SB Nation - Eddie McGee

The Illini All Decade Team: 1st Team Offense

Joe Kutsunis — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:21:50 -0000

More photos » by Seth Perlman - AP

Behold the fruits of cooperation!

The following is a joint production of yours truly and friend of the site TheSportsBank.net. We have collaborated here to produce the definitive Illini All Decade Team for 2000 through 2009. We will have a 1st Team defense, a second team and the same for the basketball team (hooray!) For a team that went nearly 30 games under .500 for the decade, you would be surprised how much talent we managed to concentrate on one speculative team. Any way on with the show, the 1st Team offense for the 2000's

First team offense lloyd By Paul M. Banks & Paul Schmidt of The Sports Bank and Joe Kutsunis of Hail to the Orange, "Home of the Blogging Illini" First team Offense

QB Kurt Kittner - Though he only played two seasons this decade, Kittner deserves the nod here. He led the team to the Sugar Bowl and a Big Ten Championship in 2001, and did it without the benefit of a great running back corps (undersized Rocky Harvey and bulky Antoineo Harris the main contributors). With the passing game being the main focus of the offense, Kittner was still able to dissect opposing defenses. Still, it was a close finish between him, Juice Williams and surprisingly Jon Beutjer (whose career stats are surprisingly impressive – like second all-time in Illini history for passing efficiency). Kittner’s overall winning record as a starter pushes him over the top.

RB Rashard Mendenhall – Statistically, he doesn’t match up, finishing seventh all-time on the Illini rushing list, behind Antoineo Harris (2nd), Rocky Harvey (5th) and Pierre Thomas (6th), all prominent Illini runners this decade. In the end, only one number really matters: 1,681. That’s his rushing total from the Champaign Campaign season of 2007. The highest single-season in Illinois history by 350 yards. Another number from that season? 17 – the number of touchdowns that ‘Shard rushed for that season; also the best. Quite simply, it was the best season by a running back in Illinois history, and the Illini don’t make the Rose Bowl or win more than 5 games without him, the Silver Football winner (Big Ten MVP) from that year

FB Carey Davis – Fullbacks in the early part of the decade held a special place in the heart of many Illini fans, and perhaps more importantly, in the heart of Ron Turner. Carey Davis was easily one of the best fullbacks (statistically) in Illini history. Over 1,000 career rushing yards, 114 receptions and 750 receiving yards land him the first spot. Also, it should be mentioned that any time not spent catching trademarked Ron Turner swing passes was spent lead blocking for the number 2 rusher in Illinois history

WR Brandon Lloyd – The best receiver of the decade, and would have been the career leader in receiving yards in Illini history (over the GREAT David Williams) had he not suffered a freak injury prior to the 2000 campaign (when, in running and trying to catch up to some teammates, he got his foot stuck between a curb and a parking block and broke his leg in two places). He is one of only two wide receivers in Illinois history to have more than one 1,000 yard season (again, Williams), and has two of the top-six receiving seasons in Illini history. He was a game-breaker despite his size and was the perfect deep threat for the Kittner-era Illini.

WR Walter Young – Sixth all-time in receptions, and is the reason that people in Champaign think that Eddie McGee can be a wide receiver. Young was a heralded quarterback coming out of Rich East High School (SICA!!!), showing great athleticism and ability in his game. Turner and his coaching staff immediately converted Young to WR, and proceeded to use him in creative ways throughout his career; sometimes as a decoy, but later as a legitimate receiving threat, amassing over 1,700 of his 2,300 receiving yards in his last two seasons. At 6-5, 220 pounds, he was a complete mismatch for most defensive backs, never more evident than in his Sugar Bowl performance against LSU, when he made six catches for 178 yards and two scores.

WR Arrelious Benn – How good is Rejus Benn? Even with a miserable 2009 season where he only had 429 yards and one touchdown, Benn moved up to fifth-all-time in receptions in Illinois history, and still ranks as the second or third wide receiver on most major draft boards. Statistically, he is one of the top WRs in Illinois history: Fourth all-time in all-purpose yards, sixth in receiving yards and he absolutely OWNED Penn State when the Illini played them (almost 13% of his career all-purpose yards came in three games against the Nittany Lions). Where Benn ends up among all-time Illini (or in the rankings of Illini who were underachieving enigmas) will depend on whether or not he comes back for his senior season.

