It's Over. It's All Over.

Pop quiz, hotshots.  Does this post title refer to:

1. The Illini's search for a new football coach, now that Tim Beckman has been hired?
2. The Tyler Colvin era in Chicago, now that he's been traded to the Rockies for Ian Stewart?
3. The Bears' playoff chances after Sunday's date with the Tebow steamroller?
4. None of the above

The answer is "D", none of the above.  The post title refers to this blog.

When I started writing, the Cubs were run by Jim Hendry, the Illini were run by Ron Guenther, the Bears were run by Jerry Angelo, and everything seemed hopeless, sports-wise, so I needed an outlet to vent my frustrations.  But now, 17 months later, the Cubs have a competent front office, the Illini have an AD who demands accountability from his coaches, and the Bears...well, two out of three ain't bad, right?  Anyway, I don't know how many people are actually reading these posts, and I'm just tired of writing, so I've decided that I'm not going to be updating the blog anymore.

And as my final post draws to a close, I'm reminded of a few of the events that brought me closer to you: Albert Pujols leaving St. Louis, back-to-back football wins over Northwestern, premium ice cream wars, dogs that were mistakenly issued major credit cards, and others that weren't so lucky. 

And so, farewell.  It's been a blast.  And if you do like what I write but can only take it in doses of 140 characters or less, don't forget to look for my new column in PC World magazine that you can still follow me on Twitter. 

Smell ya later!

Now That We Fired Zook, What Are We Gonna Do?

When Mike Thomas said he was going to "assess" Ron Zook at the end of the season, "assess" was apparently a code word for "fire immediately", and "end of the season" meant "end of the regular season after a humiliating blowout loss to a horrible team, bowl game or not."  Honestly, I feel bad for the Zooker right now.  While his overall record at Illinois (34-51, 18-37 in conference play) was awful, he did walk into a terrible situation when he took over the Illini (three straight losing seasons before he arrived), and unlike the two guys who had the job before he did (and unlike certain basketball coaches), at least he did leave things in better shape than when he got here.  But even though Zook seems like a good guy, he wasn't a very good coach, his faults were glaringly obvious, and the six-game regular-season-ending losing streak made it clear that he's not the right man to lead this program going forward.

The good news is that whoever the new permanent head coach is, with the talent on hand there's no way next year's Illini go 0-11 (as they did in Ron Turner's first year after taking over for Lou Tepper) or 2-9 (as they did in Zook's first year after taking over for Turner).  It's also encouraging to see that Thomas won't tolerate mediocrity; back-to-back six-win regular seasons probably would have earned Zook a five-year contract extension if Ron Guenther were still the AD.  As a side note, I'm guessing this also means Bruce Weber's seat just got a little bit hotter, and that Weber will need to do better than spending every year on the NCAA Tournament bubble if he wants to stick around.  So now the fun begins.  In hiring Zook's replacement, Mike Thomas gets to make his first big impact on Illini athletics.
 

Illini vs. Minnesota Preview: Please Make It Stop

Congratulations, Ron Zook - after a fantastic start to the 2011 season, your team's five game losing streak has completely crushed my spirit.  Of course, I will be rooting for the Illini to beat the Golden Gophers on Saturday, but for me this game will have the same feel as the Illini basketball team's NIT game against Stony Brook in 2010.  If we win, I probably won't be excited as much as relieved that we didn't suffer a humiliating loss.

Fortunately, even though the Illini went from Columbus Day to Thanksgiving without winning a game, we still have a better team than Minnesota.  If the Illini defense could hold Wisconsin's powerful offense in check, they should be able to stop the Golden Gophers' offense.  I think we'll get just enough production from our offense and for a change we won't shoot ourselves in the foot on special teams.  It will add up to a win and a little momentum going into whatever crappy bowl game we get invited to.  Yippee.  But more importantly, it means that the regular season will be over,  so we'll be that much closer to getting an answer from Mike Thomas on whether he wants Zook to be a part of the future of the football program.  And that answer should be something to get excited about.

