Martez Wilson Out for Season

Martez Wilson who sat out the ISU game on Saturday with a neck injury is now out for the season according to pjstar.com

Martez is a Junior who moved to middle linebacker this season after playing his first 2 seasons at weak side linebacker.

Illini ISU recap

In my last post I created a fantastic list of things that we as Illini Nation needed to see to in order to quell the urge to jump off the Illini football bandwagon, and jump right into a big bottle of scotch. Some of the fears that I had were in fact put to rest, and then a few new fears are now keeping me up at night. Although I like to be over critical, I along with my 7 readers need to all get a grip and realize that it is only the 3rd weekend of the season.

Now everyone has agreed that no matter what Illinois did against ISU, we weren't going to learn alot because the level of talent that ISU brought to Champaign would not give Indiana a game. However there are some things that you could see about the Illinois philosophy this season. Before we move past this game lets recap, and see exactly what areas Illinois improved in, and also where they failed miserably.

The 5 places that I wanted to see Illinois improve in were:
1) Pressure defense
2) Throw deeper routes
3) Substitute Better
4) Coach Better
5) Catch the DAMN BALL!!

1) Pressure defense
Illinois did a much better job of blitzing in this game. On the first series, we saw both a corner and linebacker blitz on the SAME PLAY!! Now this was obviously based on the fact that Illinois knew that ISU's line could not handle the pressure that would occur with a blitz, but it was still nice to see the coaches recognize that.

Also the defensive backs played much tighter in coverage. I know that they still gave up over 300 yards passing, but that is going to happen when when you are winning by 31 at half and the offense can't run the ball. Even on quick throws that were made in zones, the safeties did a much better job of being in position and delivering a big hit! What Illinois did early was negate the 5-7 yard passes on 1st and 2nd down, which allowed them to have more 3rd and longs. Was the secondary fantastic, not by any stretch, but they did actually break up a pass this game. I can live with giving up yards in a game that was decided in during the National Anthem, as long as players don't get lazy and play sloppy in the next game.

Now in the last post I made a comment about playing man against a 5 wide set. That was a completely stupid mistake on my part. There really is absolutely no way that you can play man in a situation like that. What every QB looks for when he drops back to pass is where the safeties are lined up. If you have no safety over the top, chances are the ball is going there. When I said Man-up, I meant to say that you need to play tighter underneath in order to take away quick routes. For the record, I am not admitting that I was wrong, I am admitting that I made a mistake.

2) Throw Deeper Routes
Illinois did try to run more vertical routes in this game. However watching Eddie McGee throw those deep routes made me wish that we used the Mizzou game-plan. The only good thing about having Eddie play in this game was that it put to rest all of the idiotic ranting over the last 2 seasons that Eddie should be our starting QB. Although now the crazies are going to want to have Jacob Charest as the back-up, even though 99% of them have never seen him throw a football.

3) Substitute better
The only receivers that played in the first half were Benn, Fayson, Duvalt, and Sykes for one play. Thank God!! It was first team offense and defense for basically the first 3 quarters of the game. And I'm pretty sure that you never saw a WR group that did not include anyone of the 3 starters.

4) Coach Better
The game plan was obviously much better offensively this game. Schultz wanted to run, then run, and finally run some more. Many of the passes were off of play action, and the receivers were open because the safeties were frozen by the threat of the run. The first play of the game was what I have wanted for 13 games now! I straight speed option, and it worked beautifully.
Defensively, the game plan will never change against a spread team. That is fine by me as long as we allow our secondary to play tighter, and send better blitzes, which did occur. Many of the longer plays that ISU had were due to missed tackles, not because our safeties were playing in the endzone. That is going to happen with a spread offense. It negates gang tackling, so you have to be sound in man on man open field tackling, or else you will get blown out. (See Mizzou 2007 and 2008)

This was not a game where you were going to see Ron Zook and Co. have to make many make or break decisions. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was to go for it on 4th and 2 on the 3rd possession. It didn't matter though because Anthony Santella got crushed on the punt, so Illinois got the ball back anyways. This turned out to be the best play that Santella had all game, but I will get to that later.

5) Catch the Damn Ball
I did not see any receivers drop any balls this game, which was nice. Illinois did not throw very much at all, so this helped the receivers in this category.

Now for the checklist:

1) Run more than we pass, over 200 yards.
Big time. Illinois rushed for 384 yards on 44 carries. For the record, Juice almost had more yards on one carry than Eddie did on 18.

