Illinitalk

The Illini football season kicks off against the Missouri Tigers Saturday afternoon (on ESPN). And for the first time in 5 years of this 6-year series, the Illini are favored!

Missouri lost a lot of players from last year's team, leaving them with their share of question marks. Actually, there are plenty of unknowns on both sidelines, according to the coaches. How will Mizzou's new QB perform? Will Martez Wilson provide the defensive leadership we've come to expect from the middle linebacker? Can Juice limit turnovers? Does anybody care about Sean Weatherspoon's tweets?

Here are a few things to watch for this weekend:

• Jarred Fayson, the WR transfer from Florida, who will return to the field after sitting out as required last season
• The flow of the Illini offense under new offensive coordinator Mike Schultz and senior QB Juice Williams, who have been working together to prepare for the season
• How QB Blaine Gabbert handles the pressure to fill Chase Daniel's shoes
• What will defensive tackle Josh Brent do with his new chance on the Illini team? He received a DUI while driving on a suspended lisence, and spent 30 days in jail, but earlier this week Coach Zook confirmed that Brent will be on the field, and that he accepted his punishment and is doing his best not to repeat his mistakes
• Play of a less-experienced Tiger secondary against the Illini receivers -- let's hope it's as unbalanced as last year...
• The number of references made by national commentators on the UI admissions debacle

The Illini have dropped 4 straight to the Tigers. But the Illini are poised to break that streak. Juice and company have had no problem scoring on Missouri the last 2 years. If the Illini D steps up against Gabbert's offense, they can start the season with a W.

But enough questions. Go get the Tigers...Go Illini!

Labels: Illini football, Jarred Fayson, Josh Brent, Juice Williams

• You can follow all the signing day action LIVE on the Fighting Illini Athletic Department's blog here. NOTE: Martez and Brent are in the house baby!
• Apparently some folks are really bitter about Zook's haul today. NY Times has a huge story with a couple folks insinuating that we're dirty. One of them is former MSU coach John L. Smith. You know...the guy who slapped himself after we beat them this year and then later was fired. What a bitter man. NOTE: Whoever planted this story needs to buy a clue. If we're dirty, Bruce Weber sure is a terrible cheater.
• I somewhat disagree with Alma Mater. Although injuries make is difficult to gauge where this team should really be and all programs go through down years for one reason or another, after our championship run two years ago, the basketball program should be expected to be a constant in the Top 25 and consistently challenge for the Big Ten title and make a Final Four run every three to four years or so. When the norm becomes the middle of the pack, then we are in trouble because we aren't improving. Maybe my expectations are too high. Discuss.
  

Labels: Bruce Weber, John L. Smith, Josh Brent, Martez Wilson, Ron Zook