Predictions
Illinois 24
Minnesota 10
Ron Zook will be fired after the game and will not coach our bowl game

Thumbs Down - Can the Bears Overcome Jay Cutler's Injury?

"I've learned that life is one crushing defeat after another, until you just wish Flanders was dead." - Homer Simpson

I certainly don't feel that way about life in general (and not just because, like hens love roosters and geese love ganders, I love Ned Flanders more than Homer Simpson loves a nacho hat).  But the first part of that sentence does a pretty good job of summarizing how I've felt watching my football teams this fall.  After a 6-0 start, the Illini may need to win their last game of the regular season at Minnesota to avoid being shut out of a bowl game.  The Bears had been doing a good job of covering up the stench emanating from Champaign by posting a five-game winning streak - and major props to you if you guessed that the Bears, who were sitting at 2-3 at the same time the Illini were 6-0, would reach seven wins before the Illini did.  However, as you've undoubtedly heard, the Bears suffered a crushing injury on Sunday, losing long snapper Patrick Mannelly to a torn ACL.  Oh - and there was also something about Jay Cutler breaking his thumb during the win over the Chargers.

Illini vs. Wisconsin Preview: Ron Zook's Last Stand?

 

But does Mike Thomas agree?

One of the most painful outcomes for Illinois football in recent years came in the 2009 season finale against Fresno State.  Nearly two years later, it's still difficult to believe that our Senior Day was ruined on a last-second, tipped-pass-for-a-two-point-conversion reception by a Bulldogs offensive lineman.  That loss capped off a 3-9 season for the Illini (Ron Zook's second straight losing season), and it seemed all but certain that we would never see Zook on the Illinois sideline at Memorial Stadium again.  But thanks to the generosity, insanity, and/or stupidity of then-AD Ron Guenther, Zook survived, and we've now seen him coach an additional 13 games at Memorial Stadium.  This Saturday's clash against #15/#17 Wisconsin will be his 14th since that Fresno State game.  But unless the Illini can score a victory over the Badgers, it's difficult to believe that current AD Mike Thomas will give Zook the opportunity to extend that number, no matter what Thomas is saying now.  By the way, I've heard that ESPN was planning to bring the blimp to Champaign for Saturday's broadcast, but in a cost-cutting move they've instead decided to get their aerial shots of the game by strapping cameras to the vultures circling over Zook's head.

Given that atmosphere, is there any hope for the Fighting Zookers on Saturday?

Urge to Fire Ron Zook...Rising!

When the Bears signed Todd Collins last year, I went out of my way to praise the move.  My reward for standing up for Collins?  In a start against Carolina (the worst team in the NFL in 2010), Collins produced one of the most inept performances by a Bears QB that I've ever seen (and that includes performances by Rusty Lisch, Rick Mirer, and Henry Burris).

So what does Todd Collins have to do with Ron Zook?  Well, during the Illini's bye week, I did my best to defend Ron Zook's record as Illinois head coach, and asked my fellow Illini fans to be patient despite our team's three-game skid.  My reward?  With two weeks to prepare for Michigan, we got another completely listless offensive performance, more crappiness from our "special" teams, and the Wolverines kicking the snot out of the Illini in Champaign last Saturday in a game that wasn't as close as the 31-14 final score indicated, extending the losing streak to four games.  Making matters worse, there were two separate off-field incidents involving Illini players over the weekend, so while we're slipping in the Big Ten standings, we're moving up in the Fulmer Cup standings.  And the topper - during the last two weeks, both Northwestern and Purdue scored big upset victories (over Nebraska and Ohio State, respectively).  With those results, it's almost certain that ten of the Big Ten's twelve schools will be bowl-eligible by season's end, meaning that if the Illini do end the season 6-6, there may not be a bowl bid for them as I thought two weeks ago.

