Preview: Illinois
Coming off the most damning loss in years, the Penn State football team is already at a crossroads. Subplots abound as the Lions head to Champaign, Illinois to face the Illini. Will the offense actually try something? Will the "Joea Constrictor" release his death grip on the playbook? Will Austin Scott play and fumble again? Will Anthony Morelli take the bull by the horns or begin to fade into oblivion? Will Chris Bell sniff a pass? Is the team morale reparable? The list of questions is seemingly endless.
On the defensive side there are fewer questions. Clearly going into Illinois the key will be to stop the Illini ground game. And that includes both the TB and QB. Containment of QB Juice Williams will be important as will slowing TB Rashard Mendenhall. If the PSU defense can control the running game again the Lions should end up victorious. But alas, the same old bugaboo still exists. That being the PSU offense.
Illinois will be fired up and ready for this game. The Big 10's leading tackler, LB J Lehman will ensure than no Illini players forget the 63-10 pasting that PSU laid on them 2 years ago. The bad taste of that loss still remains in the mouths of many of Ron Zook's players. This Illinois team is young, talented, and hungry to prove themselves to the college football world. What they lack in experience they make up for in enthusiasm and swagger. They really want it, and PSU is a means to that end. The Illinois players believe that they are a bowl team and that beating an "established power" like Penn State will be a huge step in getting there.
QB:
Sophomore Juice Williams is the starting QB for the Fighting Illini. Williams is a dual threat QB very much in the Michael Robinson mode. Williams plays a lot like the former Nittany Lion legend. He is big, strong, and has a big
arm. He also suffers from the accuracy issues that plagued MRob throughout his PSU career. Like MRob, especially early in his career, Williams wants to run first, pass later.
For the year Williams is 44-79 for 377 yards 3 TDs and 3 INTs. On the ground Juice has 38 carries for 149 yards and 2 TDs.
Illinois has a young but capable backup in freshman Eddie McGee. McGee stepped in for an injured Williams in the season opening loss to Missouri and rallied his troops and almost pulled off a miraculous comeback. For the season McGee is 19 of 34 for 290 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs.
TB:
5'11 210 lb junior Rashard Mendenhall is Illinois starting TB and leading rusher. Mendenhall isn't in the class of Mike Hart, but is a damn good TB in his own right. For the year to this point he has 77 carries for 536 yards and 7 TDs. Mendenhall is tough and strong. He doesn't have breakaway speed (many will recall Justin King running him down from behind on a 80 yard run in last years Illinois game) but is quick to hit the hole. Stopping Mendenhall will be a big key for the PSU defense.
Mendenhall gets the vast majority of carries for the Illini, but when they do go to the bench the leading reserve TBs are freshman Troy Pollard (23 carries for 148 yards and no TDs) and sophomore Daniel Dufrene (20 carries for 113 yards and 1 TD).
WR:
The Illinois WR corps is led by 6'2 210 lb freshman Arrelious Benn. The highly recruited Benn is a powerful looking young WR and leads the team with 18 catches for 202 yards. Benn has yet to hit paydirt this season.
The Fighting Illini spread the ball around as a number of players have caught passes as the season has opened. Included amongst those players are Mendenhall (10 catches for 113 yards and a TD), freshman Brian Gamble (7 catches for 68 yards), veteran Kyle Hudson (7 catches for 89 yards and a TD), Will Judson (6 catches for 30 yards), and Jacob Willis (6 catches for 77 yards).
TE:
The Fighting Illini have not used their TE much this year to this point, but their starter is sophomore Jeff Cumberland (6'5 240 lbs). Cumberland only has 1 catch for 22 yards thus far this season but those stats are not indicative of his talent level. Cumberland can run and provides a great target downfield as a TE. PSU will have to account for him all over the field as he can potentially be a force.
The backup TE is 6'5 255 lb sophomore Michael Hoomanawanui. He has 2 catches for 29 yards and a TD this season, but is primarily used as a blocker in the Illinois offense.
