Representing: Illinois

So with the past two teams not having bloggers, we put the Representing off. Now that Big Ten is in play, we will go back to having it every week. This week the blogger from Hail To The Orange kind enough to pick his brain about the upcoming game, and the rest of his thoughts on Illinois.


1. Right now, how do you feel about where the Illini are as a team?

I actually feel pleased, even though they are at this point in the season where I predicted them to be win wise, they have demonstrated improvement from week to week that we haven't seen here in Champaign for a few years now. The offensive line has held together much better after a really bad opening week, and the defense while not exactly lock down has improved in its coverage and tackling.



2. With Juice gone, Who's the key guy, the player that they have to build around to win games?
Mikel Leshoure, who has gone over 100 yards in four straight games now is the centerpiece of the offense. He has explosiveness in the open field that we haven't had since Rashard Mendenhall and he is finally getting the ball 20 plus times per game. If we can get him going we will keep the game at least closer than maybe many expected.

3. What has to happen for Ohio State to beat Illinois, and vice versa?

The defense to vaaaastly improve their pass coverage. The weakness of the team is the secondary which is plagued by injury and inexperience. Tressel would be wise to go deep and often to challenge those players.

4. Do you think the Illibuck matters to fans anymore?
If for no other reason than it means we have likely beaten a highly ranked opponent it does. Besides with the new Land of Lincoln trophy and the somewhat lame Purdue Cannon, this is the best trophy we have right now, and it is by far one of the cooler looking ones anyway.

5. How will Illinois finish the season? (W/L, Bowl game(?))
I had this team at 6-6 at the beginning of the year, and that is where I see them staying, it should be enough to get them to a bowl game and it will be more than enough to keep Zook around for another year. If the Illini can come back to play Purdue and Indiana well after going against OSU PSU and MSU in consecutive weeks, there are enough wins left on this schedule to make a bowl.

Go here for the last 5 Q&A's