The promise and progress the Illini showed early this season has completely disintegrated, and unless the team can bounce back and post an upset win against Wisconsin (unlikely, given the state of our offense and the top-ten-in-the-nation scoring defense of the Badgers), I'm guessing that not even a win at Minnesota in the season finale will be enough to convince Mike Thomas to keep Zook around for 2012.  So thanks, Ron Zook, for taking what was shaping up to be a fantastic year and dragging it into the gutter, and for making me look really bad.  Go find another blogger to stand up for you - I'm done.

Bears After the Bye - What to Expect in the Second "Half" of the Season

It's odd how things work out sometimes.  Four weeks ago, the Illini were undefeated, and it looked to me as if the Bears were on the fast track to mediocrity after a Monday night loss to Detroit dropped them to 2-3.  But since then, the Illini have lost three straight games, crushing any hope of New Year's Day football, while the Bears have a two-game winning streak and renewed playoff hopes.  When the Illini were up the Bears were down.  Now, the Bears are up, and the Illini are down.  You know who I am?  Even Steven!

With the Bears are coming out of the bye week at 4-3 (the same record they had at the bye week in 2010), the next two games will most likely determine which way the 2011 season breaks.  A win over the Eagles on Monday night would give the Bears the tiebreaker edge over three of their potential competitors (Eagles, Falcons, Bucs) for wild card spots.  While a loss at Philadelphia wouldn't be fatal to a Bears' playoff run, the next game, at home against the Lions (another potential wild card competitor), is the real key to the team's postseason chances.  If the Bears are swept by Detroit there's no way the Bears will catch the Lions, and the Bears would have no way to make the playoffs other than as the NFC's #6 seed.  But a Bears victory would go a long way toward helping them finish ahead of the Lions, especially since Detroit still has to play Green Bay twice.

With the almost-second half of the schedule about to get underway (it would be much cleaner if the bye week fell at the exact midpoint of the season, but what can you do about that?), I figure this is a good time to try to guess if the Bears will return to the postseason.  I originally had the Bears finishing at 8-8, but there's been a slight change in my forecast.  I'm assuming the Bears will follow last year's formula, in which after the bye week, Mike Martz "chose" to go with more conservative, run-oriented game plans instead of the pass-happy, let's-get-Jay-Cutler-killed game plans he prefers.  Based on that assumption, here's how I see things unfolding the rest of the way, game by game:

Fire Ron Zook? Not So Fast.

Three weeks ago, the Illini were sitting at 6-0 - the best start for the team in sixty years - and it looked like we were on our way to a history-making football season.  And we still might be seeing history in the making, but it wouldn't be the kind we were hoping for.  I did a little bit of research on the eight seasons in which FBS teams have been allowed to play 12 regular season games, and it looks as if no college football team has ever had both a six-game winning streak and a six-game losing streak in the same season.  But after last Saturday's heartbreaking, last-minute loss to Penn State left the Illini with a three-game losing streak, the Illini need to win one of their remaining three games - at home against #13 Michigan or #20 Wisconsin, or on the road against Minnesota (which beat Iowa in Minneapolis last Saturday) - to avoid becoming first team to claim that dubious distinction.

As a result of the losing streak, the "Fire Ron Zook" bandwagon is gaining momentum as the Illini head into their bye week.  If the Illini do finish the regular season with a 6-6 (or 7-5) record and a berth in, say, the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl after their great start, it would certainly give Mike Thomas a reason to fire Zook at season's end.  But should Thomas be thinking about changing coaches?  My answer - no, he shouldn't.  That's right, I'm about to try to defend Ron Zook.

