Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Speed
Great observations from the game, Alma Mater. I'll look forward to hearing more about Pasadena when you get back to Illinois.
One more thing to add to my "Eight for '08" thoughts below and it has to do with speed.
I remember watching us lose to LSU in the Sugar Bowl a couple years ago and thinking, "My gosh they are crushing us in the speed department. We don't even belong on the same field."
Well, as the national media piles on this morning about how bad we got crushed (ala their love affair with USC and Pete Carroll) it's important to note that some of our freshmen-especially on defense-were able to keep up with USC's speed.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not taking anything away from USC because they could be the best team in the country right now. But I did see some serious speed from some of our guys last night.
The one play I remember the best is the broken lateral that USC's Joe McKnight turned into a big gainer. Everyone in America-especially Musberger-thought he was going to take it to the house.
Yet out of nowhere Vontae Davis comes in from behind and drags him down. See photo here.
I think Martez Wilson also had some pretty good tackles that he used his speed to make.
Again, not taking anything away from USC but it is encouraging that Zook is building a team that's got some guys who can run with the best. If his recruiting continues as it has and he keeps bringing in this caliber of talent the future will be looking very bright in a few years.
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One more thing to add to my "Eight for '08" thoughts below and it has to do with speed.
I remember watching us lose to LSU in the Sugar Bowl a couple years ago and thinking, "My gosh they are crushing us in the speed department. We don't even belong on the same field."
Well, as the national media piles on this morning about how bad we got crushed (ala their love affair with USC and Pete Carroll) it's important to note that some of our freshmen-especially on defense-were able to keep up with USC's speed.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not taking anything away from USC because they could be the best team in the country right now. But I did see some serious speed from some of our guys last night.
The one play I remember the best is the broken lateral that USC's Joe McKnight turned into a big gainer. Everyone in America-especially Musberger-thought he was going to take it to the house.
Yet out of nowhere Vontae Davis comes in from behind and drags him down. See photo here.
I think Martez Wilson also had some pretty good tackles that he used his speed to make.
Again, not taking anything away from USC but it is encouraging that Zook is building a team that's got some guys who can run with the best. If his recruiting continues as it has and he keeps bringing in this caliber of talent the future will be looking very bright in a few years.
Labels: Brent Musburger, Joe McKnight, Martez Wilson, Pete Carroll, Ron Zook, Vontae Davis
# posted by Chief : 6:26 AM
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Another mistake...seriously...and another
Anyone as frustrated as I was after watching us give this game to Michigan? Mike Hart is on the sideline and our defense sends Henne and Manningham to the locker room and we still can't capitalize.
Obviously the penalties and silly mistakes killed us. We gave them the game.
I can't help but wonder if it's because we're such a young team and our guys were riding on so much adrenaline. Still, it's no excuse for most of the mistakes...especially Mitchell. Can we just go ahead and give the opposing team a personal foul penalty on him to start the game and get it out of the way? Invariably he either gets too hyped up or loses his cool or both and shoves someone after the play is over or comes flying in out of no where for a late hit. Drives me nuts. The refs have him pegged.
We don't rough the punter (which even though I understand the rule I see no way you can avoid touching the guy when you're coming in for a block) and drop that punt return and we win that game. Frustrating!
In addition, I do not see the reason why Juice was taken out. He was completing passes and seemed to be in a good rhythm.
In any case, there is still a lot to look forward to as this team matures. The stadium sounded loud on TV. Musburger and Herbstreit called a great game and gave Illinois a lot of props.
Finally, the interview with Jeff Jordan was GOLD.
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Obviously the penalties and silly mistakes killed us. We gave them the game.
I can't help but wonder if it's because we're such a young team and our guys were riding on so much adrenaline. Still, it's no excuse for most of the mistakes...especially Mitchell. Can we just go ahead and give the opposing team a personal foul penalty on him to start the game and get it out of the way? Invariably he either gets too hyped up or loses his cool or both and shoves someone after the play is over or comes flying in out of no where for a late hit. Drives me nuts. The refs have him pegged.
We don't rough the punter (which even though I understand the rule I see no way you can avoid touching the guy when you're coming in for a block) and drop that punt return and we win that game. Frustrating!
In addition, I do not see the reason why Juice was taken out. He was completing passes and seemed to be in a good rhythm.
In any case, there is still a lot to look forward to as this team matures. The stadium sounded loud on TV. Musburger and Herbstreit called a great game and gave Illinois a lot of props.
Finally, the interview with Jeff Jordan was GOLD.
Labels: Brent Musburger, Chad Henne, Juice Williams, Kevin Mitchell, Kirk Herbstreit, Mario Manningham, Mike Hart, Ron Zook
# posted by Chief : 10:38 PM