For an interview where Benn discusses his chances of returning, click here

OFFENSIVE LINE Duke Preston, Jon Asamoah, Marques Sullivan, Tony Pashos and David Diehl The offensive line was ridiculously hard to select. However, it seemed as though there would be one easy way to choose who belonged on the first team, and who belonged on the second team – Experience in the NFL. All of the players listed above were drafted and started on various NFL squads except for Asamoah – and that is only because he won’t be drafted until NEXT decade; Asamoah still projects out as the top guard in the draft headed into the combines, and was a second-team All-American.

For an exclusive interview profile of Asamoah click here

As for the rest of the linemen, Preston has played 59 games in the NFL, and started 20; Sullivan (already retired) was a four-year starter, a first-team Playboy All-American, a third-team FWAA All-American, and two-year starter for the Buffalo Bills in '02-'03. He is also a member of this site's Facebook group, and reads this site regularly, so that's yet another reason he had to be choosen. Pashos was First Team All-Big Ten '01 & '02, and has started 54 games in the NFL at RT, appearing in 69 (currently on injured reserve with the 49ers). Diehl has had the most successful career of any lineman, winning a Super Bowl with the Giants in 2008, starting almost every game since his rookie year in 2003. Diehl also recently signed a 6 year, 31 million dollar contract extension, just in case anyone is looking to borrow some money from someone. Hey, he did give the University that sweet new weight room.

PK Jason Reda – One of the strongest and most accurate legs coming out of college, but somehow never parlayed that into a professional career. Still, Reda's the easy choice – He is, after all, the all-time leading scorer in Illinois history. Let’s say that again one more time for you: No player in Illinois history has ever scored more points than Reda. Throw in two of the most accurate kicking seasons in Illinois history (the second and sixth), and the fact he was the most accurate kicker with at least 50 attempts, and Reda on the first team was like complaining and whining in an Avril Lavigne song; an absolute certainty.

The Final Word on the 2009 Fighting Illini football Season

Joe Kutsunis — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:47:49 -0000

More photos » by Seth Perlman - AP

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I really did not want to write this post. This season was so bad that we have known for many weeks that there would be very little positive that could be taken from it. It was a season that will be defined by let downs, unmet expectations and uncertainty.

Like I did at the end of last year's basketball season, I have assess to what expectations I wish to hold this team. At the beginning of the season, after reading my Phil Steele and feeling about as confident as I ever have about this team, I said that this season would probably be an 8-4 year, with losses to Penn State, Ohio State, Cincinnati and one team we should not lose to. That's a bowl, a solid season and in a situation that gives you a good feeling about the future.

Phil Steele said we would finish 3rd in the conference, and that there was an outside chance we would go undefeated. If there is anyone more upset with Ron Zook right now than Phil Steele, I would like to meet him, because this 3-9 season has got to hurt his credibility.

You know what might be the worst thing about this year? That the defense by the final three weeks was completely unable to make a stop and the offense was putting up sick numbers on otherwise good teams. The polar opposite of the beginning of the year where the defense would hang tough for 3 quarters before folding from exhaustion at the end, and got no support from the vaunted offense.

That offense that finally got its feet under it in the second half of the year put Illini fans through some awfully difficult to watch games early in the year. It would move the ball down the field and then lose the ball in one disastrous way after another. Fumbles and penalties and interceptions, groan. The offense at times was literally tripping over its own feet and keeping itself from success. There were lots of problems from receivers like Fayson and Cumberland who disappointed in their production, to Arrelious Benn who just plain was not thrown to enough. (double standard maybe, but which of these 3 is getting first round money?) One of the weapons I was looking forward to seeing better used this year was Uh-oh who outside of a catch here or there was either not thrown to or was sidelined with injury.

The running game would eventually prove to be one of the bright spots of the team, but early on it too was inconsistent, and underused more than likely due to all of the talent we perceived ourselves to have a wide receiver. Mikel Leshoure needs to get the ball more next year than any of the other backs, I don't care what playing time has been promised to the others. He is your go-to back, no excuses.

As for Juice, I still feel bad the way his final season as an Illini ended up. When he is allowed to play his game, the game he excels at, the game that got him to the Rose Bowl, it can be plainly seen how much of a threat he can be to defenses. He is as classy as football players get, even through being pulled earlier this season and then being put back in without any fanfare. He is your all time offensive yards leader, he will go down as one of the most important players to this school, and I for one wish things would have gone better for him. Maybe I am biased, going to school at Illinois during the Rose Bowl run will probably tend to do that.

As for the defense many of the problems that plagued it at the beginning of the season still plagued it at the end, but to a greater degree. There are some spots on defense of real strength, most notably defensive tackle, but the weak points were never fully shored up. I suppose some of this can be blamed on injury the losses of Martez Wilson, Miami Thomas and intermittently Donsay Hardeman combined with youth and inexperience in other areas to create at best an inconsistent defense.