Illini vs. Penn State Preview: A Valley Doesn't Sound Like a Good Place to Stop a Slide

In the middle of the 1995 Big Ten season, the Illini suffered back-to-back disheartening home losses:  first to Michigan State (a 27-21 loss); and then to Northwestern (17-14).  The next game on the schedule was a road trip to Iowa City. I expected to see a blowout, and that's exactly what happened.  Only the Illini weren't the victims, they were the perpetrators - the good guys routed the Hawkeyes 26-7.  I know everyone's upset about the current state of the Illini football team (rightfully so), and in the wake of the current two-game losing streak Ron Zook's name is starting to appear on "hot seat" lists again.  But if a Lou Tepper-coached team could stop a two-game losing streak as a big underdog in a hostile environment, is it out of the question for a Zook-coached team to do the same thing when the Illini (6-2, 4-4) travel to Happy Valley on Saturday to face Penn State (7-1, 4-0)?

Purdue 21, Illinois 14: We Lost to a Team that Lost to Rice

Questions raised during and immediately after the Illini's 21-14 loss to Purdue:

• Did the team not know this was an 11:00 (CDT) start?
• What happened to that punt return "breakthrough" Ron Zook talked about this week?  Did we have a single positive yardage punt return play in the game?
• We were down 21 points in the first half, so why did we wait until the end of the fourth quarter to run anything resembling a hurry-up offense?
• Spiking the ball with one second left in the first half - really?
• Of course, we shouldn't be surprised that our team doesn't understand time management when our coach doesn't know how to manage the clock either, should we?
• How long will it be before we return to the top 25?  And will Zook still be the coach when it happens?
• If we just got pantsed by a team that couldn't beat Rice and barely beat Middle Tennessee, is there any way for us to beat Penn State, Michigan, or Wisconsin...or Minnesota?

Illini vs. Purdue Preview: Cannon Fodder?

I guess we all knew it was going to end sometime.  And since the Illini aren't going to finish the season undefeated, now we'll find out whether last Saturday's loss to Ohio State was just a bump in the road, or...whatever the opposite of a bump in the road is...the beginning of a giant sinkhole, I guess.  This week, the Illini leave home for just the second time in 2011 as they make the short trip to West Lafayette to face the Purdue Boilermakers (3-3, 1-2).  And for the third straight week, the winner takes home a trophy.  At stake this week - the Purdue Cannon (not pictured, left, but I'd love to win a trophy that looked like that).  Last year, the Illini claimed the Cannon for the first time since 2002 with a 44-10 victory, but that was an injury-riddled Purdue team we knocked around in Champaign.  Will a healthy bunch of Boilermakers be able to turn the tables on the Illini this year?

Illini, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My! The Almost Lost Weekend

Congratulations to my wife's grandmother, who turned 100 years old on Friday.  To celebrate, we drove up to Wisconsin on Saturday and spent the day with her, which left me unable to watch the Illini's 17-7 loss to Ohio State.   If anyone could figure out a way to lose a game in which the opponent completed only one pass in the entire game...well, it would have to be a team I root for, wouldn't it?  The Illini lost because the Buckeyes converted two turnovers into touchdowns, but the game wasn't sealed until a classic Ron Zook blunder in the final minutes.  With just over a minute left, the Illini had the ball and two time outs left, but faced 4th and 2 at the Ohio State 17 yard line.  But instead of kicking the field goal, the Illini went for the first down and failed, after which the Buckeyes ran out the clock.  Since you needed to score twice to win, why not kick the field goal there and leave as much time as possible to get the touchdown if you can recover the onside kick?  In the same situation last year, Northern Illinois took the field goal and then tried the onside kick (which the Illini recovered) even though the Huskies faced a longer kick than Derek Dimke would have attempted on Saturday, but I guess Ron Zook wasn't paying attention that day.  I only mention it because Lovie Smith made the exact same blunder at the end of last Monday's game against the Lions, and it would be nice if one of the football teams I root for had a coach who understood clock management.

Since I was on the road on Saturday night driving back to Chicago, I also missed Game 6 of the ALCS.  Apparently, so did the Detroit Tigers - they lost to the Texas Rangers 15-5, allowing the Rangers to repeat as American League champions.  And to be honest, I'm a little pissed at the Tigers right now, because they were the last team that could have prevented a nightmare World Series scenario.  With the Tigers out of the picture, this year's World Series winner will either be a hated rival, or a former loser franchise from Texas getting their first championship before I see the Cubs get one.  Now, where have I seen that before?  Oh, right.

