'We wanted to get Tarique Barnes on the field': Illini Going With New MLB Look

Illinois fans should likely get ready to see a lot more of sophomore linebacker Tarique Barnes in the middle of the Illini's defense.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Expect to see a lot more of Tarique Barnes lining up in the middle of the Illinois defense.

Barnes got his first playing time action since replacing Jake Hansen in the season opener at Wisconsin and coming home from the 45-7 blowout loss with the team’s only score.

Illinois (1-3) was forced to shift around the look of its starting linebacker group after senior Milo Eifler suffered an undisclosed injury during the team’s Friday walk-through practice session.

When asked about the move to shift Hansen back to outside linebacker and give the sophomore his first career start last weekend at Rutgers, Illinois head coach Lovie Smith stressed Monday this personnel change wasn’t based on an injury.

“Jake moving to the outside had nothing to do with Milo Eifler," Smith said Monday. "We wanted to get Tarique Barnes on the field. Is that Jake's natural position? He's played better there for whatever reason."

Barnes finished Saturday with seven tackles and Pro Football Focus graded the Memphis native as one of the highest rated tacklers coming out of the Illini’s 23-20 victory at Rutgers.

Based on Smith’s comments, it would seem Illinois, which has started the season with just six linebackers on scholarship, has found an interesting combination of Hansen on the outside, Barnes on the inside and a platoon situation of Eifler, junior Khalan Tolson and converted safety Delano Ware in the second level of their defense.

“Khalan is a smart player with athletic ability and I thought he was more aggressive and more physical in the run this past week," Smith said. 

In a return to his original position of outside linebacker, Hansen finished with a game-high 15 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, an interception and a pass breakup by playing all 67 defensive snaps Saturday at Rutgers. According to Pro Football Focus, Hansen was the highest ranked defensive player for Illinois Saturday and recorded seven different occasions of what that scouting organization refers to as a defensive stop (a tackle that constitute a "failure" for the offense).

“It's kind of a natural transition because I played it all last year and having a good knowledge of the defense helps that out as well," Hansen said about the move back to an outside position.

Smith confirmed Eifler’s injury happened on the final play of Friday’s practice session and it’s not of the season-ending nature but didn’t elaborate on the status of the Washington transfer and returning starter.

Based on an evaluation of the film, Ware played 30 of a possible 67 defensive snaps in a rover role between safety and linebacker to finish with one solo tackle and one pass breakup, both occurring in the first half.