2) At least 1 touchdown over 30 yards
Chris Duvalt 27 yard touchdown catch..... close enough

3) No interceptions or Fumbles
As soon as Eddie stepped on the field, this went out the window. Eddie really needs to take care of the ball on the option. If Juice gets hurt in a meaningful game, one fumble or botched snap could be a difference maker.

4) A touchdown on the first drive
2 plays, 50 yards...... I'll take it.

5) Donsay breaking up a pass with his hands
Had a couple chances, but was a step behind. I'm not giving up yet

6) At least 3 sacks by our DE's or linebackers
1 sack by a DE, and 2 by linebackers.

7) 50 points
45 points with a back-up QB. Close, but ever with Eddie at QB, we still should have scored more

8) Defense giving up less than 6
Epic Fail! Held ISU scoreless in the first half, and then fell asleep in the second half when they had the big lead.

9)No Mistakes in the redzone
The amount of holds in this game was disgusting, especially in the red zone. I will get to this later

10) 1 Interception
2 Interceptions, but none by the DB's

11) Less than 200 yards given up in the air
Epic Fail!! although based on our defense this was more of a dream than health care reform!!

12) No dropped passes!!!
None, thank god!!

Now that we have looked at that, lets actually look at the game. I only have a few points.

First, Juice Williams is our QB and will be until he leaves or gets hurt. I like Eddie McGee. He could be an okay QB next season, but I am so tired of seeing him fumble snaps and hand-offs. He has been running option out of shotgun for 4 years now, and it is the same thing every game. I don't care about how he throws a ball next season, his main goal before 2010 needs to be ball security.

Next, after having a pretty good game against Mizzou and being one of the only bright spots, the offensive line digressed completely. Illinois had 13 penalties, and I am pretty sure that at least 8 of those were holdings by the offensive line. I understand that holding can basically be called on every play, and the refs were really looking for it, but 3 or 4 holdings are too many!!

Finally, the defense needs to tackle better. It is getting redundant, but since the coverage is not going to be tight to break up passes, the defense has to tackle the ball carrier when they do inevitably catch the ball in front of them.

Like I said in the last post, no matter what happens in this game, we weren't going to learn much. Hopefully with a week off before Ohio State Illinois can learn to play like they did during their run to the Rose Bowl.

Things We Need to See

It still stings! 5 days later it really still stings. I have watched this game more than I have watched Illinois-Ohio State from 2007. I watched the game so much that I'm pretty sure my DVR deleted it automatically because it was worried about me. So now that I have digested the game as much as possible here are some things that I need to see this weekend to give me a glimmer of hope.

1) Pressure Defense

Being not only an Illini fan, but also a Bears fan, watching 2 teams who love the "let them get into field goal range and pray they miss" defense is giving me an ulcer. Seriously. It is not always a cover 2, if we actually ran a cover 2 some of the plays this weekend wouldn't have happened. There were no cornerbacks in the flat, which is what cover 2 is, along with safeties over the top. Illinios plays almost a Cover 4/Prevent Cover 2. When the only people within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage is your 4 down lineman and 2 linebackers, you have a flaw in your defense.

What I want to see is corners no deeper than 5 yards one first and second down, and safeties making the right read and covering the right man in their zone. I can understand keeping players in front of you on 3rd and long, but I am really tired of seeing teams complete 3rd and 15 on us without a DB in sight!!
Also can we stop sending Martez Wilson on a delayed blitz. When was the last time you saw Martez get into the backfield when he blitzed after the ball was snapped? All this does is leave another zone open for a receiver to sit in.
The idea behind playing a "cover 2" is that you can get pressure on a QB fast enough to the point where underneath routes are all he has to throw, and if he does try to force something deeper, corners and safeties are there to make plays. This concept works in the NFL because you rarely see more than 3 receivers sets. So the QB really only has 1 or 2 routes that are short enough, but they are easier to cover because there are only 1 or 2.
When you have 5 wide receivers, and a QB who is getting rid of the ball on 7 yard routes, you have no pressure, and obviously there are holes where receivers are going to sit. Keeping everything in front of you and hoping the offense is going to make a mistake is a horrible way to play football. You don't force the opposing QB to make any decisions. At some point you are going to have to force your DB's to man up and defend. The QB's decision is already made based on where the hole is in a zone with 5 receivers, not based on which receiver has just beat his man. When was the last time you saw Illinois get a sack because a QB held the ball too long because nobody was open? 2001?
Also how is a defense going to show emotion on the field when their scheme is designed to give up yards? If a team throws less than they run against Illinois I will be shocked.

