Illinois has had a couple of very good defensive years this decade, but unfortunately those have never been the years that the offense shows up. Nevertheless, here’s the All-Decade Defense and Special Teams!
The last All-American for the Fighting Illini was the easiest selection for the defensive side of this team. He had a relatively quiet sophomore year in 2010 before exploding in 2011 to put up one of the best single-season defensive performances in the long and illustrious history of Illinois football defenders.
Mercilus led the nation with 16 sacks and 9 forced fumbles while ranking second in the country with 22.