Austin Illini Club
Austin Illini Club
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The not-so-pretty results from Ron Zook's first year as coach were the following:
Click the following Links to jump to the 2005 Austin Illini Football Recaps: The Zook Era Begins with 20-point second-half comeback victory! Zook Era Blows Up on Re-Entry to Reality, and It's Not Pretty; 61-14 loss to MSU Iowa Flop: Illinois loses third straight and second straight blowout Indiana Preview: Battle for the Cellar Looking Toward Next Season: Optimism Crushed The following recaps were written and sent contemporaneously to the Austin Illini.
The Zook Era Begins with 20-point second-half comeback victory!September 3, 2005
After starting the game right where they left off last season (disheveled, confused, and unproductive), Illinois put together an amazing 20-point second-half comeback to begin the Ron Zook Era in thrilling fashion with a 33-30 overtime win over Rutgers (a.k.a., The State University of New Jersey). Rutgers completely controlled the first half as the Illini clearly struggled to master Zook's new system. New starting quarterback Tim Brasic looked confused and frequently looked to the sideline for guidance for ten seconds or so while his team was fully set at the line. His sideline passes flew over their target, perhaps not accustomed to the curvature of the field. He threw two interceptions that were clearly his fault, and fumbled the ball while scrambling deep in our own zone, which led to a Rutgers touchdown a minute later. Fortunately, Rutgers missed three out of five first-half field goal attempts, two from within easy distances after they drove the length of the field to within our 20 yard line. Despite Brasic's obvious problems throwing the football, he delivered as advertised as an fluid option quarterback who made great decisions and great fakes in the option. Illinois' defensive line also held much better than expected. Rutgers' only offensive success came from passes and sweep runs to the outside. However, Illinois' secondary played scared, just like last year. The pass coverage consistently played five to ten yards off the receivers. Every time our secondary made a great effort and actually got to the ball in time to stifle a play, the Rutgers players would slip through the tackle or--quite literally--hurdle over our players en route to huge plays. On one play, the chubby Rutgers running back literally hurdled over a diving Illini defender in the backfield en route to a 75 yard touchdown run down the sideline. It looked like our defense thought they were playing touch football. So we looked forward to a different game after halftime. Perhaps they just needed to adjust to the new system and new players. Don't be like Florida fans; don't give up prematurely. But then Illinois sputtered coming out of the half, and Rutgers scored on a huge 83-yard touchdown sweep run to the left in which their chubby back-up running back literally hurdled over a diving Illini defender in the backfield before breaking free down the sideline. Down 20 points at 27-7, and it wasn't really that close, especially given Rutgers' missed field goals in the first half. The stadium started emptying. Half of the impressive Austin Illini turnout at Legend's left. But then the belief kicked in. Slowly, that is. (Sorry, that's belIef.)
Someone then informed the defense that they were playing tackle football. Although the offense continued to sputter a bit, the defense became more effective, playing on the ball better, finishing tackles, and remaining strong while Rutgers' players began to tire. Slowly through the third and fourth quarters, Rutgers also lost at least four, perhaps five starting defensive players to injury (often a sign of conditioning weakness). In the fourth quarter, the Illini drove down inside the 20 but sputtered on fourth and short with 11:54 left to play. Instead of panicking while still down 27-10, Zook took the field goal much to the chagrin of the Illini crowd. But doing so brought Illinois from down three scores to within two scores. That key decision would prove as decisive as Rutgers missing its three first-half field goals. Illinois stopped Rutgers, and on the following drive, Brasic hit senior Kendrick Jones on a 28-yard pass play to quickly drive deep into Rutgers' territory. Two plays later, Brasic dropped back to pass again, newly confident... with Jones in the end zone... short rainbow pass... which Rutgers intercepted. But a questionable pass-interference call just behind the interception gave the Illini the ball back. A few plays later, Brasic hit Jones for a 6-yard touchdown pass. 27-20, with eight minutes left in the game. Rutgers then started working the clock. Although they shredded Illinois' pass defense for 507 total yards, they started running the ball to kill the clock. The drive sputtered at Illinois' 25 yard line, and Chris Norwell blocked Rutgers' game-clinching, 42-yard field goal attempt: Rutgers' fourth missed field goal attempt of the game.