Remember in my last post how I mentioned that teams that run a spread kill Illinois. We should have beaten the last 4 teams that played this style. Mizzou this season, Northwestern, Western Michigan, and Minnesota last season. Here is a look at their leading receivers for those games:

Mizzou - Alexander - 10 rec 132 yards
Northwestern - Peterman - 8 rec 111 yards
W. Michigan - Simmons - 11 rec 174 yards
Minnesota - Decker- 9 rec 86 yards

These were not ranked teams that were in the BCS hunt, these were all games that we were favored. If I can figure this out sitting on my couch, I'm pretty sure Big Ten coaches will also figure this out. Here is how you beat Illinois: Spread the field, have your primary receiver run slants, drags or 7 yard ins, outs, or stops, and bleed them to death. No one should ever have less than 3 receivers on the field against us, ever!! Take Western Michigan for example: A solid QB is 28-40 for 301 yards and 2 touchdowns against us last season (7.5 yard average). Against Michigan last week he goes 22-38 260 yards 1 TD 2 INTS. Did Michigan's defense go from the worst in Wolverine histroy last season to Big Ten leader this year? Probably not, but they didn't allow Hiller to complete a pass everytime he dropped back, they actually tried to pressure him and didn't play passive coverages like Illinois does.

2) Throw deeper routes

I might be giving Big Ten coaches too much credit, because everyone and their Grandma in the Big 12 knew how to beat Mizzou last season (5-4), but after 5 years Illinois can't figure it out. Mike Schultz had turned what should be a high powered offense into a horse led wagon!! If I don't see more than 1 pass over 20 yards I will be e-mailing Guenther, Zook, the Chancellor and who ever else has a computer at that school to get rid of this guy. Here is how Illinois used to beat people: Belly Option, Sprint Option, QB draws, and then play action pass. Not 5 WR sets with only one route over 10 yards! Linebackers and safeties play up against us because we are an option team, and we have a running QB!! So why are our routes run right where defenses are????? And as much as I love Juice, I understand that his shortcoming as a QB are accuracy on short throws, this is not the time to rectify that. He had 3 years to learn how to do that, and he hasn't really improved, let's just stick to what he can do; run and rifle balls to receivers 15-30 yards downfield.

3) Substitute better

Really I should have called this "pull your heads out of your asses". This isn't pee-wee, coaches don't have to make sure everyone plays, and they damn sure don't have to do it on the first series!! I'm sorry, but I don't want my receivers to be Ramsey, Sykes, Cumberland and Jenkins on 3rd and 8 with Justin Green in the backfield!! I am kind off exaggerating, but it was pretty close to this in the first quarter. Our receivers never ran past 15 yards, so there is no way that they should have been tired!! Duvalt and Jenkins are not starting this game per Illini HQ, so that means that our receivers will be Benn, Fayson, Sykes, Scott, and James. The only other one who should play is Duvalt, because he only had 1 drop. If...IF we get up by 30 then you can play the rest of them and let them try to earn their playing time back. And I don't need to see Fayson and Benn carrying the ball anymore. We have enough running backs that don't get enough carries.

4) Coach Better

We don't need anymore make or break plays in the first quarter that will determine how well the team plays. Obviously this team is not one that can shrug off a momentum killer like the 4th down disaster. If it is 4th and 1 kick the god damn field goal. It's not like you have created a defense that can hold a team so you can play a field position game. Take the god damn points. If the coaching staff thought: "worst case scenario is we don't get the first down, but they have the ball in their own territory, so we make them punt and have good field goal position." then they are more delusional than I am. Best case scenario was they march down the field and kick a field goal!!!
Here is the realistic best case: they stop us, crush our will to not only play, but to live, drive down the field, use up all of the time on the clock and tack on 3 more points. Worst case was if the white freshman receiver didn't drop a pass that would have given them First and Goal! This for the record was the only time that Zook's defensive theory worked..... Mizzou made a mistake.

Also if you have timeouts.... USE THEM!!! Here is an idea: Mizzou is marching on you and your defense looks a little tired since they have been on the field the entire half. Why not call a timeout and regroup your defense, and save some clock for when they eventually score, or heaven forbid your defense bucks up and gets a stop. Maybe now you can open up the playbook a little and let your team run the offense that they run best. Although based on the offense that we saw, this wouldn't have happened. Schultz would have finally ran on first and second down.

