Illinitalk

Watching the Illini victory over Wisconsin, the word that most often came to mind was "beautiful." And now that I've come down (slightly) from the orange euphoria that accompanied our first win over a top-5 team in decades, let me explain.

• A (Heisman-caliber?) running game. Rashard Mendenhall did it all: rushing, receiving, options, 3 TDs, and he was impressive. And so was the O-line that opened holes and blocked the edge so he could get around. Oh, and Mendenhall earned his second ESPN College Game Day helmet sticker. Beautiful.
• Benn. He doesn't go down when the first guy hits him (unless he wants to -- because of pain). Sometimes he doesn't go when the second, third or fourth guys do, either. After one reception, he eluded several tackles for a couple more yards before finally dancing out of bounds. Another long reception showed pure determination, avoiding a potential interception. Beautiful.
• QB rushing. Juice handed off and threw, and then, when least expected by the Badger defense, he took off for key rushing gains. And when he hyper-extended his knee, Eddie McGee followed Juice's footsteps and ran for a TD. Beautiful.
• Rock-solid, reliable Jason Reda. Beautiful.
• Rush defense. J Leman and company kept P.J. Hill from gaining momentum until well into the second half. Hill struggled to get more than 4 yards a carry during the first half, and was often wrapped up at the line of scrimmage. Beautiful.
• I will say that pass defense could improve, which is true, but I can't forget several hard hits to would-be receivers that caused incomplete passes, two interceptions (and one almost-interception that freakishly ended up landing on Beckum's stomach), Swann leaving the game and times when Donovan was hit as he threw. Beautiful.
• Freshman Martez Wilson running down Donovan in the open field for a loss of yards. Beautiful.
• The surprising stat of the day. Since trailing big and losing to (now #11) Missouri in the final seconds of our first game, Illinois has trailed opponents by a total of 13 seconds. That's how long it takes Benn to run 90 yards through the heart of the Penn State kick coverage unit. Beautiful.

We have come a long way under Zook. There are many areas for improvement (punting, pass completions, turnovers -- we were lucky this week that potential fumbles slipped out of bounds), but looking at the Big Ten and our schedule, we are in good shape. Provided Zook's boys stay healthy and hungry for success, they can easily blow away my expectations for a .500 season. In fact, I'm already thinking about potential destinations for a post-Christmas vacation...

Labels: Illini football