Suffocating ‘D’ paves way for Illinois

CHAMPAIGN — The math and the logic Illinois spouted afterward didn’t quite make sense.

But there was zero reason to question the effort and the schemes that led to Illinois’ 17-14 non-conference victory over No. 22 Arizona State on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

For example, the Illini defenders entered the night with the chips on their shoulders. Yet here’s the illogical way they decided to remove them: By knocking the block off Sun Devils quarterback Brock Osweiler.

Again and again.

An emotional and physical Illinois defense piled up 12 tackles for loss, 6 sacks and 3 turnovers to pave the way for the program’s first win over a ranked team in four years.

Illinois (3-0) finds itself off to the school’s fastest start since 2001, which doubles as the last time the school won the Big Ten.

Afterward, more than one Illini cited some spurious math to explain their extraordinary effort.

“There are still a lot of guys that know the defensive line was, preseason, ranked 12th in a 12-team conference,” said Illinois defensive coordinator Vic Koenning. “That the linebackers were, preseason, picked 12th in a 12-team conference. You look back at the wall. There’s a lot we have to hold ourselves to.”

Koenning, speaking from the room where Illinois’ linebackers meet every day, referenced the gaudy display on the south wall.

Under glossy letters that read LINEBACKER “U,” there are pictures of tuxedo-clad Illinois alum Dick Butkus posing proudly with Illini players who won the Butkus Award in the 1990s.

It’s a little early to proclaim Illinois sophomore Jonathan Brown a Butkus Award winner-in-waiting, but the Memphis native played like a king.

Starting with Arizona State’s first play from scrimmage, when Brown blew up a wide receiver screen pass for a 4-yard loss, he set the tone for his unit.

Brown finished with 3½ tackles for loss and 1½ sacks. He forced Osweiler’s first interception in the red zone (he blitzed in untouched and labeled the QB as he threw) and grabbed the other interception when defensive end Whitney Mercilus tipped it at the line.

“I think we showed what we’ve been thinking all summer,” Brown said. “That we can play with anybody in the country. And we have the best defense in the country. Coming into the season, they had us ranked dead-last as a linebacker corps. One of our goals was to go out and prove people wrong.”

Koenning concocted a game plan Sunday night that he termed “kind of crazy.”

He removed a defensive tackle and added a defensive back to slow down Arizona State’s Texas Tech-esque passing game, yet found a way to keep defenders in the “A” and “B” gaps to limit Osweiler’s vision.

Then he had Brown blitzing in from all around to lend help to the three-man line.

Bandit end Michael Buchanan had 1½ sacks while defensive end Mercilus contributed a career-high 2 sacks — including the fourth-quarter blind-side hit that forced an Osweiler fumble that Ian Thomas recovered.

“I was tired of the negativity (toward our defense),” Mercilus said. “I just wanted to prove to everybody in the public that we’re not second-rate.”

Mercilus’ forced fumble set up Illinois’ only points in the final three quarters.

Nathan Scheelhaase, bothered by a sore shoulder from a fourth-quarter hit, looped a short pass to A.J. Jenkins that he turned into the game-winning 16-yard score with 9:59 to go.

Now do the Illini get into the Top 25 polls for the first time since Sept. 2008?

“I’ve got to believe if they’re the 18th team in the country,” said Illini coach Ron Zook, “we’ve got to at least get a few votes.”