5) Catch and hold on to the DAMN BALL!!!

Let me break down how easy it is to be a receiver. First, you know exactly where you are going, the defender has to guess. Second, you get to run there without getting touched after 5 yards. Its not like people are trying to trip you or grab a hold of you, nope all they can do is push you. Next, the Defense has to let you catch the ball!!! They can't tackle you or push you, all they can do is knock it away before you touch it. The people who normally tackle you play their position because they were too small to play yours. How many times do you see a 300 pound DT tackle a receiver? Exactly. Occasionally, you have to block, and by block I mean stand in the way of the guy in front of you, who by the way is still smaller than you.
All you have to do is catch the ball!! Hell you don't even have to run with it after you catch it most times. The next time you want to bitch about Juice or any QB throwing the ball too hard and its not a receivers fault, remember how god damn easy it is to be a receiver. They are one step up from kickers. Before you jump down my throat, let me tell you that I was a receiver.

So now that I have bitched, here is literally what I want to see:

1) Run the football more than we pass. Over 200 yards rushing
2) At least one touchdown over 30 yards
3) NO INTERCEPTIONS OR FUMBLES
4) A touchdown on the first drive, FG's are a failure in this game
5) Donsay Hardemann breaking up a pass with his hands, not by waiting to kill the receiver
6) At least 3 sacks by our DE's or Linebackers
7) 50 points
8) Defense giving up less than 10 (ISU lost to Eastern 31-6) if we give up a touchdown, this game is a failure
9) No mistakes in the Red Zone. We need to learn to finish drives again
10) At least 1 INTERCEPTION (it should be comical that we would be worried that this won't happen, but it is a stark possibility)
11) Less than 200 yards given up in the air ( Again against ISU we shouldn't be worried, yet we are)
12) No dropped passes!!

Even if all of these things happen, it won't really prove much, however if these things don't happen...... Then there is trouble in River City!! If less than 12 out of 12 happens, then you can all come to my living room, which I will rename "The Panic Room" and we will watch "A Season to Remember: The 04-05 Fighting Illini Mens Basketball Team" on an endless loop until Midnight Madness starts for basketball.

Illini Updates and Durty Butter Pick'em

Well the hits just keep on coming. 3 days after being one of the only players who was worth a damn on Saturday, Mikel LeShoure was suspended for this weekends game for a violation of team rules. Along with him, red-shirt freshman Ashante Williams was also suspended. ESPN Chicago

There are also rumors that freshman Leon Hill who is an offensive lineman wants to transfer. So let the fallout begin. This Saturday cannot come fast enough, because no matter how bad Illinois actually might be, they will still beat the hell out of ISU.

Also Joseph Bertrand who is one of Illinois basketball's four freshman this season injured his knee. It is not known how long he will be out, but it looks to be at least until Midnight Madness next month. Illini HQ

Finally some good news: The official Durty Butter NFL Pick'em is now here!!!!! Instead of a confidence pick'em, we will be picking straight up against the spread Vegas style baby!!

Follow the link below and sign up.

Durty Butter NFL league

the ID number is: 54662
the password is: Bears

Our Nightmare was realized

On Saturday, two of my biggest fears were realized. First that Rejus Benn would get hurt, and second, that I could possibly be wrong about the Illini this year. Now that I have had time to relax, rehydrate and bring my body back to equilibrium after drowning my sorrows in Amstel Lights and O Bombs, I am finally ready to tackle this post. Rest assured that I will in fact tackle this unlike the Illinois Secondary trying to tackle anything.

Now that I have dealt with the overwhelming sadness that comes from being wrong, lets figure out what I was wrong about and what we can expect for the rest of the season.