OL:
Illinois returns a great deal of experience along the offensive front as 4 returning letter winners are starters. The starters at the tackle spots are junior Xavier Fulton (6'5 280) and senior Akim Millington (6'6 310). At the guard spots are senior Martin O'Donnell (6'5 300) and sophomore Joe Asamoah (6'5 265). The starting center is 6'5 300 lb junior Ryan McDonald.
Offensive Keys:
As mentioned earlier the biggest key to this game is controlling Rashard Mendenhall, Juice Williams, and the Illini running game. Illinois should not be able to hurt PSU passing the ball as long as the defense maintains its intensity as the offense works through its well documented struggles.
Maintaining discipline and containment on the athletic Williams will be important for the PSU defensive line. Williams moves exceptionally well in the pocket and wants to run at the first opportunity. He will be a good test for the Penn State front seven. If Williams is allowed to break contain and runs free it will be a long day for the Lions.
Defense:
After a not so careful discussion, Laschout.com has come to the conclusion that it is pointless to preview LB J Lehman and the rest of the Illinois defense. Any division one defense worth it's salt can handle the archaic monstrosity that is the current Penn State offense. Based on the pathetic state of affairs on the offensive side of the ball at PSU there is no need to discuss the strengths or weaknesses of the Illinois defense or any other defense for that matter and until the Penn State offensive problems are corrected nothing that opposing defenses do means a damn thing.
Prediction:
Call us crazy (and we may well be) but with Penn State's edge in experience and overall talent Penn State wins 19-17. But it certainly wouldn't surprise us to see the score reversed.
On the defensive side there are fewer questions. Clearly going into Illinois the key will be to stop the Illini ground game. And that includes both the TB and QB. Containment of QB Juice Williams will be important as will slowing TB Rashard Mendenhall. If the PSU defense can control the running game again the Lions should end up victorious. But alas, the same old bugaboo still exists. That being the PSU offense.
Illinois will be fired up and ready for this game. The Big 10's leading tackler, LB J Lehman will ensure than no Illini players forget the 63-10 pasting that PSU laid on them 2 years ago. The bad taste of that loss still remains in the mouths of many of Ron Zook's players. This Illinois team is young, talented, and hungry to prove themselves to the college football world. What they lack in experience they make up for in enthusiasm and swagger. They really want it, and PSU is a means to that end. The Illinois players believe that they are a bowl team and that beating an "established power" like Penn State will be a huge step in getting there.
QB:
Sophomore Juice Williams is the starting QB for the Fighting Illini. Williams is a dual threat QB very much in the Michael Robinson mode. Williams plays a lot like the former Nittany Lion legend. He is big, strong, and has a big
arm. He also suffers from the accuracy issues that plagued MRob throughout his PSU career. Like MRob, especially early in his career, Williams wants to run first, pass later.
For the year Williams is 44-79 for 377 yards 3 TDs and 3 INTs. On the ground Juice has 38 carries for 149 yards and 2 TDs.
Illinois has a young but capable backup in freshman Eddie McGee. McGee stepped in for an injured Williams in the season opening loss to Missouri and rallied his troops and almost pulled off a miraculous comeback. For the season McGee is 19 of 34 for 290 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs.
TB:
5'11 210 lb junior Rashard Mendenhall is Illinois starting TB and leading rusher. Mendenhall isn't in the class of Mike Hart, but is a damn good TB in his own right. For the year to this point he has 77 carries for 536 yards and 7 TDs. Mendenhall is tough and strong. He doesn't have breakaway speed (many will recall Justin King running him down from behind on a 80 yard run in last years Illinois game) but is quick to hit the hole. Stopping Mendenhall will be a big key for the PSU defense.
Mendenhall gets the vast majority of carries for the Illini, but when they do go to the bench the leading reserve TBs are freshman Troy Pollard (23 carries for 148 yards and no TDs) and sophomore Daniel Dufrene (20 carries for 113 yards and 1 TD).
