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.