For the Fans

Camp Rantoul starts today!

Posted by: Tom Young

Monday, August 10, 2009 7:42 AM

It took forever, but it finally hit 90+ degrees here in Champaign.  It's been a pretty mild summer, and because of that, it doesn't really feel like summer yet.  Because of this weather, football has snuck up on me a lot quicker than usual.  Believe it or not, Camp Rantoul gets underway TODAY!  For all of you craving yourself some football, we aren't that far off.  Zook and company will try to get themselves ready for Missouri on September 5th.

The question I'm asking right now is which team are we going to see, the 2007 Rose Bowl team or the 2008 5-7 team?  Was last year a disappointment, or was 2007 a fluke?  I like to think that this team looks pretty good, but there are some issues that could be exposed unless they’re attended to and fixed. 

Here are some things I would like to see the Illini work on in camp before the Mizzou matchup.

Focus on the running game more - when you have a guy like Rashard Mendenhall, it's pretty easy to run 70% of the time.  Last year, I felt the running game was abandoned a little early at times, and it didn't allow Illini to get in a rhythm.   I think guys like Ford, LeShoure and Dufrene will be fine if given ample chances to carry the ball, especially with the system we use.  Juice can be dangerous in the spread, and he can be more dangerous if he is using his legs.  Something tells me Juice didn’t get recognized by the Illini during his high school play because of his pocket passing ability.  It was his ability to create plays on the move.  I believe this year we will let him run a bit more.  Look at my next point to see why I think that.

Let Mike Schultz do his thing – There is a reason why TCU has been a successful offense and team that last few years.  It’s because Schultz knows what he’s doing.  Now that he’s at Illinois, I feel the Illini have a chance to not just have a good offensive season, but a record-setting one.  Schultz had TCU running all over the Mountain West Conference, and with a QB like Juice to work will, and a number of running backs that showed last year that they are capable of getting the job done (when given the chance), I be he’s licking his chops right now.  Last year the Horned Frogs had five different runners with 300 plus yards, including the quarterback, and they averaged 220 ypg on the ground, ranking 12^th in the nation.  Futhermore, I can see this running game being effective because of our talented receiving core.  I bet teams are going to watch tons and tons of tape on Benn, Jenkins, Fayson (does he have much tape?), and Jenkins, and they might to an extent overlook the running backs.  You get your opponent to worry about the run, and then you let Juice burn them with the deep ball.  Hopefully, we won’t see a game where Juice passes 40 times. 

Be aggressive on defense – As much as the offense frustrated me last year, this is what cost us games.  Nothing annoyed me more than watching opposing QB’s inching up the field on us because we weren’t covering anyone.  Sure, our DB’s might be “better” at being off the receiver, but you got to at some point challenge the other teams wide outs.  You can’t just give up on bump coverage, you still got to do it or you’ll get picked apart (Tim Hiller of Western Michigan comes to mind).  MIX IT UP A BIT!  From a defense that was mediocre at best, we lost our leading tackler (Miller), we lost our best coverage guy (Davis), and we lost our three sack leaders (Walker, Miller, and Lindquist).  There could potentially be a lot of weak points on a defense that already was weak.  This is where the scheme comes into play.  Sure you need the athletes to get things done, and that is shown every year, but it doesn’t matter if your formations and game plan are messed up.  Let’s hit somebody, and hit them before they get ten yards down the field.

There are some other things that I am mildly worried about, like the field position game and special teams, but I think these things will be improved.   I’m excited for our field goal unit, with sophomore Matt Ellar having a full year under his belt.  He got better at the year went along, and we got him for three more years, unless he leaves early (you never know).

I will be blogging a bit more frequently since the season is almost here, so keep in touch!  What do you guys want to see out of the Illini this year?  What are you worried or not worried about?  It’s still taking me some time to get into the football mood since I’m more of a baseball guy (Cub fan), but I know I will be ready when September 5^th comes around. 

I-L-L…

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