Woah.

4th and 10, six seconds on the clock, Fresno down by seven. A simple 20 yard post is caught by the Bulldog receiver, who stretches from the 2 yard line and barely pushes the ball over the end zone line. Review confirms touchdown...

Illinois 52, FSU 51...

Pat Hill, the "play anywhere, play anyone" coach, decides he'll go for two on the road. The Illini blow up the play, forcing an off-balance throw which is tipped forward into the waiting arms of a 310 lb. Fresno lineman, who barely falls into the end zone...Review confirms that he made it over the line before being felled.

FSU 53, Illinois 52...

So many highlights...Almost 1000 total yards, a circus catch by  Hoomanawanui, a completely airborne flip touchdown by LeShour (not to mention 184 yards rushing and two touchdowns by Mikel)...

I know it was a 3 win Illini team fighting for respect only, but the offense looked cohesive against a tough Fresno unit. And I know I've angrily eviscerated the Illinois offensive playcalling all year, but it was a varied and gutsy gameplan from Zook.

The defense was horrendous, getting overrun on power sweeps and rarely making plays on the wide open Bulldog receivers.

Oh and a final note...My prediction for this game...

GRAHAMFILLER10 predicts FRESNO STATE by 7

Balanced Bulldogs versus revitalized Juice Williams in his final game. This game has points written all over it. FSU gets an early lead behind their balanced attack and hangs on.

We have favorites and we have loyalties, but if the Big Ten is going to climb out the national perception doldrums, we're going to have to do it together.  That means that we have to all be pulling in the same direction. Here's what I want to see from each Big Ten team in their non-conference battles this week. These columns started before the conference season and go on after the conference season...

Illinois (at Cincinnati)

Illinois faces the daunting task of competing against the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats.  Can they win? Probably not...but that's why they play the games. Cincinnati has shown weaknesses: most glaringly, their ability to stop a running game.  If Illinois can pound the rock, or at least get Juice moving his feet forward, they could score on Cincinnati.  And if Brian Kelly is thinking more about the drapes he'll want to install in South Bend, well...stranger things have happened.

Should the drapes have shamrocks or that interlocking "ND" logo.  What if I had both?  Nahh...that would look tacky.  How many cheeseburgers do I need before I fit into the Charlie Weis mu-mu sweatshirt.  Wait, focus on the Illini.  Don't want "Outcoached by Ron Zook" in the second paragraph after I get hired...

What I Want

I want Illinois to show why so many thought that they could be an 8 win team.  Shock the Bearcats.

We have favorites and we have loyalties, but if the Big Ten is going to climb out the national perception doldrums, we're going to have to do it together.  That means that we have to all be pulling in the same direction.  Here's what I want to see from each Big Ten team in their non-conference battles this week. These columns are really short this time of year...

Illinois (BYE)

Illinois gets to rest this week.  They moved their non-con game with Fresno State to the first week of December. Before that, though, they'll need to upset Cincinnati in Nippert Stadium.

Shhh...let them rest.

What I Want

I want Illinois to rest up and devise a plan to outscore Brian Kelly's offense.  They have no chance of stopping it.

What I Expect

The Zooker to work with intensity.

What We've Got So Far

The Big Ten is 31-10 (.756) out of conference.  The league is 5-8 against BCS Conference teams (plus Notre Dame). Indiana's loss to Virginia guarantees that the Big Ten can finish with no better than a .500 record against the other BCS schools.  The league has two losses to non-BCS teams (Northern Illinois over Purdue and Central Michigan over Michigan State). 

We'll save the cliched dialogue about Zook's hot seat and just go straight to details. A highly hyped Ilini offense put up 180 yards and 0 points in Columbus on Saturday. Quarterback play was mediocre, the line couldn't create holes, and the wide receivers had a ton of legit dropped balls. Time for analysis.

6-13, 34 yards, 1 INT

That would be Isiah Williams passing numbers at halftime. Let me break those down a little more.

He took every snap from the shotgun and didn't face intense pressure. Nonetheless, Juice threw a drive killing pick into quadruple coverage, while another pass skipped off a Buckeye defender surprised to see a ball thrown unimpeded at his numbers. There was only one attempt to go deep, something the Illini did all last year.

I counted four drops. Fayson dropped a ball on a simple crossing route and also mishandled a great cross-field throw from Juice. Arrelious Benn dropped one on the sideline and Daniel Dufrene couldn't handle a dump down that would have led to big yards. Yes, Law Buck, I know it was raining. But that didn't stop Williams from throwing some catchable passes.