But thanks to the Bears' performance on Sunday night, my sports weekend wasn't a complete disaster.  After Monday night's miserable performance, a home game against the hapless Minnesota Vikings (a/k/a "The Houston Astros of the NFC North") was just what the Bears needed. Too bad the Bears can't play the Vikings every week - the 39-10 win brought the Bears back to .500, and now I realize I may have been a little harsh in my assessment of the rest of the Bears season last week.  Other than the game at Green Bay, and maybe the game at Philadelphia, there's not a game on the remainder of the schedule that looks like a sure loss.  And with the Lions finally looking mortal Sunday, and with several other NFC contenders (Atlanta, Philadelphia) looking less than imposing so far this year, maybe the playoffs aren't such a reach for the Bears.  Of course, if the Bears couldn't get past the Packers to reach the Super Bowl last year, it's not like they have a shot to do it this year.  But I'm looking at it this way:  Lovie Smith's contract runs through 2013, so no matter how bad the Bears get this year, we're stuck with him through at least 2012, because there's no way in hell the McCaskeys fire a coach with two years remaining on his contract, right?   So since there's no reason to hope the Bears lose this year so they get rid of Smith faster (because that won't happen), we might as well hope for the best, and even a one-and-done #6 seed appearance in the playoffs would be worth it.  And don't worry, Smith-haters - with most of the Bears' star players on the wrong side of 30, and without enough quality young players in the pipeline to replace them, the end will come soon enough.

Illinois vs. Ohio State Preview: Illibuck-ing the Trend?

Imagine how the Illini teams of recent years would have reacted to one of the following scenarios:

• The opposing team returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
• While holding a four-point lead, the Illini commit a turnover inside their own five yard line.
• Ron Zook makes one of his patented* boneheaded coaching decisions.

*Actually, I'm not sure if it's patented, but I'm pretty sure he at least has the application on file at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Now, imagine all three of those things happening in the first half of the same game - no way the Illini win, right?  But this year's version of the Illini was able to overcome all of those mistakes and coast to an easy 41-20 win over Indiana last week.  Granted, the Hoosiers are terrible, but there have been plenty of occasions during the past few seasons where mistakes have cost the Illini wins over terrible teams.  No, I think what we're seeing here is a genuinely good Illinois football team.  With six wins, the Illini are already bowl-eligible, and it's just the fifth time in the last 16 years that the Illini can say that they'll be playing an extra game at the end of the season.  If the Illini can beat Ohio State (3-3, 0-2) on Saturday in Champaign, it would mark just the seventh time in the last 25 years that the Illini have managed a seven-win season.  But that would mean beating the Buckeyes at home - a feat the Illini haven't accomplished in twenty years.  Can the Illini pull it off and capture the Illibuck trophy for the first time since 2007?

Illini vs. Indiana Preview - We're Leaving Home

Take away the names on the jerseys. If you told most college football fans that a 5-0, top-20 team had a game on Saturday against a team that had lost all four of its games against FBS competition so far this year (including losses to juggernauts Ball State and North Texas), how many would pick against the 5-0 team? Right - no one would; everyone would pick them to win big. But when that 5-0 team is #16 (or #19) ranked Illinois, a team that has left its supporters feeling disappointed so many times over the years, it's somewhat understandable why some people (including people who write for this blog) might feel a little nervous about the Illini's prospects against Indiana on Saturday. While Illini football fans have grown accustomed to nebulous feelings of impending doom, there are actual reasons to feel nervous:

• The trip to the fake Memorial Stadium in Bloomington will mark the first time the Illini have traveled away from Champaign this season, so we don't know how the Illini will react when faced with a "hostile" crowd (hostile being a relative term in this case, since a lot of Indiana fans probably aren't even aware that they have a football team).  
• It's true that the Hoosiers are 1-4 so far this year (the win came against South Carolina State, an FCS school with a losing record).  However, their four losses have been by a combined 19 points.  On the other hand, the Illini have won their last three games by a total of nine points. In other words, the Hoosiers might not be as bad as their record indicates, and the Illini might not be as good as their record indicates. 
• While most of his predecessors have been rather anonymous, first-year Hoosiers Head Coach Kevin Wilson hasn't taken long to show that he's a jackass, but he's a jackass who might have extra motivation to stick it to the Illini. 

