SB Nation - Isiah (Juice) Williams

The Illini lose to Northwestern, reality comes back with a vengeance

Joe Kutsunis — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:00:26 -0000

by Stephen Haas - AP

27 days ago: Illinois head coach Ron Zook argues with referee Dan Capron and field judge Craig Jeffreys over a call during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern at Memorial Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, in Champaign, Ill. Northwestern won the game 21-16. (AP Photo/Decatur Herald & Review, Stephen Haas)

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You probably wont be reading anything much more about the football team for a while. With the loss in the waning moments to Northwestern on Saturday, the last hope of salvaging anything from this season evaporated. I won't talk about preseason expectations, about overall performance this year or speculate on the future here, that is for another post at the end of the season. I will however take a moment to reflect on the last two weeks of the football season, two weeks that were easily the most enjoyable all year. The team was performing like a great football team and winning, really winning for the first time all year. Most of us knew that the prospect of winning out the season and making a bowl at 6-6 was a pipe dream, but until you full on mathematically eliminated, why not have fun and hold on to hope?

The NU game ended up being very close to a sell out, based almost entirely on the combination of preseason ticket sales and the fact that the team was fun to watch again. It is also proof that football fans don't need a Rose Bowl every year to get excited about their team, just a good team that's fun to watch and will at least contend for a bowl most years. Illini fans saw that in Northwestern who are bowl bound again with 7 wins, and headed to their 3rd bowl in 5 years (and were even bowl eligible in 2007) Ryan field does not draw near as many fans as Memorial Stadium, even with the Illini at a much worse 3-7. Don't ever accuse the fans of not supporting this team.

Overall, in the game itself, we saw again the manner in which the team can fall apart or storm to victory based on just a few key situations. Unfortunately the team tended towards the former. For 99% of the first half the two teams were trading blows of missed field goals and stalled drives. Jacob Charest had not played his best, but Mikel Leshoure seemed to be maintaining the offense well enough. The key play, at the very end of the first half was a Charest interception, followed almost immediately by a Northwestern touchdown. The Illini went into half not up 3-0, but down 7-3. The chain of events had already begun however, and the problems only compounded from there.

I am not one to call out a coaching decision, because all I am is some kid who sits at his computer and admittedly know less than half of what it takes to actually make these decisions. That said however, I cannot figure out why the coaches sent Eddie McGee out for not one but two disastrous series in the third quarter. It seems like having to split time between preparing as a WR and as the backup QB somewhat handcuffed the play calling, because he threw all of one pass in his time taking snaps, almost always trying for yards on designed QB draws or just plain running for whatever he could get.

You could say that the Illini were just trying for a change of pace at QB for a running threat to go with Charest's arm, in much the same way that NU used Dan Persa or Minnesota used Marqueis Gray. I thought that too, but that did not explain why Eddie was sent back out for a second series of more of the same, even after nearly losing a fumble. Zook even explained after the game that he had pulled Charest because of the INT. After these two series in which the Illini had totaled just 50 yards and no points, the third quarter was over and the Illini were well on their way to being down 21 to 3.

Charest came back in the fourth quarter and played out of his mind, especially for a RS freshman in his first start, scoring two touchdowns. The fact that the Illini were in a position to possibly win the game in the final minute of the 4th is completely a testament to Charest, and the great catches made by the wide-outs, including Eddie McGee. The Illini were under the gun of the clock in the 4th, and it just makes you wonder how different a story it would have been the coaches had allowed Charest to work through his problems in the 3rd instead. Since sticking with Juice through thick and thin for 4 years, Zook has shown a much quicker trigger finger on pulling QB's for poor performance.

One thing I will say, that even though we will see a healthy Juice for the final two games, this team already has its next QB is in place, Jacob Charest looks like he has the makings of a very good passer.

Its too bad that most people are all now going to switch to basketball or focus on next year. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Illini lose to Northwestern 21-16 in closing minutes, all bowl hopes lost.

Joe Kutsunis — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:10:52 -0000

Customary quick reaction to the game, more complete wrap will come later.

Charest for the most part looked really good, he had one mistake in the first half, but otherwise I really think he has a future with this team
Juice Williams and Uh-oh were both injured today, making this season more and more destructive to our once deep offense.
Eddie McGee's two series were disastrous, it is clear that he has too much on his plate this week with both WR and QB preparations.
Arrelious Benn needs to jump to the NFL soon, after all of the shots he has taken lately
Not that it matters but that last review call was BS.
The pass defense was eaten alive today, the cover two is not working. At. All.
This team rides on waves of momentum, good and bad. Unfortunately the INT at the end of the first half was all it took for the roof to cave in on the Illini today
Be prepared for the calls for Zook's job to begin again in full force. The temporary era of good feelings is over with this loss.
Whatever optimism we all had for the football team is gone, there will be no miracle bowl, but a lot of questions that need answering.

