The Illinois football team's defense got torched and the offense didn't look any better in the desert of Tempe, Ariz., last Saturday night during the Illini's 45-14 loss.

Is help on the way?

Head coach Tim Beckman's Class of 2013 looks steady with 18 commits so far (the list was trimmed from 19 after Kenton Gibbs, a defensive tackle from Cass Tech in Detroit opened back up his recruitment last week, with Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the mix).

Of the 18 commits, it's almost a split down the middle on which side of the ball they'll play on. Ten are slotted in as defensive players, which could be bumped up to 11 if versatile athlete Caleb Day from Darby High School (Ohio) lines up at a defensive back. He could also play some wide receiver if needed.

Most of the defensive commits (Dillan Cazley, Reon Dawson, Joshua Jones, Darwyn Kelly and Darius Mosely) are projected to see time in the secondary.

With defensive stalwarts like Terry Hawthorne, Justin Green, Patrick Nixon-Youman and injured Supo Sanni in their final seasons this year for Illini, this is an area that Beckman and his staff have taken care of with this class.

Two defensive ends (Jarrod Clements and Dawuane Smoot) are in the class, along with two defensive tackles (Bryce Douglas and Merrick Jackson).

Only one linebacker so far, Reggie Spearman from Chicago Simeon High School, whose team's scheduled game this Saturday against Chicago Lane Tech is in jeopardy because of the teacher's strike in Chicago, is in the Class of 2013.

Simeon's season has been a turbulent one so far. Simeon's game against Chicago Morgan Park took two days to complete after a fight broke out in the stands on Sept. 7, prompting the game (which Simeon ended up winning 13-6) to be suspended to Sept. 9 before it was completed.

The unsteady play of Reilly O'Toole and Miles Osei against Arizona State probably has Illinois fans worried about what that position will look like after Nathan Scheelhaase graduates.

Aaron Bailey is a bonafide quarterback propsect from Bolingbrook (Ill.) High School who appears to have a similar game to Scheelhaase and Juice Williams before they arrived in Champaign-Urbana — strong runners who need to work on their passing game.

The rest of the offensive commits are pretty balanced, with one running back, Kendrick Foster from Peoria Richwoods (Ill.) High School, two wide receivers in Martize Barr from Iowa Western Community College and Ottawa (Ill.) High School's Michael Hermosillo, who is tearing up opponents on the ground this fall but is projected as a wideout in college.

Christian DiLauro is a big-bodied tight end at 6 feet, 5 inches and 240 pounds.

The Illini have two offensive lineman (Jesse Chadwell and Austin Schmidt) so far, but you can never have enough offensive linemen so look for Illini to secure a few more commitments at that position.

Rivals.com has Illinois' Class of 2013 ranked 25th nationally, which is third in the Big Ten behind Michigan (No. 2) and Ohio State (No. 9). Not bad company to keep.

A large reason behind that is not only the caliber of some of those players (Day and  Bailey are both four-star recruits, with 12 others at three stars), but the quantity. The 18 commits Illinois has in second-most in the Big Ten, trailing only Michigan's 23.

Northwestern is next with 17 commits, followed by Ohio State and Iowa with 16 each. Wisconsin has 14, followed by Michigan State (13), Purdue (11), Nebraska (10) and Indiana (10). Penn State only has nine commits — not really a surprise there — and Minnesota comes in last with only six commits so far.