The season just never really got off to the start it was supposed to. The loss to Missouri I really think sent this team into a tailspin and had it under perform its own ability from then on. I believe to some degree it was not as good as advertised, but its talent level is not as bad as its record. Ohio State, Michigan State, and Penn State did just as some predicted and put the Illini in a hole that they were never really fully able to pull themselves out of. If the Illini take one of those three games, I don't believe they lose to either Purdue or Indiana. This team should have been at least a 6-6 team. You can blame the coaches for panicking maybe, or the players for despairing, or the AD for giving the team a schedule that seems hell bent against going to a bowl. Whatever the reason this team was not put into a position to succeed, and underperformed.

There are still some bright spots to look forward to, somewhat at least. Terry Hawthorne, whatever position he is going to play, on whatever side of the ball, is going to be one of the better players for this team. He ended up being the best defensive back after being converted to the position halfway through the season. Jacob Charest emerged as the probable starting QB for next year, with Eddie McGee moving to receiver, a position he proved better at than many established players.

For all the problems this team has had it still has talent. Right now both Jon Asamoah and Arrelious Benn are projected first round draft picks. Along with Rashard Mendenhall from two years ago and Vontae Davis last year that will make three years in a row with a first rounder. Thats not something that usually happens to consistently bad teams. But to us, it has.

I don't know what next year really holds. There are a lot of rumors of firings and transfers that will be decided in the next several week, so I could not really tell you in what direction the team will ultimately go. The two indicators we do have though are next year's schedule and recruiting, and both of those point to another losing season. See you this summer football, I hope under better circumstances.

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

about 1 month 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.

The depressing Illini loss to Northwestern seen in depressing technology

Joe Kutsunis — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:00:31 -0000

Hey, just because we lost in a most deflating and passion killing manner doesn't mean we don't want to relive those moments in brilliant flash video and colorful tecmo-superbowl-esque drive charts right? Thats what i thought. You will notice that the two worst drives happen in the early 3rd quarter, during the brief Eddie McGee experiment, where throwing the ball was made illegal. Sigh

FULL SCREEN VERSION

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.

Alright guys, don't blow it now

BoilerTMill — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:47:26 -0000

I am trying to keep the good vibes going. If anyone listened to the Boiled Sports podcast Tuesday night I made a pretty bold statement. I said that as good as the Ohio State win was, losing to Illinois would be 10 times worse. As a result, I am watching the video of the Ohio State win as I write this, hoping it carries over into the blog.

It is true though. If we can beat Ohio State, there is absolutely no reason we should lose to Illinois. You do not often get a chance to play the best team in the conference, then the worst team in the conference the very next week. I would even take it a step further. With Ohio State, we may have played the best team on our schedule last week (though Oregon may be better since they have a real offense). I think Illinois is the worst team on our schedule. They proved last week they are worse than Indiana. I think they are worse than Toledo (who beat NIU last week) and Northern Illinois. This is a team that has quit on its season already. They need to win their remaining games (one of which is against one of the nation's last unbeaten teams) just to qualify for a bowl. Unless we see some unexpected fight from the Illini Saturday, they are done.

2008 Record: 5-7, 3-5 Big Ten

2009 Record: 1-5, 0-4

Bowl result: No Bowl

Blog Representation: Hail to the Orange

Series with Purdue: Illinois leads 41-37-6 (Purdue leads The Cannon portion 29-26-2)

Last Purdue win: 11/11/2006 at Illinois 42-31

Last Illinois win: 10/12/2002 at Illinois 38-31 (OT)

This may be one of the least celebrated trophy games in the Big Ten, but it is one of the closest overall. We have had the Cannon in our possession since 2003, but the recent two-year hiatus in the series means that we only have four straight wins. Speaking as a Purdue fan, the Illinois game really doesn't feel like much of a rivalry. There has never been a ton at stake, as both teams haven't exactly torn up the Big Ten at the same time for quite awhile.

Illinois offense:

This is the main reason that any loss to the Illini would be awful. Their offense, especially if you take away the 45-17 win over Illinois State (a 1-AA team), has been abysmal. That one win represents 45 of the 99 points the team has scored through six games. Not only has Illinois managed just one first half touchdown against a 1-A foe, they have only led one game against a 1-A opponent for about five minutes. That occurred last week at Indiana when the Illini led the Hoosiers 7-3 with 5:27 left in the first half. Illinois gave up 10 points in the final minute of the half, and never threatened again.