The Illini hold off Minnesota, continue least likely turnaround ever.

Joe Kutsunis — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:42:37 -0000

The Ron Zook quest to destroy the hopes and dreams of everyone who has ever crossed him continues this week as he drops Minnesota to 5-5 and makes the bowl eligibility of Tim Brewster and Minnesota slightly less likely. There will be a more complete recap tomorrow but here are a few quick reactions from today's game.

Two weeks in a row that Terry Hawthorne has proved himself to be by far the best defensive back on the team. He is fast, makes great tackles and even had a pick 6 today. As much as I love the idea of him as a receiver, the reality of him as a DB is pretty amazing.
Two weeks in a row with out any interceptions, by either QB Charest or Juice, it clearly makes a huge difference in games.
Two weeks in a row with a punt blocked, this time it almost cost us the game, please lets get this fixed.
Most importantly though two weeks in a row with a win, and the Illini era of good feelings continues for another week.

Oh yeah, and its been a while since I put this video up.

Illini at Minnesota preview: part of the plan all along.

Joe Kutsunis — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:39:03 -0000

More photos » by Seth Perlman - AP

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I suppose it is finally time to stop riding the happy train of victory that has kept me going all week and to start actually focusing at the game at hand.

In Minnesota, the Illini find themselves once again up against a team that sits at 5 wins, on the verge of going to a bowl, after Illinois, the Gophers play South Dakota state and Iowa which alternatively look like a lock for a win and a lock for a loss. You could say then that their season and hopes for a bowl bid are dependent upon this game. As I mentioned earlier this week at 6 losses and national coverage for being a disappointment the Illini have found themselves potentially playing spoiler to all the opponents left on their schedule. A loss to the Illini is a bad loss, and could be detrimental to a 6-6 team hoping to get into a last tier bowl. With SD State, Minnesota is assured 6 wins, with Iowa they are guaranteed a 5th loss. A win over Illinois then would make Minny almost sure to get 7 wins and a decent bowl a loss, no more than 6 wins and a bad loss hanging around your neck like an anchor.

The Illini nation, as Ron Zook often refers to it, has already begun to cling to the idea of "hey, if we win out, we are in a bowl." Despite Loren Tate's advice of being a bit more realistic in our dreams, many of us fans have already convinced ourselves that the fabled 2009 Illini from the preview magazines have finally arrived, and that they shall roll convincingly over the remaining competition to the most unlikely 6-6 bowl season ever. Yes that means we would be beating #5 Cincinnati. But hey doesn't that just tell you how badly we want this team to be better?

By this time on Sunday however we could wake up to a cold dose of reality, a 7th loss, a season without any remaining purpose and alot of questions in need of answering.

Until then however, we are perfectly happy delaying any of the not fun questions until this team is no longer celebrating a win.

Minnesota provides the opportunity for the team to prove whether or not they truly have gotten over what ever mental hurtles were preventing them from being successful throughout the first half of the season. We now know that a the very least it is possible for this team to go on the sort of explosive offensive runs and tough defensive stands we once had assumed.

Against a Minnesota team that also rolled out 500 yards of total offense the week before, they are not going to have the benefit of a full half of mediocre football. Last week Minnesota QB Adam Weber threw for over 400 yards and 5 touchdowns, all without sure thing first round WR Eric Decker, the guy that rocked us last year.

The defensive game plan this week is going to be much different than Michigan. Minny is going to throw the ball all over the field and the secondary is going to have to step up like they did last week. All of the sudden, Illini fans are ecstatic that Terry Hawthorne was moved to defense. Maybe even more important is the play of Clay Nurse, Corey Liuget, Josh Brent and Doug Pilcher. The defensive line played better than at any point all year against Michigan. Getting into the backfield and pressuring, sacking, and hurrying Weber will go a long way in taking pressure off of the secondary.

For the first time, I feel pretty good about our offense. I believe that they can do what they did last week, and that is run, run run with Leshoure and Juice in every imaginable way. Options, end reads, keepers and plain old I formation hand offs. Just as key however will be Juice's passing in key situations. Against Michigan Juice was 8-11 with no INTs, the model of efficient QB play. If he can get a line like that this week, I think this Illinois team wins.