WR:
The Illinois WR corps is led by 6'2 210 lb freshman Arrelious Benn. The highly recruited Benn is a powerful looking young WR and leads the team with 18 catches for 202 yards. Benn has yet to hit paydirt this season.
The Fighting Illini spread the ball around as a number of players have caught passes as the season has opened. Included amongst those players are Mendenhall (10 catches for 113 yards and a TD), freshman Brian Gamble (7 catches for 68 yards), veteran Kyle Hudson (7 catches for 89 yards and a TD), Will Judson (6 catches for 30 yards), and Jacob Willis (6 catches for 77 yards).
TE:
The Fighting Illini have not used their TE much this year to this point, but their starter is sophomore Jeff Cumberland (6'5 240 lbs). Cumberland only has 1 catch for 22 yards thus far this season but those stats are not indicative of his talent level. Cumberland can run and provides a great target downfield as a TE. PSU will have to account for him all over the field as he can potentially be a force.
The backup TE is 6'5 255 lb sophomore Michael Hoomanawanui. He has 2 catches for 29 yards and a TD this season, but is primarily used as a blocker in the Illinois offense.
OL:
Illinois returns a great deal of experience along the offensive front as 4 returning letter winners are starters. The starters at the tackle spots are junior Xavier Fulton (6'5 280) and senior Akim Millington (6'6 310). At the guard spots are senior Martin O'Donnell (6'5 300) and sophomore Joe Asamoah (6'5 265). The starting center is 6'5 300 lb junior Ryan McDonald.
Offensive Keys:
As mentioned earlier the biggest key to this game is controlling Rashard Mendenhall, Juice Williams, and the Illini running game. Illinois should not be able to hurt PSU passing the ball as long as the defense maintains its intensity as the offense works through its well documented struggles.
Maintaining discipline and containment on the athletic Williams will be important for the PSU defensive line. Williams moves exceptionally well in the pocket and wants to run at the first opportunity. He will be a good test for the Penn State front seven. If Williams is allowed to break contain and runs free it will be a long day for the Lions.
Defense:
After a not so careful discussion, Laschout.com has come to the conclusion that it is pointless to preview LB J Lehman and the rest of the Illinois defense. Any division one defense worth it's salt can handle the archaic monstrosity that is the current Penn State offense. Based on the pathetic state of affairs on the offensive side of the ball at PSU there is no need to discuss the strengths or weaknesses of the Illinois defense or any other defense for that matter and until the Penn State offensive problems are corrected nothing that opposing defenses do means a damn thing.
Prediction:
Call us crazy (and we may well be) but with Penn State's edge in experience and overall talent Penn State wins 19-17. But it certainly wouldn't surprise us to see the score reversed.
You guys are crazy. The PSU football program is in dissarray.
Illinois 30
PSU 10
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I can't wait to watch our dynamic and explosive offense tear through this Ill D. It will much like last year I am sure,we will move up and down the field against them like they are a JV team.
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I think this season could very well boil down to this game right here. If our team shows any signs of life, the season is not completely lost. But if we come out like lost, scared, and confused much like last week, this season is worthless. I have a bad feeling that the latter will happen, but I'm going to hope for the better.
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Another game on the road against a quality opponent, we will most likely be watching a loss this Saturday.
Since Joe is afraid to make changes, like get a real QB coach.....
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Way too much energy wasted trying to dissect the Illini O.
Its a basic option offense that doesn't have a down the field passing attack.
Nothing more needs to be said.
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I am not sure why everyone always labels Illinois a young team. They have upgraded recruiting but so have other programs(PSU's young talent is better than its older talent too).
They actually have twice as many Sr's in the starting lineup as PSU. They have a veteran OL and at least 4-5 Sr's on defense.
That being said, I am not sure Juice Williams is a disciplined and accurate enough passer to hurt the defense. If the offense can make just 2-3 plays(too much to ask?) solid defense and special teams should be enough to get out with an ugly win.
