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Turpin Time

What's Going to Happen Next? Don't Ask Me

Posted by: Jim Turpin

Sunday, September 28, 2008 12:33 PM

Before the season began - when I would speak to civic clubs or chat with friends on and off the air- the same question was always asked:

"How are the Illini going to do this year?" I always had the same answer:

1. I think this team will be better than last year's.

2. They won't win as many games because they open with a top 5 team in Missouri and three of the first five Big 10 road games are at Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Well, number two still stands. Number one? I'm not so sure. I never dreamed that we would give up so many wide-open pass completions, long kickfoff returns for touchdowns, and call for a quarterback sneak on 4th and 2.

At Penn State at times we moved the ball in a very impressive fashion against a highly touted defense. The sea-of-white, all 109,000 of them, didn't seem to rattle our guys. For the most part, we played with poise. The atmosphere can't be any more difficult at Ann Arbor or Madison, that's for sure. Juice looked sure of himself; Benn was fantastic the few times we gave him a chance to be.

Perhaps we didn't realize how much the losses in the secondary from last year would hurt. All pre-season we heard about the 8-10 defensive lineman we were going to rotate. They need to make some tackles and a sack or even a hurry. Against Penn State the leading tacklers were Bellamy, Miller, and V. Davis.

The team appeared ready to play at Penn State. The effort was there. But when a quarterback is able to pass unmolested all night long - once completing nine in a row - it makes one worry about what is going to happen next.

Michigan is next. This is a Michigan team that was booed off the field in the first half, trailing Wisconsin 19-0 and 19-7 at the end of the third quarter. Then, after a remarkable comeback the fans stood and sang "Hail To The Victors" with the players when the game was over. Illinois will face a Michigan team that now has some pride back; will that make them more difficult to beat next Saturday? Couldn't hurt.

So, what's going to happen next? Don't ask me. I don't have a clue. Like the rest of you I can only hope that last year was not just a one-year-fling and we are now headed back to reality.