1) Our Offensive Coordinator

When we hired Mike Schultz I was so supremely happy. Namely because he was a coach who was dedicated to running the ball. I did not however suspect that he would bring back an offensive strategy that became extinct while football players were still wearing leather helmets. I have to go back and research this, but I'm pretty sure that TCU plays in a conference that does allow the forward pass. So I cannot explain why every route we ran was less than 5 yards. Last year Juice threw for over 450 yards and 5 touchdowns against Mizzou. They only brought back one player in their secondary, and Schultz says that they didn't want to throw the ball downfield????? I am all for balance, but I didn't think that we had just hired the Anti-Locksley. If Juice threw the ball over 20 yards I didn't see it. Now after this debacle that happened on Saturday Zook said that he will throw the ball downfield more, but the damage has already been done. Don't get me wrong, I am not asking for the Illini to throw the ball 40 times a game like last year, but please use the speed and size that you have at receiver. I did like who we ran a lot of option and Juice, Leshoure, and Pollard looked really good doing it, but it boggles my mind that after running, and throwing the ball 7 yards, how do you not run play action and take a shot deep when you are down by 2 touchdowns. I almost punched somebody when Juice got tripped up on the fourth down play. Why the hell are you not running a sneak on that play? Who cares if everyone knows that it is coming? For the record that play was not a run. Both Uh-oh and Graham released from the TE position and it was supposed to be a play action pass. I am almost glad that Juice got stepped on.

2) Our receivers

When Rejus went out, I wasn't completely worried because I felt as though we had enough depth behind him at receiver so that others could step up and make plays. The only person who stepped up was Jarred Fayson. He made a great catch to put us in the red zone, and overall played very well. Beyond him, nobody was exceptional, and Jeff Cumberland and AJ Jenkins should never see the field again. I am done with Cumberland. He is a senior this season, couldn't block as a TE so he was moved to receiver. He is bigger than everyone on the field, and probably one of the fastest players on the team, but it is now or never for him. The fumble is inexcusable, but at least he was trying to make a play. The next 2 dropped balls from him means he should be benched. He wasn't running a route, because obviously Schultz frowns upon that. No, Cumberland was standing by the sidelines 7 yards downfield, and tried to cradle one ball in his chest, and the second ball he tried to catch with his junk. Jenkins continued his stellar pass catching from last year by letting another ball fly right threw his hands for an interception. Jenkins actually is probably the one receiver that is hurting most by the conservative playcalling because at least when he runs a deep route and drops the ball, no one is there to pick it off. I absolutely hate bashing college players, but seeing the same mistakes for 2 seasons is making me take off the orange colored glasses. I can forgive interceptions when you are pressured, and I can forgive fumbles when the defender makes a great play. There is no excuse for dropping balls, just like there is no excuse for blowing coverages on defense.

3) The Athletes in the Secondary

Donsay Hardemann played one of the worst games I have seen an Illini safety play in a long time. He blew his coverage on the first touchdown, and then he leveled a receiver and got flagged on a play that would have 3rd and 13. At least he came back and made a stop to make Mizzou punt. Bellamy and Tavon Wilson are still lost, but it doesn't help when you are playing a weak cover 2. The linebackers played much better than anyone could have anticipated. By that I mean that they didn't let Washington run all over them like last season. However, the secondary blew so many 3rd downs that the front 7 had to get disheartened (which they did in the second half.) Like I mentioned in the previous post, the DT's played very well. Ian Thomas will be a force for the next 3 years for Illinois. He had 13 tackles in this game, and was one of the few bright spots for the Illini defense.

4) Overall coaching staff

I still don't understand our substitution patterns and also our personnel in general. I understand that you didn't have Dufrene and Ford got hurt early, but does true freshman Justin Green need to be in the backfield on the first series? Also why do you have Duvalt running the ball for you? Fayson is 30 pounds heavier. For that matter, why do you need to have a receiver running the ball at all? Going for it on 4th down in the second quarter, and then not running a QB sneak is appalling. Continuing to play Cumberland after the drops is stupid, and not opening up the playbook when you have no momentum or continuity and are down by more than 2 touchdowns is ridiculous. After watching this team fall apart last season, and seeing this game, I have to believe that when Illinois gets down now, they have no faith in their coaching staff. The only thing that really worked well for Illinois was the option, but of course we didn't figure that out until we were down 10. What the shit was Eddie McGee doing in at QB in the 2nd quarter when we still in the game? Hey, here's a great idea: Lets put Eddie in the game and run 2 terrible plays and give us 3rd and 15 when Juice actually moved the ball the last 2 series!!!!

The worst part about this game is that it seemed like an extension of the Northwestern game from last season. Before that game, you never saw Illinois give up, and you always knew that they would be able to get it going and score. This game Illinois was out of it half way through the 3rd quarter, and they stopped fighting. Giving up the last 2 games is what scares me more than anything else I saw on the field on Saturday.

