For the Fans

Killing time before Missouri

Posted by: Tom Young

Monday, August 24, 2009 6:52 AM

Hard to believe we are now less than two weeks from that September 5^th showdown against the Tigers.  The Illini are still practicing and hoping to get off to a good start.  I see this as an important game because there is a chance we could be 1-3 if things don’t go well against Mizzou.  On the other hand, the Illini could start 2-0 going into the start of the Big Ten conference season @ Ohio State, which would be awesome. 

 

Early on, Illinois is a 6.5-point favorite over Missouri, which probably wasn’t the case the last two years.  Missouri has gone through some big changes, especially with their offense.  Goodbye Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin, and hello Blaine Gabbert and Jared Perry.  Daniel and Maclin were awesome last year leading Missouri to another Big Twelve North title, while Gabbert only threw 13 passes (completing five of them), and Perry was forth on the team with 41 receptions and four touchdowns.  Of course you can’t look at last years stats and assume that these guys are going to perform like that, especially Gabbert.  This spring, Gabbert grabbed the teams “Most Improved Back” Award.  On top of that, he was a five star quarterback out of high school, so this man knows what he’s doing.  The defense will have to be ready and hopefully more aggressive if they want to stop this guy.  You get in his face early, you might be able to can him a bit with it being his first game as Missouri’s main signal caller. 

 

Last year, Juice picked apart the defense to a tune of 452 yards and 5 touchdowns.  The previous year, Eddie McGee had the game that made a number of people think that he should be the quarterback.  This year, I don’t why the Illini can’t continue the good quarterback play.  I still can’t believe the amount of weapons we have on offense.  I think Illinois can be a top 10 offense when they’re clicking, and I don’t see a reason why Illinois can’t put a big fat number again.

 

As you probably know by now, I am incredibly worried about the defense.  Sure, it’s cool that Martez Wilson got named to the 35-man watch list the Butkus award, but he’s just one guy, and he hasn’t done anything yet at MLB.  Please, Illinois, be aggressive, get in someone’s face, trash talk if you have to, maybe even commit a penalty here and there, I don’t care, just show some life.  I know I’ve talked about this a lot, but the defense could be the difference between a 4-8 year and a 9-3 year.  Surprisingly, I’m not worrying much about special teams.  If we really have all of this depth all the way around, that means our “scrubs” on special teams should be able to get the job done.  Matt Ellar will have a good year, and punting should be better.  So it all comes down to the D. 

 

Next week, I will have the first simulation of the year, Illinois vs. Missouri, on NCAA Football 2010 for the XBOX 360.  Can’t wait for the year.

 

I-L-L…

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