So is there legitimate cause for concern regarding Saturday's game?  If the Hoosiers are to spring the upset on Saturday, here are some areas where they might make it happen:

Illini 38, Northwestern 35: The Land of Lincoln Trophy Stays Where it Belongs

My wife is a Northwestern alum, so I'll have to watch what I say in this post and not put the Wildcats down too much.  If I'm not careful, I might end up sleeping in the garage.  Just kidding - my wife would never do that to me.  The garage has a roof - she'd make me sleep in the driveway.

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.

Illinois vs. Northwestern Preview: This Time, We're Using Both End Zones!

When Illinois and Northwestern renew their rivalry for the 104th time on Saturday, a lot of things will be different compared to their last meeting.  For starters, this will be the first time since 1998 that the game doesn't fall on the final week of the Big Ten schedule, and with its 11:00 a.m. kickoff, this will be the first ever interdivisional Big Ten game under the new Legends/Leaders format.  As for the game itself, unlike at last year's matchup at Wrigley Field, the teams will be able to run plays in both directions.  But perhaps the biggest difference is that  Northwestern will have its quasi-Heisman Trophy candidate, Dan Persa, starting at quarterback on Saturday.  Will the Illini be able to repeat last year's 48-27 pounding of the Wildcats?  Or will the mere sight of Persa descending from the heavens in his golden chariot inspire the 'cats to a payback win?

Illinois vs. Western Michigan Preview: Is it a Trap?

The Illini are coming off of their biggest non-conference home win since...when?  Louisville in 2001?  Eventual National Champion Colorado in 1990?  Whatever benchmark you choose to compare it to, last Saturday's electrifying 17-14 win over Arizona State propelled the Illini into the top 25 for the first time since 2008.  Now, I don't want to be too much of a Debbie Downer here.  But while Illini fans are excited (and rightfully so) about the results of the Arizona State game itself, it doesn't mean that we should start talking about this as a "special season" just yet.  The offense disappeared for a large chunk of the game, and had it not been for a heroic effort by the defense (including a couple of fortuitous bounces that became turnovers) and a missed 32-yard Arizona State field goal, we might be hearing a different narrative this week.  But fate did smile on the Illini, who are 3-0 for the first time since 2001, and are looking to go to 4-0 for the first time since 1951 this Saturday against Western Michigan.  To put that in perspective, the last time the Illini had a 4-0 start, the Cubs were only six years removed from their last World Series game.

So now that the Illini have overcome one bugaboo (the inability to win a closely played big game on a national stage), they'll have to overcome another one against the Broncos on Saturday:  the let-down game.  During the Ron Zook era, the Illini have displayed a particularly aggravating habit of following a big, emotionally charged win with a flat performance against a lesser opponent:  after ruining Michigan State's Homecoming in 2006, the Illini blew a late lead to lose their own Homecoming game against Indiana; in 2007, the Illini followed back-to-back home wins over Penn State and Wisconsin by laying an egg in Iowa City; and after an exhilarating last second win over Iowa in 2008, the Illini lost their next game at Ford Field against...ahem...Western Michigan.  Oh, and one more thing - this week's game is sandwiched in between a game against a ranked team and a game against Big Ten rival Northwestern, so it also has the makings of a dreaded "trap game".