See what a difference a win makes? I'm already back to my overly optimistic ways.

That same old familiar feeling: Illini lose to Purdue 24 to 14.

Joe Kutsunis — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:02:48 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

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Today we saw the latest attempt to put a "spark" into the team in Jacob Charest's college football debut. This elusive spark we keep looking for is theoretically the single thing that is holding this team back from scoring in droves and winning games. Oddly enough, at first it seemed to be working. Charest made some excellent passes to our too little used tight ends including a long shot in stride to Hubie Graham to put the Illini in 1st and goal on the 2 yard line. Moments later however, the team reverted to what we have seen all season long. Juice came back in as QB and a penalty and 3 failed attempts to score later the first half was waning and the Illini were forced to kick. In what has to be the ultimate kick in the ribs, the Illini then missed their field goal attempt, and headed into the locker room with nothing to show for their otherwise excellent drive down 14 to 7.

But that has been the story of the season. No matter how good things may be going at times, something new pops up to prevent this team from winning. Every game its something or someone different, but there is a common, losing. Losing big, losing not as big, this team has slid further and further away from the form that brought them to Pasadena in 2007.

Maybe we were wrong to get our hopes up about this football team. After all, for the last 40 years, quality football in Champaign has only come in fits and starts. 2 or 3 years at a time tops will this football team make a bowl game, for whatever reason consistent quality has just not been a feature of Fighting Illini football. The Illini are now sitting at 6 losses, just one loss away from formally removing themselves from bowl contention, something that has been a foregone conclusion for weeks. Whenever the 7th loss occurs it will mark 8th season this decade the Illini have not made a bowl. That's right, only two bowl seasons in the 2000's. The Illini have returned to the form that most of this decade has known them to be. The last 2 seasons of Ron Turner and the first few of Ron Zook have seemingly returned.

A colossal disappointment of a season continues, and there seems to be no end in sight. Next week is Michigan, at home, on Halloween, in a 2:30 game. Before the season began I had circled that game, thinking if I only went to one game all season it would have to be that one. Had this Illini team performed at all like we expected, it probably would have been the coolest home game all season. Now it just looks like another game against a better opponent.

If the Illini want to win any games in the Big Ten, they have to beat IU

Joe Kutsunis — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:56:36 -0000

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

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Game 6, the game which marks the half way point in the season, also a mark that more or less will seal the fate of any hopes for post season play. A win would put the team at 2-4 and technically still alive for a bowl game, a loss would put the team at 5 losses, and with a top 10 Cincinnati team and still on the schedule a 6th loss is almost guaranteed.

Worse though a loss this weekend would be to a team that before the season began was considered the worst team in the league. If the Illini lose to Indiana, what does that make the Illini?

Don't get me wrong, I am not expecting a loss on Saturday, this is still the same Hoosier team that gave up 55 to us last year, and the same Hoosier team that was thumped 47 to 7 last week against against Virginia. You know Al Groh's Virginia? The UVA team that lost to 1AA William and Mary? Yeah they got blown out by those guys.

Indiana should be an absolute slam dunk of a game, at almost every position last year they could not compete with the Illini. It is very telling then that even with all of this seemingly in favor of the Illini, I am still not confident.

Why should I be? What evidence does any fan have that this team will come out and play any better than it has? We can trash IU all we want (and we will) but frankly they have played better than the Illini this season. Hell they have 3 wins, which is 2 more than us. Indiana is a very bad football team, and to this point in the season we are worse.

Zook has yet to name a starter for Saturday, but the consensus among the media seems that it ought to be Juice. The second half against MSU last week was the best he has played all season and he has probably earned his chance to at least play his last games as a college player, rather than watch from the bench.

You never say that any game is a must win, but this game is a must win. I don''t want to break down what the Illini need to do to beat Indiana, because frankly if they played up to their potential it would take almost no game planning what so ever. We ran our basic offense up against this team last year and blew them off of the field. Jason Ford and Daniel Dufrene and Mikel Leshoure should run roughshod over this team. By far the toughest part of the schedule is behind us, if this team wants to make anything redeeming at all out of this season, it cannot wait another week.

Breaking News: Juice Williams Benched for Eddie McGee

Joe Kutsunis — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:31:33 -0000

More photos » by Seth Perlman - AP

2 months ago: Illinois' quarterback Juice Williams (7) scrambles out of the pocket against Penn State during the first half of the NCAA college football game in Champaign, Ill., Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

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After a 1-3 start, and the third straight game where the offense failed to move the ball down the field, Ron Zook has done what was thought to be unthinkable just a short few weeks ago. Juice Williams will not be starting against Michigan State next Saturday, in favor of RS Junior Eddie McGee.