I don't even know who we will face at quarterback. Juice Williams (80 of 143, 4 touchdowns, 4 interceptions) is the Big Ten's most experienced quarterback, but he has already been benched in favored of Eddie McGee (21 of 41, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions). There is even talk of third string quarterback Jacob Charest, a redshirt freshman, getting some time Saturday. Charest has yet to take a snap in his collegiate career, so if he plays it will officially label Illinois as desperate. Illinois has only passed for 1,128 yards between Williams and McGee.

For a true preview of Saturday, just reverse the 9 and 4 on the jersey. The result of this play (a sack, strip, and fumble recovery for a TD) will likely be the same.

Whoever plays, they will likely become well acquainted with Ryan Kerrigan, Mike Neal, and the rest of our defensive line by the end of the day. The Illinois offensive line is among the worst in the Big Ten, giving up a league high 19 sacks. If our defensive line is not dominating and causing pressure all day something is severely wrong. This is especially true since these guys just played like warriors against Ohio State.

Illinois is not moving the ball well on the ground, either. Williams is the leading rusher with only 239 yards and one touchdown. Jason Ford (222-1), Daniel Dufrene (199-1), and Mikel Leshoure (163-2) form a running back by committee approach that is far from effective. McGee also has a pair of rushing touchdowns, so he is a threat to run if he plays. One has to remember though that the bulk of these numbers, running and passing, have been put up either against Illinois State or after the game is well decided. Illinois has not been in a game against a 1-A foe except last week against Indiana.

If they can get him the ball, there is a bit of a danger at wide receiver. Arrelious Benn was a preseason All-American, but he has only 22 catches for 271 yards and no touchdowns to lead Illinois receivers. As long as we cover him we will shut down Illinois' pathetic passing game. Jarred Fayson (11-119-1), Chris Duvalt (9-136-1), Leshoure (8-115-1), and A.J.Jenkins (7-100-1) have put up modest second half numbers, but again, this offense has literally done nothing in the first half of most games. They need to get the ball to Benn more, who is a playmaker, but they have been unable to.

Illinois defense:

This is a battered unit. They have already lost possibly their best player in Martez Wilson for the season. They may have lost their second best player, Donsay Hardeman, for his career last week. They are not getting to the quarterback with just six team sacks on the year. The offense is doing nothing to help them out, so the defense is getting worn down to the point where it is about as reliable as the Rhythm Method in preventing conception. They have also only forced seven turnovers (three interceptions, four fumbles), and three of those came against Illinois State. I kind of feel bad for them because they are undoubtedly playing hard, but they are getting zero help from their teammates.

Ian Thomas and Tavon Wilson lead the team in tackles with 43 apiece. Thomas has one of the team's sacks, while Wilson has one of the three interceptions. Doug Pilcher is a bit of a force on the defensive line as well. Pilcher has two sacks, 18 tackles, and an interception with a 41 yard return. Russell Ellington could also be a factor, as he has an interception with a 78 yard return. This is still not a fearsome unit.

Illinois is giving up over 28 points per game and their run defense is particularly bad. They are giving up about 180 yards on the ground, which is good for Ralph Bolden. Bolden has not had much room to run recently, and against Northwestern when he did have room we just kept fumbling the ball away. Look for Bolden to get over 100 yards for the first time since the Oregon game. McBurse and Taylor should also see some holes when they are in there. The pass defense is not much better, as it gives up 241 yards per game.

Honestly, we should only have trouble against their defense if we start giving the ball away again. Turnovers were still an issue last week against Ohio State, but we gave up no points off of them. Illinois does not force nearly as many turnovers as Ohio State does, so it once again comes down to us not shooting ourselves in the foot.

Illinois Special Teams:

And you thought their other units were bad. They have no punt return game (a long of nine yards), no kick return game (Benn is a dangerous returner, but only has a long of 33), and Matt Eller has hit on just half his field goals. Granted, the offense is not getting Eller in position to kick, as he is just 3 of 6 on the year with a long of 38.

One phrase we should get used to hearing is, "Anthony Santella is in punt formation". He averages almost six punts per game and has almost a 41 yard per kick average. Both coverage units on special teams for Illinois are merely average.

Intangibles:

This is a team that is already beaten. I watched part of Saturday night's game at Indiana and they had no hustle or emotion whatsoever. Beating them would officially end their bowl hopes, as there is no way they will win their five games after this and qualify at 6-6. This is Illinois' last shot to save its season, but given their body language and effort so far it would be a total shock to see them suddenly turn things on. Though Purdue and Illinois have similar record, Purdue has fought hard and has been in every single game. Illinois hasn't even been close, and they have rolled over and died since the opener against Missouri.