Where does that leave us against this year's incarnation of Western Michigan?  The Broncos enter this game with a 2-1 record, with big wins over relatively similar competition (Central Michigan) and inferior competition (Nicholls), as well as a 34-10 road loss against Michigan, a team in the same league (literally and figuratively) as the Illini.  A look at the box score from that game at the Big House can give us a good idea of what to expect on Saturday.  In a game shortened by severe weather, the underlying numbers looked pretty even - 288 total yards for Michigan, 279 for Western Michigan.  However, while the Broncos were able to move the ball up and down the field, they committed three costly turnovers - two fumbles and one interception - and Michigan tallied two defensive touchdowns in the game.  That could be bad news for the Broncos, as the Illini defense has already forced eight turnovers this season, including three against Arizona State.  Also of note - in three quarters, Western Michigan allowed 190 yards on the ground against the Wolverines (on only 26 carries, for over seven yards per rushing play).  That could also bode well for the Illini's run-oriented offense.

Prediction
To make my call on this potential trap game, let's turn to the ultimate authority.  What do you think, Admiral Ackbar - is this a trap?

It's NOT a trap!
Illini 27
Broncos 17

Illinois vs. Arizona State; Bears vs. Saints: Buy One Football Game Preview, Get the Second One Free!

Both the Illini and the Bears dominated their opposition last weekend, but both teams will face tougher tests this weekend:  the Illini will be hosting a top-25 team (Arizona State), while the Bears journey to the Superdome, where the Saints of football play.  Rather than write out separate previews (and predictions), I'm just going to combine previews for both games into one huge honkin' post.

Illinois vs. South Dakota State - a Preview of Sorts

We're hunting wabbits!

For the second consecutive year, the Fighting Illini host a Missouri Valley Conference school in their second non-conference game.  Last year, it was Southern Illinois; this year, it's South Dakota State.  But unlike last year, this year's schedule featured a winnable opening game, so a win on Saturday would move the Illini to 2-0, which would be their first 2-0 start since 2005.

I usually like to take a look at each team's statistics in my pregame write-ups as a way to learn about the opponent and to figure out how the match-ups will play out.  But, please - we're talking about South Dakota State here.  They're an FCS team (and not a particularly good FCS team at that).  So here's what I've got for you instead:

• South Dakota State's team nickname is the "Jackrabbits", and their cleverly-named mascot is Jack Rabbit.
• South Dakota State actually has an alum in the Pro Football Hall of Fame - Jim Langer, who played center for the Miami Dolphins' Super Bowl teams during the 1970s.  Colts' kicker Adam Vinatieri also played his college football for the Jackrabbits.  
• In 2010, the Jackrabbits finished with the exact same overall record (5-6) and conference record (4-4) as Southern Illinois did.  You know, the same Southern Illinois team the Illini beat 35-3 last year.
• The Jackrabbits nearly blew a 22-point 4th quarter lead against mighty Southern Utah in their home opener last week.  They managed to hold on for a 29-28 win by breaking up a two-point conversion play with two seconds left in the game.

Prediction
Under Ron Zook, the Illini are 5-0 against FCS teams, and all of those wins have been by at least 21 points.  Unless the two teams decide to not play an actual football game on Saturday, and instead go with an "alumni who currently play in the AFC South" field goal kicking contest between Vinatieri and Neil Rackers, this will be easy.

Illini 38
'rabbits 6

Illini/Arkansas State Preview - Football's Back!

The 2011 Fighting Illini are presenting quite a conundrum to our nation's college football experts.  Some see a team with a soft schedule and a dynamic, dual-threat sophomore QB and expect the Illini to top last year's 7-6 record.  Others see the loss of three key would-be-seniors to the NFL draft and expect the Illini to take a step backwards.  The good news is that we won't have to wait much longer to see who's right, as the 2011 season will kick off on Saturday when the Illini face the Arkansas State Red Wolves at the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium.  I'm excited, because I finally get a chance to write about a real game involving someone other than the craptacular 2011 Chicago Cubs.