Sept. 18, 2008

The Illini reached the bye week in mid-September with a 2-1 record, and that was a good time for Ron Zook's team to take a look in the mirror and make adjustments without the pressure of trying to prepare for the next game.

Fans are already making assessments through three games, and like everyone else, I have some thoughts to share on the early part of this 2008 season.

First...the Illini won't face a better offensive team than they faced in Missouri in St.Louis at the end of August. Chase Daniel..Jeremy Maclin and the Tigers can score 30 points without trying and they put up 69 points on the board in one game in early September. Get used to see them putting up those kinds of numbers all year.

Ron Zook has talked about how his defense needed to improve if the Illini want to contend for a Big Ten title. They learned a few things about themselves by playing the high-powered Tigers early. One is that they will miss the experience of tackle Sirod Williams. Josh Brent and Corey Liuget already are making an impact in the middle of the D-line, but as Ron Zook likes to say, "you can't buy experience," and Sirod will be missed. The Tigers also posed a good test to see who should play more at the cornerback and safety spots.

Second....Brit Miller is off to a good start on the stat sheet but even Brit has admitted that he can play better. In fact, Brit told me after a recent game that when J Leman was in town recently, he got some good advice from the former Illini star on how to better position himself at middle linebacker. Miller took that advice and more and had a great effort against Louisiana-Lafayette, including that "swiping" of the football from the Cajun quarterback that resulted in a touchdown for the Decatur product.

Third....Juice Williams is living up to pre-season expectations. He threw for five touchdowns and the third highest passing total in Illinois history against Missouri, and followed that up with the single game rushing record for a quarterback in the win over Eastern Illinois. While his performance against the Rajin Cajuns wasn't his most impressive, you know those days will be few and far between for Juice. The "scary good" thing is that Juice is only going to get even better over the next year-and-a-half.

Fourth...Daniel Dufrene has emerged as a serious threat in the backfield. Dufrene already has games rushing of 99 yards and 126 yards and has shown an ability to run hard through the line of scrimmage. Champaign freshman Mikel LeShoure has also shown some ability early and Jason Ford is "learning the ropes" as he goes along. Troy Pollard has great vision and I have always loved the way he runs the football. The Illini just need him to stay healthy.

Finally, the kicking game seems to be settled down from previous years at both the placekicking and punting positions. Anthony Santella has carried over his performance from the Rose Bowl into this season and Matt Eller won a four-way battle for the kicking job in August and hit field goals from 42 and 51 yards in September. Coverage on kickoffs on special teams is one area that Ron Zook wants improvement on as Big Ten play starts.

Just a quick note of thanks to Illini volleyball and women's basketball voice Dave Loane for helping us out on the Illini Sports Network for the first two home football games. Steve Kelly's mother passed away the morning of the Eastern Illinois game and Dave jumped on board and filled in for Steve very nicely on short notice for that game and the Louisiana game. Steve is back with us now and our thoughts and prayers are with his family after their recent loss.