The one Illinois blog, Hail to the Orange, has already virtually given up and jumped to basketball content. Their last two game wraps of Rock Bottom and Failing on all Cylinders show that confidence in the football program is at an all time low. There is no doubt that Illinois has more talent than a lot of teams, but that talent is severely underperforming in all phases of the game at the moment. They are even one of the most penalized teams in the league. I am not even going to mention the gigantic Ron Zook intangible right now. Every writer in the Big Ten is saying enough about his epic level of fail at the moment.

Contractually obligated Ron Zook blog picture. He will likely soon have plenty of time for his hobbies, such as fighting Boilerdowd to the death.

Purdue, meanwhile, is as high as it has been in about five years. Even the 8-6 season of 2006 and 8-5 season of 2007 did not have a moment that was a tenth as important as last week against Ohio State. As long as we don't go out and pull a Northern Illinois we will be fine.

Keys to the game for Purdue:

Hogtie the team that showed up against Northern Illinois
Don't turn the ball over
Maintain last week's momentum
Run the ball with Bolden, McBurse, and Taylor
Dominate along the defensive line

Illinois by the numbers.

John M (The Crimson Quarry) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:34:32 -0000

More photos » by Terry Gilliam - AP

The ball, the end zone, and Aurellious Benn: a combination not seen since last year's IU-Illinois game.

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Illinois holds an unpleasant distinction: the season is at the halfway point, and the Illini are the only team in the six major conferences that has not defeated a single Division I-A (FBS) team. Illinois's lone win came against Illinois State. While that's depressing for Illinois fans, it's even more depressing that IU is a 2.5 point underdog to Illinois, at home, and on homecoming. In fairness to the Illini, they have played only 5 games, compared to the six games already played by most teams. Also, all of the Illini's losses have been to BCS conference teams that likely are bowl bound (Missouri, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State). Still, the Illini are desperate, and the fan base of whichever team loses this game is going to lose its collective mind.

I really thought that the Illini, who lost a bunch of close games in 2008, would bounce back in 2009. Why hasn't that happened? While it's hard to measure Illinois's statistics against IU's, given the difference in level of competition, overall the Illini's numbers demonstrate a nearly total failure, particularly on offense. It's no exaggeration to say that Illinois ranks near the bottom of Division I-A in every major statistical category other than total rushing offense and net punting. The Illini's overall rushing numbers, 167 yards per game and 4.6 yards per carry, are respectable, but haven't been enough to overcome a horrid pass offense. Ron Zook already has demoted and promoted Juice Williams. Williams has been bad: 54 percent completions, 2 TDs to 4 INTs. His backup and one-time starter, Eddie McGee, has been worse: 51 percent completions, one touchdown, and 3 INTs in only 41 attempts. Even the rushing stats are a bit skewed by the Illinois State game.

For instance, the Illini's leading rusher, Jason Ford, is averaging 9.3 yards per carry, but that's mostly on the strength of a 13 carry, 137 yard performance against the Redbirds. Overall, the Illini quarterbacks, Williams and McGee, have approximately half of Illinois's total rushing attempts. IU fans have seen this offense, and while a running quarterback is a nice weapon, it looks like desperation when there is nothing else to the offense. Finally, Arrelious Benn, whose commitment to Illinois was supposedly a watershed moment for the program, had caught only 13 balls this year and hasn't caught a touchdown in a year. In short, on paper, the Illini offense looks putrid--but not as bad as Virginia's offense looked on paper before last weekend's game.

On defense, as I noted, the numbers are not any prettier. The Illini are allowing 408 yards and 28 points per game and are allowing 185 yards per game on the ground. They don't pressure the quarterback particularly well. If he is healthy, Darius Willis seems like the key to this game. If IU can establish a rushing offense, IU may be able to control the game a bit.

After last weekend's disaster, I have no idea what to expect from this team. Based on the way last year's team responded to adversity, I don't expect much. Still, this game and next week's game at Northwestern will dictate the course of the season and the course of Bill Lynch's career. If IU has anything it is holding back on either side of the ball, right now would be the right time to use it.

Wha Happened? Week Six

RossWB — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:37:07 -0000

Yes, there were other games involving Big Ten teams before Kinnick Stadium turned into a turnover-forcing black hole and Rich Rodriguez went apeshit... so Wha Happened?