Now that that is over, lets talk about some good things:

1) The front 7 looked good, especially Thomas and the DT's
Looking forward to our schedule, the only teams who might put an offense like Mizzou on the field is Minnesota and Northwestern. Playing against teams who want to run the ball will help out this defense. Lord knows what will help our secondary though. In our defenses defence, they did hold Mizzou to 3 field goals in the first half and kept Illinois in the game, the offense just didn't help them out at all.

2) Fayson is the real deal
He made some good catches and played hard, getting Benn back will only help the rest of the receivers

3) Pollard and LeShoure played extremely well
I was pleasantly surprised by how well LeShoure caught the ball, and now it seems like the coaching staff will be dedicated to not only running the ball, but also running the option again.

4) Juice made good decisions
I can handle Juice throwing a few balls high, I can't stand when he makes the wrong read and throws the ball into coverage. The only ball that Juice forced was on the first drive when he tried to fire the ball across the field to Duvalt on the sideline and it was knocked away. Other than that he completed 65% of his passes

5) Our special teams weren't terrible
We actually punted well, and more importantly covered punts and kickoffs really well. For the first time in a year, I didn't have to close my eyes when we kicked the ball.

6) The Offensive Line played very well
Juice didn't get sacked until the 4th quarter, and they did a very good job of not only giving him time to throw, but they also opened up a few holes in the middle. Illinois moved the ball very well. They had the ball at the 20 and then turned it over on 4th down. They had the ball at the 25 and Cumberland fumbled. The offensive line was not the reason for the offense looking horrible.

Getting Benn, Dufrene, and Ford back next week will help, and Illinois SHOULD handle ISU pretty easily, but they need to play flawless next week in order to give them a little confidence going into the murderous schedule they have to start out the Big Ten. Illinois will play OSU, Penn State and then Michigan State to start the Big Ten season. If they lose those 3 games, the season will be over, and it won't seem much better for next season.

Illini Start New Season

Well it is finally here, the start of a new season for the Illini football team, and not a moment too soon. Just like the last few years, the Illini will open up their season in St. Louis against Mizzou. Unlike the last few years, Illinois is actually much better than Mizzou and are favored for this game. Going into this game Illinois is a 7 point favorite and I tend to agree with Vegas. So lets get on to the Durty Butter preveiw of the game. By the end of this I plan on having all of you whipped up into such a frenzy that you will probably run out to the parking lot and head butt a car window like Lattimer from The Program.

There are 5 reasons why I think that Illinois will win this game against Mizzou:

1) Illinois has a better QB

Like I have stated before most sports fans are morons and have the memory of an infant. The next time you hear an Illini fan bash Juice you automatically know 3 things about them. A) They are not true Illinois fans because if they were they would realize that Juice is Dan Marino compared to Tim Brasic, Jon Beutjer and Dustin Ward. They will not remember any of these names however because being the fair weather douche bags that they are, they were too busy playing beer pong with 14 guys and 2 girls who were remotely attractive after a case of Keystone. B) Instead of playing football or watching it in high school or college, they were too busy hanging out with their emo friends painting their finger nails black and listening to Rise Against. If they actually knew anything about football, they would realize that it is almost impossible to turn an option QB who threw the ball less than 10 times a game in high school into a pure pocket passer, hence the reason that Juice has been a work in progress for 3 years. C) Like I mentioned before they don't have a memory because it was Juice's 4 touchdown passes and him running the ball for 8 straight minutes that gave Illinois the greatest victory of all time against #1 Ohio State in Columbus (which I am watching right now). I know last year is on everyone's mind, but can we please remember that our now SENIOR quarterback led us to the Rose Bowl as a SOPHOMORE!!

Juice will probably become Illinois' total yardage leader after this game, and now that he has an offensive coordinator who is committed to running the ball with somebody other than Juice, it will make his job much easier. We all know that Juice can make every throw, but with talent in the backfield and at receiver, it will take all of the pressure off of him to carry this team. Juice did lead the Big Ten in passing yards last year and touchdowns. That should continue, and with one more year under his belt, the turnovers will go down.

