Take away the headset, now, does this man appear to be in charge of any sideline situation??
Ok, so if you're Illinois life in the Big Ten is all about survival. Yep, no chance of winning any conference games for the second straight year, so simply readjust your outlook and keep telling yourself "This too shall pass." Speaking of passing Tim Brasic, UI's senior QB, returns for another go around and was actually one of the few bright spots in the Illini offense last season. The boy kept his head up in the midst of a nine game losing streak to close out the season, completed more than 60% of his passes and rushed for over 400 yards. The bad news is that he tossed 11 picks to match his 11 touchdowns and that he had no running game period. Things in Champaign were so bad that UW stud Brian Calhoun nearly outgained the Orange's rushing output on his own-dude came up 15 yards short of surpassing Ron Zook's rushing juggernaut.
Then of course there is the matter of the man, the legend, Ron Zook. Great recruiter and a great "diplomat" in terms of campus "crises" involving the football team and fraternities; but don't count on getting to Pasadena (or any other BCS game) with him telling you what to do. With Zook and Illinois it's a great situation in that the fan base of UI is counting down the days 'til basketball season and Zook is more than happy to oblige in passing the time by fielding a clown car of a football unit. The future for the Illini looks slightly brighter in (already) pro potential tailback Rashard Mendenhall, as a frosh he got very little attention or play time but he'll be blowing up against the NCS opponents and startling the bejesus out of unprepared/untested Big Ten linebacking corps. and D-lines. -I'm looking at you Ohio State & Penn State.
Think of Mendenhall as a larger and more aggresive Tyrell Sutton-for now-I'm hedging my bets with U of Illinois but Mendenhall looked good in the few seconds I saw him last year...
I'm sure there's something I could add about their defense and its existence but I've got some scotch to drink.
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