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My biggest hope is that PSU defense has been able to handle mobile QB's decently the last few years, as opposed to the late 90's/early 2000 when they would give up 3rd and long scrambles all day long. You need good LB's and a quick Dline to handle a scrambling QB and the PSU defense has that.
I see PSU losing this game in only 2 ways.
1. Illinois comes out and gets a few lucky 'big' plays on offense and gets up by 10+ points.
2. The PSU offense turns the ball over 2 or 3 times in the first half leading to easy scores that just completely demoralizes this team.
As bad as the gameday coaching has been by JoePa, Zook is not known for his gameday coaching brilliance either.
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See first quarter of last week. If anything resembling that disastor takes place tomorrow, we are certainly staring another huge road loss in the face.
I pray that this team bounces back, I cannot handle another 2003-2004 esque season
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The real concern I have is whether the offense (Morelli particularly) starts to press to make big plays. I don't think that Morelli is any good. The best thing he can do is avoid fumbles and not force bad throws. The best game we've seen him play was last year's Outback bowl where he was 14-25 for 197 yds. He avoided costly mistakes so we all said "Look how well Morelli played". The problem is, he has this chip on his shoulder and his attitude seems to indicate that he thinks he is better than he is. Does he come out trying to prove everybody wrong and lose this game making bonehead throws and holding onto the ball too long waiting for someone to get open (or he just misses the wide open guy b/c he can't go three deep in his progressions)?
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Actually, Stern, I think it is important what kind of defense Illinois puts on the field. We all knew that Michigan couldn't defend the spread...except for Joe. If Illinois can't defend run-run-pass then they could be in trouble.
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42,
Illinois has a very weak 2ndery. They like to attack with their LBs and have done a fairly decent job of getting after QBs and stopping the run. If we use the same game plan against Illinois that we used against scUM, we could be in for a very gut-wrenching day.
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To call Paterno "Joea Constrictor" is classless. Show some respect to the man. Posting this sort of stuff just gives negative recruiting material to people against Penn State. Believe me it is happening right now. This site is an embarassment.
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HS,
I actually burst out laughing...pretty funny.
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Lighten up Francis. It was a very funny play on words. Too bad Joe didn't have the killer instinct that the boa posesses.
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Jay, er I mean SC, nothing can be worse for recruiting than watching our stagnant offense take the field. If you think this site is doing more damage than recruits watching that Michigan game you're sorely mistaken. If I'm a coach going after a recruit and need a negative recruiting tool, all I need to do is pop in a tape of that Michigan game.
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The embarassment is on the field, the sideline and in the press box every time the O takes the field. That generates much more "negative recruiting material" than some silly blog ever will.
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Simply hilarous and warranted. The Kool Aid Klan need to loosen up. It is time ole Joe steps aside.
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"Posting this sort of stuff just gives negative recruiting material to people against Penn State." Really........And what does 9 loses in a row to Michigan do to "help" recruiting? Joe is Michigan's b1tch. Nothing more.
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SC - You might as well be a PITT fan the way you accept losing. You better just stick to playing tidily winks and stay off the site.
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I for one would like to thank the PSU offensive coaches for finding time in my busy schedule for yard work. Until last week every fall Saturday was booked. I even arranged for several friends with DirectTV to expect me to be at their home come gametime for 3.5 hours.
My wife would also like to say a few words " I want to thank the coaches for the opportunity to have my husband back so early in the season. While me and my son were locked in a back room scared for our lives, I feared my husband would pass on from an aneurysm. With no interest in subjecting himself to the anemic PSU offense, not only do I have a productive husband for an extra 3.5 hours on a Saturday, our 3 yr old son will have to turn to Deadwood episodes OnDemand to brush up on his vocabulary.
Thank you"
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Agreed..........Better things to do than watch Paterno "bend over and take it" each game vs Michigan.
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There is a bright side. Unlike basketball, PSU football team only faces Michigan once per season.
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Can't say I'm sorry to see you two go.
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wow, great fan! after 1 loss, he won't watch psu...just wow!
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