2) Arrelious Benn is the best player on the field

Rejus is this years Jeremy Maclin. He is projected by pretty much everyone as the #2 reciever in this years draft, so now he has to come out and prove it. Mizzou had one of the worst pass defenses in the country last year, and it shouldn't be much better this year. There is no one who can cover Rejus one on one, and because of that expect a lot of zone coverage (also the fact that Illinois will still use the spread). With a zone coverage, and safeties worried about Rejus, you will see Uh-Oh underneath a lot, and Cumberland deep a lot with only a corner or a safety. Because Rejus is such a force, and him and Juice have been together for 3 years now, Illinois will find ways to get him the ball. As much as I hate bubble screens to receivers, Rejus is one guy who can make a lot happen with one. You will never see a corner take him down by himself, and this season you will see him break at least one for a big touchdown. What I would like to see more of this season is actual deep routes with Rejus. He had his 2 touchdowns last season against Penn State, and both of those were over 30 yards. If anything, having him run deeper routes will open up Fayson, Jenkins, Sykes, Duvalt and who ever else the Illini play at slot.

3) This is the best receiving corp ever at Illinois

I know a lot of people will want to argue that Lloyd, Young and Co. were better, but none of them had the talent of Benn. Cumberland is basically a wash with Young, and we will finally get introduced to Jarrod Fayson. For the record, Fayson was the 3rd ranked reciever coming out of high school just behind Percy Harvin. As a freshman at Florida, Fayson only had 12 catches, but 3 were for touchdowns. He will take of a lot of pressure off of the rest of the receivers, and he has played in much bigger games than anyone else on Illinois, like the 2007 National Championship game. Besides these 3 you have so much depth it is scary. The only person missing from last season is Will Judson, and 3 true freshman got some time last year, so there is experience on the second team. Look for Cordale Scott to also get some time in the Red Zone as he is 6-3 and 215 lbs. I am hoping that this group of recievers will help me forget forever the nightmare that was Kyle Hudson. Just for a comparison; Kyle Hudson was a starting reciever on our Rose Bowl team. Now Hudson would be the starting slot reciever on the scout team. I rest my case.

4) We have a new offensive coordinator

I loved Mike Locksley, but this last season he lost his damn mind. The breaking point for me was when Juice threw the ball 20 times in the fourth quarter against Western Michigan with only one designed running play. That wouldn't seem too far fetched except for the fact that Illinois was only down by one touchdown to a MAC team. To say that Locksley fell in love with the pass last season is about as big of an understatement as saying that Brett Favre loves attention. Illinois led the Big Ten in rushing in 2006, and 2007. All of the sudden they led the league in passing in 2008. With Mike Schultz at the healm of the offense this year, we will have a much more balanced team. Add to that fact that besides the great receivers, Illinois brings back all of its running backs from last year, and you have reason to believe that the Illini will become decicated to running the ball again. Remember this is the coach who is credited with turning Ladainian Tomlinson into such an amazing running back at TCU.

The talent on the offensive line is still very good, and with a running game it will keep defenses honest. Last season teams just pinned their ears back and tried to kill Juice because Illinois was a pass first team. It amazed me that Locksley went away from what got Illinois to the Rose Bowl. If you watch the OSU game again you will see that all of Juice's touchdown passes were off of play action. The safeties were so worried about Mendenhall and Williams running the ball that they bit on every fake. Now before you jump all over me and say "Well Illinois didn't have Mendenhall last season!" Look at 2006. Pierre Thomas, EB Halsey, Rashard Mendenhall and Juice were all in the mix that season. A spread option offense causes defenses to play assignment football, and gives running backs a lot of one on one match-ups. Last season Daniel Dufrene averaged 5.2 yards a carry!! Why would you not give him the ball more?

Last season with no running game, safeties just sat back and waited for the pass, and linebackers blitzed on damn near every down. It is crazy to expect your offensive line to protect a QB when a defense is bringing 5-7 guys on every pass down. If anything, this season Illinois should get back to having 3rd and short which is where having a QB like Juice is a major advantage. He can just lean his big head forward and the momentum from that is bound to get him 4 yards. This should also help in the red zone where Illinois was attrocious last season. You can throw 15-30 pass plays when the defense is in a zone because you are running a 4 wide spread. When you are at the 15 yard line, you have to be able to run the ball, and Illinois was not only terrible at that, but Locksley still thought he could pass all of the time from there. Rewatching games from last year, Illinois was amazing in between the 20's. In the red zone though, they absolutley fell apart, which is why we lost to Minnesota even though we outgained them by a large margin.

