But seriously, enough about me - how about those Illini! You might say three is the magic number, as for the third week in a row, the Illini pulled out a three-point victory. On Saturday, two dramatic comebacks in the second half helped the Illini beat Northwestern 38-35. Nathan Scheelhaase led the Orange and Blue on a last-minute, 70 yard touchdown drive which allowed the Land of Lincoln Trophy (left) to stay in Champaign with Chicago's Real Big Ten team. More importantly, the Illini are off to their first 5-0 start since...actually, it's just as long as it's been since their last 4-0 start (i.e. - since 1951). Here's a look at some key numbers from Saturday's game.
18: The Illini overcame an 18-point third quarter deficit in the victory. It's the biggest deficit they've overcome since rallying from a 20-point deficit to beat Rutgers in 2005, in Ron Zook's first game as Illini head coach. Of course, the Illini ended up with a 2-9 record in 2005, so that wasn't exactly a meaningful win. I'd say this is the most important big come-from-behind win since the Illini overcame a 27-7 deficit to win at Michigan in 1999 on their way to ending a five-year bowl game drought. As a side note, I wonder what ever became of the Michigan quarterback who started that day?
83: The Illini came into the game averaging over 240 yards per game rushing. Northwestern came into the game ranked 104th in the nation in run defense. So naturally, the Illini were only able to muster 83 yards on the ground against the Wildcats. Go figure. Fortunately, Scheelhaase picked a good day to throw for a career high 391 yards, with 3 TD passes, all to A.J. Jenkins. Speaking of Jenkins...
269: The Illini's star wide receiver set a school record with 269 yards worth of receptions today. It was somewhat amusing to me during the post-game interview when Brian Barnhart brought up David Williams, the former record-holder. When Jenkins didn't seem to recognize the name, Barnhart said something to Jenkins about that record being set "long before you were born". Of course, I remember Williams's career, so thanks for making me feel really old, Brian!
49: On the last play of the first half, Derek Dimke nailed a 49-yard field goal, which turned out to be the difference in the game. The senior placekicker has now made 36 of the 41 field goals he's attempted in his career, and we should remember to not take him for granted this year, because it might not be so easy to replace him next year.
0-3: Illinois won despite not forcing any turnovers, and despite turning the ball over three times. Turnovers are never good, of course, but Scheelhaase's first quarter red-zone interception on a bad decision cost us at least three points, and the other two (the bad pitch by Scheelhaase, and Jason Ford's fumble that gave Northwestern new life and allowed them to take the lead late in the 4th quarter) both led to Northwestern touchdowns. Illinois was fortunate to be able to work around those mistakes against Northwestern, but they can't count on that sort of luck going forward.
5-0, 1-0, 1: A set of related numbers. Unless you've forgotten the second paragraph of this post, you know 5-0 represents the overall Illini record. 1-0 means represents the Illini being tied for first place in the Big Ten's Leaders Division. And the 1? One win is all the Illini need to become bowl-eligible for the second straight year, which would mean back-to-back bowl appearances for the Illini for the first time since 1991 and 1992. The Illini will get their first crack at that 6th win next week against an Indiana team that has already lost to Ball State and North Texas (and Penn State and Virginia).
Things are going so well right now, I won't even mention the rugby punts. I love that the team has been winning games without playing their best ball, and it's scary (in a good way) to think what might happen when they do start playing up to their potential.
It's a great time to be an Illini football fan!
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