Illinitalk: Bowl Hopes Busted?

Monday, November 10, 2008

Bowl Hopes Busted?

What is there to say? Western Michigan played a great game. The Illini -- not so much. It's hard to watch a team consistently (every-other week) not play to their potential, and with the loss to the Broncos, hope for a notable Bowl game is shriveling. Yes, wins over Ohio State and Northwestern would give the Illini 7 wins in a conference that has beat up on each other all fall, but one thing at a time.

Reasons to cheer (yes, there were a few):

Benn is a playmaker -- and he's so much fun to watch.
Despite sub-par play, the Illini still had a chance to tie it up at the end of the 4th quarter -- they were still in it.
Jeff Cumberland's YACs, carrying a (much smaller) defender on his back.
Defensive pressure on the QB. Hiller made plays, but the Illini D made him work hard several times.
As hard as it is to admit in some cases, the refs did a good job making the right calls.

Reasons to cringe:

The O-line really struggled to protect Juice. I give credit to the Broncos defense for penetration, but there's a reason the O-line is critical. They need to give the QB time to make a play, or create space for the ball carrier.
Penalties. Holding on Hicks was the most painful, erasing a pick-6, but there were plenty of others...
Turnovers. Again, credit to Western Michigan for taking advantage of them, but the Illini didn't take care of the ball the way they needed to.
Dropped passes. No question the WRs have improved greatly over last season as a group, but watching passes slip through or bounce off their hands is painful.
Special teams has been a relatively weak area all season, and we had a couple more examples, including the missed FG, reasonably long kickoff returns from the Broncos, the punt that almost could have been downed inside the 10 but went into the endzone, the punt that pinned the Illini at the 1...lots of room for improvement here.

The Illini once again didn't seem to have the fire or energy to play, but hopefully they will find it this week. Ohio State will be a tough game, even though it's at home. I'm confident that the defending national runners-up remember how they got their single regular-season loss. But a strong performance and a W would get the Illini to 6 wins -- and maybe the opportunity to head back to Detroit after Christmas...or maybe not.

Labels: Illini football

# posted by Alma Mater : 9:11 PM

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Monday, November 10, 2008

Bowl Hopes Busted?

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