Illini Primed To Punish Tigers?
The Illini are bringing a loaded team into the Edward Jones Dome this afternoon. The Tigers will counter with a retooled defense.
Can Mizzou shore up its play on that side of the ball? The better teams on the ‘08 schedule strafed the Tigers “D” again and again.
Last year’s team could not adjust to what opponents did to it. The secondary lapsed into a state of confusion.
Has all that been fixed? If it hasn’t, we’ll find out in a hurry. Here is how Rivals.com sums up the game:
“When these teams met last season, it was one of the biggest opening-week games. This season, no one really is mentioning it. But this game has a lot of intrigue. For Mizzou, the question is whether the Tigers can keep it going without QB Chase Daniel, WR Jeremy Maclin, et. al. For the Illini, the question is whether new offensive coordinator Mike Schultz (who was hired away from TCU) can rev up the rushing attack and take some pressure off QB Juice Williams.”
Rivals.com has Illinois winning 35-30.
ESPN.com blogger Adam Rittenberg has this breakdown:
“The Illinois-Missouri matchup usually oozes offense, and this year will be no exception. But Juice Williams gets the final say against Sean Weatherspoon and the Tigers, as he finds four different receivers for touchdowns. Sophomore running backs Jason Ford and Mikel LeShoure both show improvement as a dynamic Illini offense secures a big win in the Edward Jones Dome.”
He had Illinois winning 44-38.
Here is a survey of what others are writing about this game:
- Beating Missouri could propel the Illini on to much bigger things.
- College Football News predicts a lopsided Illinois victory.
- Blaine Gabbert has a little Tim Tebow in him. He is a moose.
- But don’t underestimate his as a passer.
- Among the Illini’s many strengths is running back depth.
- Mizzou has a history of producing big individual performances in this game.
- Here is a primer on the Illini for 2009.
- This is one of the better non-conference games on the Big 12 schedule this year.
- Logistics, not ill feelings, nixed the pre-game handshake.