Some people have too much time.

Ohio State 31, Wisconsin 13
Offense? Who needs fucking offense to not only win a football game but cover a seemingly ludicrous 16-point spread? Then again, if Vegas truly knew Scott Tolzien was going to throw not one but two pick-sixes to Ohio State defenders (although the latter pick six was a truly gorgeous deflection, catch, and runback by an OSU linebacker), I'm never going to bet against them again, because clearly their psychic monkey army is not to be trifled with. Anyway, in the game itself Wisco dominated time of possession (42:47 to 17:13), total yardage (368 to 184), first downs (22 to 8, and 3 of those came on the OSU offense's lone TD drive)... basically any offensive stat you care to look at. But they lost decisively for two reasons: they couldn't convert that offensive dominance into many points and they gave up three critical big plays (the aforementioned two pick sixes and a 96-yard kick return touchdown, which occurred immediately after Wisco had sliced OSU's lead to 21-13 and effectively served as the nail in the coffin for the game).

So what to take away from this game? Well, Wisconsin is fairly legit -- you aren't going to give up 217 return yards and three touchdowns too often and their defense did an impressive job of stifling Ohio State's offense -- and Ohio State's defense is scary. They did a fair amount of bending against Wisconsin, but they almost never broke and they came up with more than enough big plays to win the game. With the Pryor-led offense continuing to flail around like drunken ostrich whenever they play a defense that's at least halfway good, the defense and special is going to have to pick up the slack. So far they seem more than capable of doing so.

Also an apt description of the Illinois offense.

Michigan State 24, Illinois 14
Hey, remember when the Zooker was turning to Eddie McGee to light a spark under the moribund Illinois offense? Remember how he said it wasn't a "knee-jerk reaction"? Right. It sure seemed that way after he pulled McGee after barely more than one half of work and went right back to everyone's favorite massively-domed quarterback named after a beverage. Then again, a quick look at McGee's line (2/11, 31 yards, 6 carries, 11 yards rushing, and one crippling pick-six interception that was STANZIBALL-esque in its awfulness) would reveal why a new knee-jerk reaction was in order. Juice was bad in the early going this year; McGee was, improbably, even worse yesterday.

On the bright side, Juice did lead the Illini to their first touchdown against BCS competition that was scored before the fourth quarter this season. Baby steps, Illinois! At this rate, you'll be scoring first quarter touchdowns by the Cincinnati game at the end of the season! Anyway, Illinois is still terrible and the only reason to watch them is out of a macabre desire to see how disastrous this season can get for the Fightin' Zookers -- and to see if the head cheese himself can escape the guillotine. As for Sparty... ho hum. What does a win over Illinois really tell you at this stage? Maybe the biggest positive is that they finally mustered a solid running game; it took a cast of thousands (or, like, five dudes), but they ran for 193 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 45 carries. Then again, their two main running backs (Larry Caper and Glenn Winston) left the game due to injury (although The Only Colors says Caper is going to be alright). 24 is also the fewest points allowed by the Illini to FBS competition; even the offensively-challenged Buckeyes managed 30 points against Illinois, and they were playing in a monsoon.

This video may be too late to help Purdue, but you can still take its lesson to heart.

Minnesota 35, Purdue 20
Purdue is either the unluckiest team in football this year... or they just kinda suck. If good teams make their own luck, do bad teams make their own bad luck? A week after giftwrapping a victory for jNWU, Purdue was back to those same tricks. Once again, they jumped out to an early lead (10-0 this week). And once again, their inability to protect the football led directly to defeat. Three of Minnesota's touchdowns were scored on drives that started at the Purdue 30 or better; one of the other touchdowns was scored off a return from a blocked field goal. Like Ohio State, Minnesota was outgained (402 to 281), but still won comfortably thanks to turnovers and special teams. When their offense did have the ball, Minnesota opted for a surprisingly effective ground-and-pound strategy, mashing the Boilermakers for 207 yards and 4 touchdowns on 44 carries. Wha Happened? man crush target Eric Decker had a largely anonymous day (three catches for 50 yards), although the 47-yard bomb he hauled in helped set up one of the Gophers' touchdowns. For Purdue, this was the latest embarrassing death rattle in a season that's officially gone belly up. For Minnesota, this was a critical win in the pursuit of bowl eligibility; the next two weeks send them to Happy Valley and Columbus for games, which should put them at .500 heading into the home stretch of the season.

AWW SO CUTE.

