Fan Blog

Hail to the Illini!

Posted by: Kim Johnson

Sunday, October 5, 2008 2:59 PM

I told you last week I had a good feeling about this game!  It is wonderful to see the Illini get a win in the Big House.  It is not something you see often.  This is only the third time in my lifetime that it's happened.

 

The Illini did start off a little shaky.  It appeared that the Wolverines were going to march all over the defense.  But it was short-lived, only a quarter's worth of uncertainty. 

 

Most of the things that needed fixing from last week were fixed.  The offense was firing on all cylinders, finding a way to get Benn the ball more often than last week.  I know he is the focus of every defense, but as we saw in the game, when he gets more involved, good things happen.

 

But Juice was the man.  He and his teammates can carry out the fake better than most.  That can't be easy to do, but they sure make it look good.  The camera man and 100,000+ were faked out more than once.   They couldn't get it done without the work of a strong offensive line.  It's a thankless job, and those linemen do it well.

 

I was happy to see the defense ramp it up a notch.  They couldn't have been happy at the end of the 1^st quarter, but they showed some fortitude and really got with it.  My favorite quote was from Brit Miller, when he was talking about getting behind, but "the lesson is to keep playing because you never know which play will be the most important."  Kids (mine in particular), are you listening?  The Illini defense kept playing hard, and it paid off in the end. 

 

The two phrases during Illini games that invoke fear in my house are "punt return" and "kick-off return."  We just kind of hold our breath around here when the Illini have to defend those.   We saw improvement yesterday, no touchdowns as a result of a kick-off or punt.  That's a step in the right direction.

 

I was listening to the TV announcers for most of the game, as the radio was pretty far ahead (still had it on, but only in the background).  I got so tired of them saying how Michigan really "comes together in the 2^nd half, that's what we saw last week against Wisconsin."  Blah, blah.  The game is over, and I never saw them "come together."   Not a good game for the Wolverines.  I love a good pummeling, especially against Michigan.

 

Can't believe Wisconsin blew another one.  And, is the Iowa coach fired yet?  I'm sure the Hawkeye fans are restless.

 

The Illini have their confidence back, their emotion back, and their game-readiness back.  I think they can get a good win streak going here.  I know Minnesota will be more than ready to come down and rain on our homecoming parade, but I've got another good feeling.  Go Illini!

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