A Win is a Win, Right?

The Illini football team completed the directional school portion of their schedule by hanging on for a 28-22 win over Northern Illinois. Not very impressive, but at least it was better than a couple of other Zook-era efforts against MAC teams. Trying to catch everyone off-guard, Illinois changed up their lack of discipline problem this week; they played turnover-free football but piled up 85 yards in penalties. And as radio announcer Brian Barnhart noted during the game, these weren't cheapies like false starts. For example, a roughing the passer penalty took away what would have been the game-clinching interception, which led to a late NIU field goal and a nerve-racking on-side kick (which, fortunately, the Illini recovered).

Whatever the means, the result is a 2-1 record for the Illini - the first time they've been over .500 since beating Iowa in November, 2008. It should also be noted that the last time the Illini had a close shave against NIU in Champaign, they went on to win the Big 10 title outright and earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl. So I see no reason we can't do the same this year, provided that we can get Kurt Kittner, Brandon Lloyd, Rocky Harvey & Co. back into uniform. Barring that, I think I'll just enjoy the upcoming bye week, since I get the feeling I won't enjoy what comes after that.

We're Number Three!

The Illini had everything going right for them tonight, and dominated the entire game on their way to an easy 35-3 win over SIU. And everything I worried about in my prediction post - the turnover battle (which Illinois lost 3-2), needing to put the game on the shoulders of Nathan Scheelhaase (who went 14-18 for 231 yards, 2 TDs, no INTs, and a QB rating of 222.2 for the game), SIU being amped for the game - didn't matter. All of which means that we're still (at worst) the third-best program in the state right now. And at least I was pretty close on calling the Illini's point total for the game.

Some might think this is just a win over a cupcake, but even if that's true, it's better than the alternative (as Virginia Tech and Minnesota discovered today). At the very least, this is something to build on, with another winnable game coming up next week at home against Northern Illinois, which had to hold on for a 23-17 win at home against North Dakota today. It would be nice to get out to a 2-1 start before we run into the twin buzz-saws of Ohio State and a trip to Happy Valley after our bye week. While the competition this week may not have been as tough as I anticipated, it was nice to see our freshman QB make big improvements from last week. If that continues, I can see Illini football becoming fun again in the not-too-distant future. And next year, it will be nice to open with a game like this instead of being fed to the Tigers.