Northwestern 16, Miami (OH) 6
Oh LOLcats. Don't ever change. 16-6? Almost getting outgained in total yardage? Against the other Miami? Now, some people would cry "glass houses, motherfucker!" Or, "hypocrisy, bitchface!" To them, I would say three things. One, that's just fucking rude. Two, our ugly wins against lesser foes came against better teams. Three, I don't really care. Watching justNorthwestern struggle with inferior competition is just funny. Motherfucking Kent State scored almost twice as many points against Miami as jNWU. jNWU scored 21 points less than Miami has been giving up on average. They completed less than 50% of their passes and ran for barely more than three yards a carry. Again, against Miami (OH), one of the legit worst teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. You want to talk about "moral defeats"? Look no further.

Much like Indiana football, this is not for the faint of heart.

Virginia 47, Indiana 7
No, that is not a typo. Virginia, the same schizophrenic sad sack outfit that lost badly to I-AA William & Mary a little over a month ago, took Indiana behind the woodshed for one of the most jaw-dropping beatings of the season. Actually, scratch that -- they straight up fed them to the wood chipper (NSFW). How else to explain a game in which they were almost doubled up in total yardage (536 to 272), made Jameel Sewell look like a Davey O'Brien Award candidate (20/30, 308 yds, 1 touchdown, 7 carries, 29 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 turnovers... he had three interceptions against William & Mary), and were down 47-0 at one point in the fourth quarter? Going back to last year, Indiana has lost their last six games against BCS conference opponents (who was their last win against? Guess who.) and they haven't even been remotely competitive in any of them except the Michigan game a few weeks ago. Aside from being a gosh darn nice guy, how does Bill Lynch still have a job?

60% of the time, it works every time. Just like scheduling Eastern Illinois.

Penn State 52, Eastern Illinois 3
Despite what you may have heard, rest assured that there is no truth to the rumor that Penn State is lobbying to have Jake Christensen start for the opposition in all games in Beaver Stadium. But you can't blame them for trying. First visit? 16/29, 146 yds, 1 TD, and a 20-point defeat. Second visit? 13/25, 137 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT, and a 49-point defeat. I'm not positive, but if he comes around again, I think he'll throw four interceptions and they'll win by 100. Something like that - I'm no mathemagician. Anyway, hail to the conquering victors; they won their first game against ranked competition, after all. They ran well (285 yards and 3 touchdowns on 36 carries), they passed well (Clark threw for three touchdowns and 234 yards on 13/19 passing)... they did whatever they wanted.

Keeping the Focus: MSU 24, Illinois 14

LVS — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:36:06 -0000

More photos » by Seth Perlman - AP

2 months ago: Michigan State's Colin Neely (89) sacks Illinois' quarterback Juice Williams (7) during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Champaign, Ill., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

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Saying that we "took care of business" is to resort to cliche, but here it works: a week after a season-saving win, our Spartans went on the road, grabbed control of the game immediately, and never let go. Our rush offense seemed to make major strides, the defensive line did a great job pressuring the quarterback (see: right), the secondary made a big play for the second game in a row and didn't allow Rejus Benn to drag the Illini back into the game, and the team as a whole looked superior in all ways.

The clearest takeaway from the game, however, is that Illinois is an atrocious football team. Therefore, it's probably more useful to compare our performance to what Illinois' other 1-A opponents have done:

OFFENSE VS. ILLINOIS

TEAM	RUSH ATT	RUSH YDS	RUSH TDS	PASS ATT	PASS COMP	PASS YDS	PASS TDS	INTS
Missouri	37	117	1	35	26	325	3	0
Ohio St.	46	236	2	13	8	82	1	0
Penn St.	40	338	5	25	17	175	0	0
Mich St.	45	193	2	25	13	179	0	1

DEFENSE VS. ILLINOIS

TEAM	RUSH ATT	RUSH YDS	RUSH TDS	PASS ATT	PASS COMP	PASS YDS	PASS TDS	INTS
Missouri	35	110	1	37	22	215	0	1
Ohio St.	34	82	0	29	15	88	0	3
Penn St.	35	130	1	37	20	263	1	1
Mich St.	32	132	1	28	9	140	1	1

So perhaps it's encouraging that, at least from a statistical perspective, we didn't wildly underperform Illinois' prior opposition (three better-than-decent football teams, to boot).

