CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In the Illinois defensive room, there hang two different walls that instill head coach Lovie Smith’s “Lovie Ball” mentality: a takeaway wall and a touchdown wall.

To get your name on either wall is pretty self-explanatory. You either force a turnover or score a defensive touchdown.

“It’s a club. It’s open for everybody. That’s what Coach Smith preaches,” linebacker Dele Harding said. “Everybody needs to be on the wall, touchdown wall as well."

No Illinois defensive player contributed to either wall in the first half against Rutgers on Nov. 2. At the break, the Illini were tied with the Scarlet Knights at 10, and neither side of the ball turned in a promising performance.

But by the game’s conclusion, three takeaways, two defensive touchdowns and a 38-10 blowout win over Rutgers gave the club some new members.

Defensive end Isaiah Gay and cornerback Nate Hobbs added their names on the walls for the first time midway through the third quarter.

Gay ripped the ball away from Rutgers quarterback Johnny Langan as he tried to roll out. The ball landed snugly into the arms of Hobbs, who put six points on the board himself with a 36-yard return.

“Nate Hobbs is an outstanding player, but he hasn’t had any flashy plays and we’ve been on him every day,” Smith said. “In our defensive room we have an exclusive room, a touchdown club, and Nate joined it today. Good to see him make a play like that when he’s been playing outstanding ball.”

“Coach Smith been teasing me about it, once I got the ball in my hands, I knew exactly what I had to do,” Hobbs said.

When the defense came back to the sideline after Hobbs' big play, there was competitiveness about them. Not just about winning the game (of course that’s implied), but for who was going to come up with the next takeaway.

“At that point, we’re very competitive as a defense. I know that, so at that point, it’s like ‘who’s going to get the next one,’” Hobbs said. “People want to be greedy and that’s good. Whenever you get one, you want to get another.

“We go to the sideline and we’re like ‘who’s going to get the next one?’ We’re looking around and everybody is going to say me because we’re super competitive. We make it a mission to get that ball out.”

That next one came when the defense immediately returned to the field.

Two minutes later, Harding stripped the ball away from Scarlet Knights’ running back Kay’Ron Adams. Safety Stanley Green approached the play looking to deliver another big hit in the run game. He was, instead, handed the ball on a silver platter, courtesy of Harding.

“I was coming in, trying to get my head in there a little bit, and the ball popped out. My first reaction was to jump on it,” Green said. “Everybody trying to get on the wall in the room. The touchdown wall, the turnover wall. When one happens, you feel like this guy’s ahead of you, so it’s your turn to get up there."

Quarterback Brandon Peters capitalized on the turnover, delivering a 52-yard bomb to wide receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe to run the score up, 31-10, and rectify the first half struggles.

Harding’s afternoon didn’t end there, contributing again to the turnover wall, and the touchdown wall this time. Harding picked off Langan on the first possession of the fourth quarter and returned it 54-yards for another six points for the defense.

Harding read Langan’s eyes as he dropped into coverage once showing blitz at the line of scrimmage. Langan thought he had the slant wide open over the middle of the field, instead, a wild Harding appeared out of nowhere and took it the other direction.

The interception capped off a dominant performance from Harding. His stat line was impressive with 12 tackles, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and an interception. Harding credited his performance and his strong season to the entire defense.

“Bringing it into the year from last year, we had a chip on our shoulder. Every game we’ve been taking it serious,” Harding said. “Especially up front, I can’t credit those guys enough.”

When the bleeding stopped for Rutgers, the Illinois defense had single-handedly outscored the Rutgers offense 12-10.

The Illini’s defensive performance pushed them to their third straight Big Ten win - the first time that’s happened since 2007 - and they are now one win away from bowl eligibility.

Making it to the postseason is priority No. 1 for Illinois, but also making sure you don’t fall behind on the walls is always on the mind of the Illini defenders.

“If you’re not on there, you stick out like a sore thumb,” Green said.