Zook characterized the decision as "not a knee jerk reaction" and that "this is not all about Juice"

This all comes after the game in which Juice overtook Kurt Kitner as the school's all time offensive leader. Juice is a four-year starter, senior QB, that once led his team to the Rose Bowl, and only last year threw for over 3,000 yards, leading the conference in passing yards. Today, he is no longer your starting quarterback.

To say the least this is a major shake up. I will have more on what this means to the team later today.

Big Ten Football Rankings, Week 4

Pete Rossman — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:55:39 -0000

There's finally a new number one team at the top of the Big Ten Power poll this week. Let's run it down:

1. Iowa - Beat Penn State at Beaver Stadium during a whiteout. That will get you the number one spot almost every time.

2. Ohio State- Whenever they beat a good team, I'll consider them for the top.

3. Penn State - Not to take away anything from the Hawkeyes, but Penn State did more to lose that game than Iowa did to win it.

4. Michigan - ...And here's where the drop-off begins. They've done more than any other team to be here, but I feel like the fourth-best team in the Big Ten shouldn't edge Indiana and Notre Dame. The other shoe will drop soon, and please let it be this week.

5. Wisconsin - After a near-death experience of a game against Fresno State, the Badgers found their footing against Wofford and stomped Michigan State last week. In retrospect I probably should have put them fourth, but Michigan's been more consistent over the course of the season.

6. Minnesota - Hey, this team might be decent after all! However, Northwestern (near-loss to EMU, loss to Syracuse) and Cal (wrecked by Oregon) aren't as good as we thought at the season's start.

7. Indiana - All they've done is win all their games before the Michigan game, and they nearly won that one as well. It's hard for me to rank them any lower when the teams below them have been far from competent.

8. Northwestern - The good news - Mike Kafka has been much better than anyone could have hoped. The bad news - the defense would let the retirees at Shady Hills Retirement Home put up at least 28 points.

9. Michigan State - Yes, the quarterback controversy is a bit of a problem. However, think about this - for every finger you point at the QB position, there are four that point right back at the secondary as MSU's main concern.

10. Purdue - A tip for Big Ten coaches - when the other team has a ball with less than a minute left and looks discombobulated, calling a timeout may not be the best course of action. Just sayin'.

11. Illinois - Will Juice Williams end his career at Illinois with a 2-10 season - just like he started it? That possibility is gaining steam every week the offense sputters.

Welcome to the new reality: This Illini team cannot score.

Joe Kutsunis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:24:45 -0000

More photos » by Terry Gilliam - AP

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After 3 games we have a trend of two and one outlier. Illinois State showed that against competition that is literally not in the same league with the Illini, Schultz can run all over a defense. Once the competition gets into the Big Six conferences however, it all seems to fall apart.

Take away the ISU game and you are left with the following stats for 2 games.

A combined score of 9 to the opponents 67
A total of 495 yards total offense
4 INTs (and a fumble loss for good measure,)
A combined 11 for 28 on 3rd down,
111 yards in penalties, compared to 85 for opponents.

Juice was right, this is a horrible nightmare from which we cannot awake. The weirdest thing to me is that all of this runs counter to history for nearly everyone involved on this offense. Schultz had TCU running the exact same offense for years, and never struggled to score this much. Benn was an AA last year, Fayson was much better than this at Florida, Juice has improved every year passing, except for this year. I told you before Saturday's game that I refused to believe that all of these players and coaches had regressed that much from last year, but until they prove otherwise, that is what we have to assume.

Our friends and SBN comrades at the Rivalry ESQ gave their opinion on what the hell has happened and what is going on. Graham writes

Two games have showed us the exact same thing. The gashing run attack featured so prominently in '07 is gone. The zone read option is gone, because teams blitz a linebacker directly where Juice might run, unafraid of his passing prospects. The highly touted wide receivers (I called them the Big Ten's best) are dropping balls and unable to stretch the field vertically, something Fayson and Benn should be able to do. And Juice Williams, who I have ardently supported and whose talent I assumed would trump other issues, has been underthrowing routes and irresponsibly slinging balls into tight coverage.

Eventually you have to stop making judgments on a team based on potential and talent and start evaluating them based on results and production. As I said before, the Illini did not have to win this game in order for people to feel much better about the offense and their chances of making it to a bowl, they simply had to show us that the Mizzou game was an anomaly, and not predictive of the rest of the season. Having seemingly the exact same game, but against a better defense simply seems to reinforce what we saw in St. Louis.

