CHAMPAIGN – It’s time for a growth spurt with the Illini defense.

With a high-powered Purdue (2-3, 1-1) offense heading to town for the Homecoming game against Illinois (3-2, 1-1) Saturday in Memorial Stadium (2:30 p.m., FS1), the Illini look for the same kind of improvement on defense as we’ve seen with the Illini offense.

Under first-year offensive coordinator Rod Smith, the Illini have made one of the biggest jumps in the nation. While defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson has been on the job for three years, the Illini defense finally showed some signs of progress against Rutgers, albeit a weak version of a Big Ten Conference team with a rookie quarterback.