from Ball State and Hudson Clement from West Virginia, to replace Bryant's big-play potential.

At running back, Kaden Feagin returns from a hip injury and joins a rotation with Aidan Laughery. But last year's leading rusher, Josh McCray, transferred to Georgia. One fun fact: Both Feagin (from Atwood) and Laughery (Gibson City) played at tiny Class 1A high schools in Illinois.

Altmyer was efficient, generally avoided big mistakes and performed well late in games. But he's averaged just over 200 passing yards per game, and that was with a third-round NFL draft pick (Bryant) to throw to.

The defense returns outside linebacker Gabe Jacas, who had 8 sacks last year. The rest of the defensive line will rely heavily on transfers — two from Wisconsin, James Thompson Jr. and Curt Neal, plus Tomiwa Durojaiye from Florida State and Carter Hewitt from Northern Iowa.

“All those guys are freakishly athletic,” defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said. “They're all very, very violent in trying to get to the run.”

If the Illini can generate more of a pass rush, the experienced secondary should thrive. Another key returnee is kicker David Olano (Naperville North) who went 17 of 20 on field goals last year.

The schedule isn't overwhelming, but there are a couple tricky road games early, at Duke and Indiana. Ohio State visits Champaign on Oct. 11, followed by a trip to Washington two weeks later. The Illini also get USC at home. The stretch run appears softer, but three losses early in the season could crush playoff hopes.

“It's great chatter for the outside world,” Bielema said Monday of the expectations. “Since it's so new to Illinois, it's really created more buzz than it really is. But obviously, you earn your expectations and we've done a lot of really good things, kept a lot of really good players.”

Naturally, Bielema quickly thought of a way to paint the Illini as underdogs.

“It was brought to my attention there were several (AP voters) that didn't even rank us,” he said. “I think our improvement is temporary in people's eyes.”

The first chance to prove it on the field arrives Friday against Western Illinois.