46

That's the number of penalty yards accumulated by Illinois in the first half. Holding, delay of game, illegal formation...Pretty much the whole gamut of possible infractions for an offensive unit.

I know the O Line is young (49 combined starts before the season, 2nd lowest in the Big Ten). I know it was wet and OSU features a great defense. But when does Illinois start playing together as a unit?

Continue reading this post »

Much thanks to Rockwell. This series is pretty simple - I pick an intriguing Big Ten player, DVR his game, and watch him the whole time. Things I want to find out - Is he put in positions to succeed? What formation is he most effective from? Is this player All-Big Ten caliber? Should your team watch out for this guy?

My first subject is Ian Thomas. This sophomore outside linebacker plays for Ron Zook's Illini and was one of the only bright spots in the Mizzou loss. Picking up 13 tackles against the Tigers, he helped the Illini hold Mizzou's offense in check for much of the game (that is until the staggering ineptitude of the offense eventually tired the defense out). Lined up next to top recruit Martez Wilson, I followed his every move in Saturday's game against Illinois State.

Continue reading this post »

But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal – there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. 

-Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird

We, The Rivalry, Esq. place before this college football court, the 2009 season of the Illinois Fighting Illini.  This is a team that probably overachieved in 2007 and underachieved in 2008.  The people have argued as to what we will see from them in 2009?  I say to you, ladies and gentlemen of the college football jury, ENOUGH!  Let this court give them the fair assessment that they deserve.

Continue reading this post »

No. 12 - The Galloping Ghost

Long before Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn were breaking ankles at Memorial Stadium, Harold "Red" Grange was making defenders fall like fools.  A native of Wheaton, IL, Grange matriculated to his home state university, and led the Illini to an undefeated 1923 season and a claim to the national title.  The following year, Illinois opened their brand new Memorial Stadium and hosted Michigan in the first game.  This was a Michigan squad that was riding a 20 game unbeaten streak.  Take it away, Red..

He returned the opening kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown, and scored three more touchdowns on runs of 67, 56 and 44 yards in the first twelve minutes. This four-touchdown first quarter outburst equaled the number of touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the previous two seasons.  After sitting out the second quarter, Grange returned in the second half to run 11 yards for a fifth touchdown and passed 20 yards for a sixth score as Illinois won 39-14 to end Michigan's 20-game unbeaten streak. He totaled 402 yards - 212 rushing, 64 passing and 126 on kickoff returns.

The game inspired famed scribe Grantland Rice to pen the following:

A streak of fire, a breath of flame
Eluding all who reach and clutch;
A gray ghost thrown into the game
That rival hands may never touch;
A rubber bounding, blasting soul
Whose destination is the goal — Red Grange of Illinois!

Chicago sportswriter Warren Brown dubbed Grange "The Galloping Ghost."  In his 20-game college career, he ran for 3,362 yards, caught 14 passes for 253 yards and completed 40-of-82 passes for 575 yards. Of his 31 touchdowns, 16 were from at least 20 yards, with nine from more than 50 yards. He scored at least one touchdown in every game he played but one, a 1925 loss to Nebraska. He earned All-America recognition three consecutive years, and appeared on the October 5, 1925, cover of Time.

Then he went and legitimized the NFL.  But that's a story for another blog...

[EDIT: TR,E has just learned that Grange has eligibility left and may suit up for the Illini again]

No. 21 - Thumbs Go Up and Down

Maybe you know him from Ebert & Roeper at the Movies.  Maybe you're old enough to remember Siskel and Ebert.  Maybe you first found him as a writer before he found the television screen.  Regardless, at some point you were exposed to the quick wit and critical wisdom of 1964 University of Illinois graduate Roger Ebert.  

When he and Gene Siskel started their movie review show on Chicago Public Television in 1975, it quickly became a hit.  Why?  Because Siskel and Ebert had the innate ability to see movies as fans and ticket-buyers did.  Yes, the art mattered.  But Ebert was the first to really bring home the point that being pretentious didn't equal being good and that being common didn't equal mundane.  His reviews, often dry and sarcastic, gave voice to the audience.  He called a good movie good.  He called a bad movie bad.

Why should we care?  What are you reading right now?  Roger Ebert wrote like a blogger thirty years before bloggers existed.

Thyroid Cancer and complications (including the removal of part of his jaw) cost Ebert his physical voice. They ended his run on television.  They have not cost him his mastery of words, about films or other matters.  Anyone who writes should read these three critical essays - one about an actor/movie, one about a writer, and one about a television personality.   There are few knives that can carve as well as his pen.  His writings for the Chicago Sun-Times are still treasures.