Rutgers tried to drive with a minute left, but the Illinois defense had tired them out. Three and out, Illinois called a timeout on a Rutgers' fourth down to freeze the clock with 35 seconds left. Brasic again led the Illini down the field, but time ran out on them, and a 52 yard field goal attempt fell short and to the left. In overtime, Rutgers drove a few yards and punched a field goal chip shot. However, on the ensuing possession, Illinois quickly responded by driving down to the goal line on a 20-yard run by E.B. Halsey. Pierre Thomas then punched the ball into the end zone on the very next play for the game-winning touchdown!
Strengths: 1) Illinois' rushing game (Brasic, Thomas, and Halsey; 2) Illinois' defensive line and run defense; and 3) senior Kendrick Jones' receiving (after Brasic stopped throwing tot he other team). Illinois has very strong skill positions on offense. Weaknesses: Brasic's composure in the pocket & Illinois' defensive secondary. With the weakness in the defensive secondary, Illinois remains highly susceptible to big plays. The statistical indication of big play susceptibility: although Illinois' offense generated more first downs than Rutgers (27 to Rutgers' 21 first down), Rutgers had 100 more passing yards and close to 100 more total yards than Illinois did. But what a great way to start the Zook Era!
Zook Era Blows Up on Re-Entry to Reality, and It's Not Pretty; 61-14 loss to MSUSeptember 24, 2005 The Ron Zook era started well with a scary but thrilling come-from behind win in overtime over Rutgers, followed by a solid victory over overmatched San Jose State. The Illini also took # 12 Cal to task, dominating the first half and leading until the fourth quarter, when Cal hit the accelerator, scored 21 fourth quarter points, and pulled away to a 35-20 victory. An understandable loss to a top-ranked team with some legitimate level of moral victory. Then Michigan State came to town and reality hit hard, 61-14. And it wasn't that close. We'd like to say that the official's complete inability to call blatant holds contributed to the loss, if only by allowing Michigan State to gain momentum in addition to breaking big play after big play. But the simple truth is that Illinois was outmatched. Illinois' weak secondary met up with one of the most potent offenses in the Big Ten this year, led by a quarterback who is fast becoming a legitimate Heisman candidate. As strong as Illinois' defensive line has been, and despite showing some grit on a successful first-quarter goal line stand from the one-yard line, Michigan State's offensive line was simply too big. Especially in pass protection, Drew Stanton enjoyed 15-20 seconds of protection on many plays, which you cannot give a great quarterback. Michigan State racked up over 540 yards of total offense in the first half alone, and coasted to 705 total yards for the game thereafter. Drew Stanton set a Michigan State school record with five touchdown passes, all to different receivers. This loss is a huge setback for the confidence and optimism of the program, but it also reminds us that the turnaround will probably take a few years, not just one summer. Moreover, the sheer magnitude and unmitigated nature of this loss might be what the team needs to start paying attention in practice to fundamental lessons on how to tackle and keeping your head in the game at all times. You can't control being outmatched physically, but you can fix tackling snafus and mental mistakes no matter how outsized you are. If you get your hands on the carrier, turn it into a tackle. If you get you hands on the ball, pull it in. Very simple fundamentals will do a great deal to bridge the gap in talent. Ron Zook expressed his frustration and anger at the post-game press conference, indicating that he will focus even more on recruiting and on changing complacent attitudes on the team. He also acknowledged being out-coached. He even apologized to all Illini fans. The up-side is that recruits can belIeve it when Zook promises them they can play as freshman. Iowa Flop: Illinois loses third in a row: 35-7October 1, 2005 Years ago, while avoiding studying at the Old World Cafe (I think it changed to "One World" after we left), a friend of mine and I founded the "Righteous Observers of the Obvious." We would amuse ourselves by noting that a tree was over there, there's a girl, the weather is nice/cold/muggy/raining, that political zealots can be abrasive, and generally make other righteous