Our pass defense statistics jump off the page: holding the opposition to 9-28-140-1-1 is an exceptional effort, at least statistically. Of course, those figures aren't easily comparable to previous Illinois games, because for the first two-and-a-half quarters, we faced the utterly hopeless Eddie McGee. However, it's not as if we made life easy for him: we sacked McGee twice and pressured him many other times, blanketed the Illinois receivers, and ultimately forced three-and-outs on 3 of 4 Illinois drives in the first half (and 4 of 6 McGee-led drives overall). Once Juice Williams came into the game, the signals were a bit more mixed: Williams was 7-17-109-1-0, but he missed at least two wide-open receivers, and those plays could have gone for big yardage. Nonetheless, it's not as if Juice ripped us apart, and despite his mobility (which hasn't lessened even during his current horror-show of a season) we sacked him four times.

Which, um, wow: we finally got the performance we've been looking for from the lines. The offensive line gave ample room for Caper and Winston, didn't allow any sacks, and routinely blew Illinois off the line. As did the defensive line: 4 sacks (plus 2 by linebackers, which were helped by pressure from the d-line). But, unhappily, the rush defense was a bit of a regression from last week; if you take away the negative yardage from sacks, Illinois gained 161 yards on 26 carries. That's a bit of a concern.

Finally, in brief:

Bad Mark Dell re-emerged for the first time this year; his two third down drops in the second half would have gone for first downs, killed more clock, and possibly led to more points on the board. Dell's been very good at points during this year, but when his head's out of the game, he's a real detriment to the team. It didn't matter this week but it will at some point going forward.
Much has been written, of course, about Dantonio's conservative play calling in the second half of the Michigan game, and, if anything, it was even more apparent this week. IMO, it was more defensible against Illinois, but how can you expect the team to develop the much-sought killer instinct if you don't trust them enough to let them try to twist the knife?
Danny Fortener, IMO, has really risen to the challenge posed by Trenton Robinson. The overtime tip against Michigan and the pick-six this week were both huge plays, but he also had ten tackles (EDIT: two of which were on special teams; thanks CPT Hoolie) -- an especially remarkable number considering that he plays safety, and Illinois only completed nine passes all day.
It appears that Caper is all right. That's huge, because even notwithstanding our sudden running back depth, he increasingly looks like the answer at running back. As for Winston's injury . . . it sucks, because he and Caper were beginning to develop as a nice Ringer/Caulcrick-type combination, but, uh, karma?
Hope and hope and hope that Cousins makes it through next week's game unscathed. I'd hate to burn Andrew Maxwell's redshirt.
Illinois-Indiana next week may be the least-watchable conference game, like, ever.

The post-Michigan letdown meme won't die easily, but we're now 3-0 the week after U-M under Dantonio. There certainly are things to criticize about our performance, but this game was never in doubt. Two weeks ago, there was despair. No longer. We're back on track, with a highly winnable game upcoming.

And finally, your animated drive chart (after the jump)!

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Big Ten Pick'em: Week 6

Adam Hoge — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:05:08 -0000

More photos » by Al Goldis - AP

FACE!! Tate Forcier hopes this doesn't happen again this week when the Wolverines invade Kinnick Stadium. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

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Here are my picks for Week 6:

Northwestern 35, Miami (Ohio) 14
This Miami team is basically the complete opposite of the real Miami football team. The Redhawks are horrible and I feel bad for my sister who is still in school there. NU gets the easy win at home.

Minnesota 34, Purdue 27
This should be a comfortable win for the Gophers, but they have already lost two games at home and you have to worry about how the team struggled to face adversity a year ago. Still, I’ll take Minnesota over a bad Purdue team

Penn State 35, Eastern Illinois 10
Enough said.

Michigan State 31, Illinois 21
Eddie McGee has a chance to turn things around for the Illini against a bad Michigan State secondary. Unfortunately for Illinois, MSU’s secondary is really the only weak area for the Spartans who will get back to .500 with a solid road win Saturday.

Virginia 13, Indiana 10
I had this pegged for an IU win until the Cavs beat North Carolina last week. Now it’s a toss-up. When in doubt, take the home team.

Ohio State 21, Wisconsin 17
This game is set-up too perfectly for a big upset. The Badgers have flown so far under the rader that they are the only undefeated team in the country not in the AP Top 25 and Vegas has UW as a 16-point underdog in a building they always play pretty well in. Plus, OSU’s offensive line is battling the flu while UW’s defensive lines is one of the best in the conference. Everything here is telling me Wisconsin will win, so I’m taking the Buckeyes in a close one.

Iowa 21, Michigan 14
The Wolverines are right where they should be, while Iowa has overachieved a little bit thus far. It’s a night game at Kinnick Stadium and you better believe that tough Hawkeye defense is going to cause some problems for true freshman Tate Forcier.