Bobby Hauck is out after Ohio State dominates.

Well, I was watching the United States complete a Sunday comeback at the Presidents Cup and was about to begin writing a recap and reaction to the Ohio State game when my phone started blowing up.

Bobby Hauck and Illinois had “mutually parted ways.” It does not take a genius to realize this was not much of a mutual decision. Hauck was fired in all but name.

All you really need to know from the Ohio State game is that the Illini offense can move the ball, while the Illini defense has struggled mightily to stop the Buckeyes from doing the same.

So now that we got the OSU game recapped in one sentence, let’s talk about what led to the decision of firing Hauck, and how Illinois will navigate the rest of the season.

A Strange Hire from the Beginning

Hauck was a unique hire for Illinois from the start. The Illini moved on from Aaron Henry because his unit could not consistently get critical third-down stops. Henry lasted 38 games before Illinois decided it was time for a change. Hauck lasted four.

The timing of Henry’s departure also left Illinois with a smaller pool of candidates to replace him. Bret Bielema had hinted that the program might look toward the NFL, and two of the names Illinois pursued were Giants assistant Charlie Bullen and Seahawks assistant Chris Partridge. Both ultimately elected to remain in the NFL.

Enter Hauck.

Hauck had recently retired from Montana because of his concerns about the changing landscape of college football. He specifically cited the direction of the sport, including NIL and the transfer portal. Hindsight is obviously 20/20, but perhaps there should have been more concern about bringing in someone who had already expressed motivational doubts about the direction of the game.

Four Games and Done

Bret Bielema has shown throughout his tenure that he is willing to make changes when he believes something is not working. He let Tony Peterson go after just one season and brought in Barry Lunney Jr.

Even with that history, this decision was shocking. Coming into the season, I would have said there was a very good chance Illinois would make a defensive change after the season if the unit was bad, but after 4 games is stunning to me.

Bielema has not made many major mistakes during his time as Illinois' head coach, but this hire clearly is one. Ultimately, the responsibility for bringing Hauck to Illinois falls on Bielema.

With that said, credit has to be given to Bielema for recognizing the problem quickly and making a difficult decision rather than allowing the situation to continue out of stubbornness. Whatever was happening behind the scenes, something clearly convinced Bielema that a change was necessary now.

The Defense Has Been a Problem All Season

The Illini defense got off to a disastrous start. UAB's offense consistently made Illinois defenders miss. Duke's offense could not be stopped for much of the game and ultimately played a major role in Illinois' loss to the Blue Devils. And then there was Ohio State. Ohio State is Ohio State, but there were still plenty of moments when the Illini defense looked completely outmatched. Jeremiah Smith was practically laughing at the defense at one point because even he seemed to feel bad for the Illini. The Illini defense may not have the most talented group on the roster to begin with, but a lack of talent alone does not explain what we have seen.

The communication errors have been particularly concerning These are mistakes that simply cannot happen at the Division I level, let alone at a Power 4 program. The Duke game provided perhaps the clearest example. An Illinois defender ran off the field before a fourth-down play even though the Illini only had 11 players on the field. Illinois would have gotten the fourth-down stop, but an offsides penalty stemming from a coaching error gave Duke another opportunity and ultimately resulted in a touchdown.

Then, most recently, Illinois had only nine players on the field late in the loss to Ohio State.

The game was already decided, so that mistake did not affect the outcome. But having only nine players on the field is still inexcusable.

I have listened to plenty of Bret Bielema press conferences over the years. I have never seen him as frustrated after a game as he was following Saturday's loss. His facial expressions, his tone and the way he answered questions all suggested that this was not simply another frustrating loss.

Matthew Bailey also had a very interesting post-game presser. Bailey pointed out how the communication from the sideline to the field is taking too long. He was very particular in the words he was using to convey his message. Bailey looked like he belonged on the field, and he will play in the NFL soon, but clearly sounded frustrated that his talent is not being utilized the best.

Going Forward

I would expect a current Illini assistant to take over the play calling for the rest of the season. Linebackers coach Archie McDaniels would be my best guess, but we will likely learn more on Monday. I highly doubt we see Illinois make a scheme change in the middle of the season, so the 3-3-5 will probably be here for the remainder of the year. I do expect pretty much everything else from a communication standpoint to change. And who knows? Maybe we will see a fired-coaching-bump effect.

As for the future, I am not sure what is in store. I am confident the 3-3-5 scheme will not be returning, but when it comes to who Bielema will target for his next defensive coordinator, I am not sure. I do think Bielema will look for an experienced play caller at the Power Four level, but for the time being, that is an offseason issue.

Illinois still has eight guaranteed football games left to play. I know this has been a more negative article, but the Illini offense looked stellar on Saturday. Outside of leaving some points on the table, the offense has exceeded some pretty lofty expectations coming into the season. This season is far from over.

The Illini offense has proven it can be a top-half unit in the Big Ten. Illinois outgained the Buckeyes on Saturday and never skipped a beat offensively. If this offense continues to play at this level, there is still plenty to play for.

Illinois' schedule also offers some very winnable games coming up. The Illini host Purdue this Saturday. If you think the discourse around the Illini defense is compelling, may I interest you in checking out what is going on in West Lafayette?

Former Illini assistant Kevin Kane has also overseen a disastrous defensive unit at Purdue. Illinois' offense should be able to score points with relative ease. The over/under is set at 59.5, so that just shows you how much Vegas respects these defenses.

Following that, the Illini head to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. It is still a Big Ten road game, but that is a winnable game for Illinois.

Illinois then has a bye before hosting Oregon, which will probably be a loss even if Dylan Raiola is their quarterback. After Oregon, Illinois goes back on the road to play Maryland. That game looks a whole lot more winnable than it did just two weeks ago. Mike Locksley is probably sitting on one of the hottest seats in the sport.

I have always said Illinois just needs to find a way to get to six wins. Three of the Illini's next four games are very winnable, and winning those games would put Illinois in position to get to six wins overall.

The defensive coordinator situation is obviously a major question mark, but this season is far from over. The offense has given Illinois a chance to salvage this thing.

Now it is up to the Illini to find a way to bandage up this defense and figure out how to give this offense a chance to win some football games.