​EAST LANSING, MI – OCTOBER 10: Michigan State Spartans running back Jaziun Patterson (4) gets thrown backward by Illinois Fighting Illini linebacker Ismael Kante (26) and safety Matthew Bailey (7) during a college football game between the Michigan State Spartans and Illinois Fighting Illini on October 10, 2026 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, MI. (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Special thanks to Ben Buie of Off Tackle Republic for joining me to discuss Illinois’ roster on this week’s podcast:View LinkOffenseThe Illinois offense has been significantly affected by injuries throughout the 2026 season, and will continue to be on Saturday. However, between young players stepping up, a bye week to rest and get back some missing pieces — potentially even upgrading — and the fog of war that a reconstructed lineup creates, there are quite a few silver linings. It would take some good fortune, but there is a reasonable possibility that the Illinois emerges with a stronger offense on-balance than in the first half of the season, or at least one that is capable of pulling off some surprises.The starting quarterback for virtually every snap, #4 QB Houser, had been putting together a very good season. Houser, a former 4-star from the 2022 cycle, is a veteran at this point and showed it with a good pocket presence, excellent ball security, and a discerning judgment for which of his pass-catchers were productive and which weren’t. He’d transferred in after a season and a half of quality play at East Carolina, which is where he landed after being part of the 2023 Michigan State rotation of quarterbacks with the interim staff after Mel Tucker was fired early on in that snakebit year. But late in the 3rd quarter against his former team, he threw only his second interception of the year to the Spartans, and when tackling the defensive player Houser injured his hand. Coach Bielema later announced Houser will be out for the next several weeks.The quarterback who finished the game was a surprise to Ben and I both, true freshman mid 3-star #7 QB Clayton, who hadn’t played at all before then. We both thought it’d be the sophomore #2 QB Boyd, who’s more thickly built and more of a runner, as Illinois had a lead and was facing a team they’d kept at arm’s length all day. But Clayton led a touchdown drive, the defense gave up two touchdowns (and a third in overtime), and Clayton’s arm again was the key to the one-point OT win.With only eight passes all year, and against the 72nd ranked defense in F+ advanced statistics (my predictive algorithm has the Spartans perhaps 15-20 ranks lower than that), making judgments about Clayton is difficult. I’m not even certain it will be Clayton on Saturday, it could be that Boyd comes in to play and they go with a rushing strategy, although Ben doubts that (we both agreed that Boyd would probably be called upon for short-yardage QB sneaks though, th