5) Our Defensive Line is much better than people think

Last season when we played Mizzou, we went into the game without either starter at defensive tackle. Sirod Williams was injured and lost for the season, and Josh Brent was out with an undisclosed issue. Now you ask any person who actually knows a damn thing about football and they will tell you that on defense it all starts with the defensive tackles. Brian Urlacher was the best linebacker in football when Ted Washington was commanding double teams in the middle, and Urlacher was free to tee off on running backs. Washington leaves and Urlacher is a bust. Tommie Harris comes in, and the Bears with a "rejuvanted" Urlacher go to a Superbowl. Tommie Harris gets hurt and Urlacher has a mediocere season. Do you see what I am getting at here? With Sirod Williams, Josh Brent (who could be a very high draft pick) and all-world Sophomore Corey Liuget ( A potential First Round Pick in 2 years) in the middle of that line, it will take a ton of pressure off of the Martez Wilson, Ian Thomas, and Russel Ellington at linebacker. Now Mizzou ran all over us with a make shift defensive line last year. This year, they should not be able to run up the middle, and without having their lineman being able to get up on our linebackers, we should be able to handle Washington running the ball. Our defensive ends are not nearly as good as last year, but for the most part they have experience, and they are athletic.

Here are a couple of people that you should look for in the game on Saturday:

1) Jarred Fayson WR #11
2) Tavon Wilson CB #3
3) Justin Green RB #26 (True freshman who is an absolute burner)
4) Ian Thomas LB #38
5) Russell Ellington LB #33
6) Corey Liuget DT #93

Now that we have gone through what PacMan likes to call "my delusional optimism" I will continue by debunking some of the knocks of this Illinois team.

1) The linebackers will be bad this season

At Middle Linebacker the last 2 seasons we have had Britt Miller and J Leman. They were phenomanal, but they lacked in atheleticism. You can bash Martez Wilson all you want, but how many true Freshman and Sophomores come in and set the world on fire? Especially when they were defensive ends in high school. Martez spent the last 2 seasons learing how to play linebacker, which is not easy to do. Russell Ellington is coming on strong as a Sophomore, and Ian Thomas has been impressive also according to reports. Why can these guys not step up and fill the shoes of Leman and Miller? They are more atheletic. They have better atheletes around them. Last season Illinois' defense led the Big Ten in tackles for loss!! What that tells you is that they were extemely talented, but they gave up plays because they were sloppy fundementally. You can learn how to tackle, pursue, and anticipate. You can't learn to be bigger, faster, stronger than everyone else.

2) The defense lacks experiance

Losing Vontae Davis, Britt Miller, Will Davis and others will obviously hurt this defense. However, you are not losing anything that cannot be replaced. Illinois still has plenty of experiance at positions that matter, and young talent that can fill in the gaps. Dere Hicks is a 3 year starter at cornerback. Martez Wilson was second on the team in tackles last season and will play the middle (which coincidentally is the exact same transition that Britt Miller made last season) Donsay Hardemann is recovered from a career threatening injury and will be back trying to kill recievers across the middle. I have already laid out the DT situation. Illinois has 2 seniors at DE with Doug Pilcher and Antonio James, both of whom have seen plenty of playing time for the defense. What should help you sleep at night is not who we have returning at these positions, but the fact that all of the recruits that we have gotten the last 4 years are now ready to play. In the past you knew you had 2 or 3 people you could rely on with the defense, but beyond that, you knew that Illinois was overmatched athletically at every other position. Now there is not a spot on the defense where Illinois does not have a solid player who might only lack in experiance and technique, which Zook promised that he addressed at Camp Rantoul compared to last year.

3) Athletes don't necessarily lead to wins.

Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!
The most athletic teams almost always win. Last season Illinois lost to Mizzou, Penn State, and Ohio State. All three of those teams were better than Illinois. What lost the other games for Illinois was the fact that they had no desire or will to beat teams that were not better than them. 2007 was a perfect storm for Illinois where they had both talent and desire. Last season the players on the team felt that they were better and therefore they would win. The difference between a 8-3 season and a 5-6 season was heart and desire. The difference between a 1-10 team and an 8-3 team is athletes!! The point of this rant is this; Illinois has all of the pieces to be great. 5 years ago we weren't even capable of dreaming of this. At every position we have upgraded drastically from the horrific nightmares that were the end of the Ron Turner era and beginning of the Ron Zook era. Talent-wise, the only team that might have more skill than Illinois is Ohio State. With teams like OSU and PSU, they have a tradition of winning. At Illinois you don't have that. What we do have again is a chip on our shoulder. In 2007 it was proving that the Illini actually belonged with the top tier teams. Now the chip is proving that 2007 wasn't a fluke. Now Illinois is out to prove that they have the heart and desire to win games they should, and hopefully a few that people think they shouldn't.