Up next is of course Penn State, a team that does not exactly have "get well game" written all over it. Going into this game, the Illini have exactly the same requirements in front of them as last week. Play competitively, and show that this offense can hold its own. As much as we are worried about the defense holding up, they have basically stuck exactly to their preseason expectations, weak deep and on the sides, strong up front. At this point many of us would be happy to see a 35 to 27 loss next week, it would at least show us that there is life, that there is some semblance of success on offense that we can build upon. Because right now the facts are this: this Illini have already lost two games, and Michigan and Indiana have proved themselves to be a hell of a lot better than last year. Cincinnatti is a top 10 team, and its looking more and more like the Illini will have at least 6 losses this season.

The case for an Illini win against Ohio State, (its a stretch I know)

Joe Kutsunis — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:25:43 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Juice+Benn+Hope=Illini Victory.(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

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There are many types of fans in this world. There are cynics, starry eyed merry men, band wagoners. grumpy old cranks, and me: the eternal optimist.

Look I don't want to make it sound like I have to think Illinois will have a good game on Saturday because its my job. (although a win is always good for site traffic, YOU HEAR ME ZOOK!?!?!) But I think I do have some at least half way credible evidence that this team has not shown its true colors yet. I am really just unwilling to accept that this team is in reality as inept as it looked against Missouri. I don't know what was to blame, offensive play calling, defensive breakdowns, swine flu, voodoo curses or even good old fashioned bad luck. This offense returns nearly everyone of consequence from last year, you can't tell me that they all got worse.

So I am then completely willing to chalk Missouri up as an aberration, and Illinois State as moot because we saw an offense run mostly by Eddie McGee going up against a 1-AA defense. This offense has a sample size that is almost negligible. There have only been about 4 total plays in which the two best players have even been on the field at the same time. As far as I am concerned this team is starting from a blank slate. The record is 1-1 and it is hardly a lost season.

I suggest, for the sake of our collective mental stability, we wait and see how the next couple of games shake out. We don't know how good anyone is in the Big Ten just yet. Hell, by record alone we have to assume that Indiana at 3-0 is the far superior team to Michigan State at 1-2. (try not to laugh so hard your nose bleeds at that thought.)

We do know however that the Buckeyes can indeed lose. They lost to USC in a final minutes drive, and they nearly lost to Navy in week 1. The common thread in both of these is a very good running game, granted in two different forms. It seems to me that of all things, this Ohio State team is vulnerable against a strong running game, particularly in option and end read situations (QB keeper straight up the middle much?)

I will of course grant you that Ohio State kept Toledo to 13 total rushing yards last week, but don't pat yourselves on the back too hard, Buckeyes, Toledo gave up 50+ points to Purdue, and the mighty Terl Pryor threw 2 INTS into that MAC defense. You have to take the whole game, good and bad.

Maybe I'm grasping at straws here up I believe that if the running game comes out strong against OSU, and the passing lanes are opened with the threat of the run, there is no reason that this Illini team can't score points against Ohio State. We do still have some real talent on offense, and I fully believe that the gap in quality between these two teams in 2009 is closer than it was in '08 and in '07. The question is whether or not the talent can get its shit together and perform like it has in the past.

I don't know how the pass defense is going to be this week, or frankly any week from here on out. And I do fear that with the strength of our defense being the defensive line, and its weakness being the secondary, you could see alot of points scored against us. I am no Chris Brown of smart football, but I do know that with some mobile QB's in Pryor's style, where they may be even more of a threat with their legs than their arm, a defensive line may be kept back in a contain, mostly neutralizing the advantage we might have there. The result here is giving the QB alot of time to throw, but no where to run. I have a feeling that this would result in alot of Buckeyes being open deep and the secondary getting torched.

The other option is to play the D line like we would any passing QB, get up field as fast as possible with the front four and try and sack him or force him to make a bad throw or throw it away. The problem is that Pryor is very fast, and forcing him out of the pocket and daring him to run for yards will probably also result in a tough day for the defense. If that's the way that Zook decides to go, you had better hope that Russell Ellington and Ian Thomas, because they are going to be responsible for corralling Pryor out of the pocket.

So that's where we stand possibly on the edge of a shoot out. Its a position i am sure the Illini will be getting used to after the games we saw last year. I have confidence though, that a fully healthy and poised Illini offense can keep this team in a game with just about anyone, provided it doesn't shoot itself in the foot.