observations of the obvious. Since then, we have invoked our charter to ridicule the banal insights of purportedly-wise talking heads who seem to think nobody understands that rape, terrorism and war are bad and that friendship, charity, peace and good will are good. The point is to point out the obvious as if it is insightful, even being self-righteous in doing so. It's a fun hobby. We have many anchormen and sportscasters in our ranks. Join me in observing the following: we stink. Illinois lost to Iowa 35-7 and, once again, it wasn't that close. Actually, it could have been that close or closer if Illinois had not squandered four scoring opportunities in the first half, alone. But that just adds to why it really wasn't that close: Illinois did not muff those opportunities because of hard luck or dominant play from a top-caliber Iowa team. Our defense is bad, and our offense is even worse. The defensive secondary looked completely overmatched and intimidated on every play. The linebackers barely have a tackle among them. It often looked as if they set up for and adjust to the previous play, only to be shocked that Iowa did not run the same play twice... like Michigan State did to score one of its touchdowns last week! Brasic looked confused and kept our offensive line in their 3-point stance for 15-20 seconds (weakening their legs). That delay does not come from reading offenses or trying to draw them off sides. He spends 15 seconds just staring at the sideline, wondering what to do. Little wonder why the offensive line is receiving the brunt of criticism because they are constantly beat off the line and because their legs are weak by the time Brasic finally snaps the ball. Perhaps it stems from the no-hurry, no-huddle offense Zook has implemented, but it appears to not be working. A great deal of optimism emanated from Champaign before the season began, centering upon glowing reports of a changed attitude throughout the program. But it is apparent now that Ron Zook is not an instantaneous miracle worker and will need several painful years to turn this thing around. At least we can enjoy the college-equivalent of draft picks for losing: being able to legitimately promise recruits that they can play as freshman on our team. Normally, that ploy wouldn't work because they would still want to play for a winning team. But with a new coach who is known for his recruiting ability, it just might work. But it will definitely take some time.
Indiana Preview: Battle for the CellarOctober 7, 2005 For a third straight year, it again appears to come down to this: Illinois at Indiana, starting at 11:00 this Saturday. The burning question: who can lose the rubber-match between these two heated basketball rivals to earn the right to be called the worst football team in the Big Ten over the past three years? As you might recall, Illinois compiled an impressive unvictorious Big Ten season in 2003 and thereby earned the Big Ten (cellar) Title for the first time in decades, snatching that title from the incumbent cellar dweller, Indiana. Last year, Illinois came into the Indiana game unconceited (it RHYMES with "undefeated" ) and looked impressively awful as it forced Indiana to score a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, and then muscled Indiana into scoring 12 more unanswered first-quarter points. But then after jumping out to that quick 19-0 first quarter lead, Indiana stunned Illinois with an impressively inept fourth-quarter collapse. Try as it might, Illinois simply could not lose that game, and ended up not losing by a final score of 26-22 in the final seconds of the game. To highlight the worst part about squandering that losing opportunity, Illinois managed to trail that game for all but the final 45 seconds, when Indiana deftly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, thereby reclaiming its honor as the worst football team in the Big Ten. This year, it will be even tougher to lose. Although Illinois currently holds the coveted, odd-man-out 11th place spot in the Big "Ten" standings by virtue of its 0-2 Big Ten record, Illinois' former coach took his dedication to losing to the Bears this year, and his replacement does not appear to be quite as fully committed to the losing tradition that Illinois football has swiftly earned over the past four years. Illinois went 2-1 in non conference play, and has struggled until recently to return to its valiant losing form. Indeed, Illinois even almost defeated 12th-ranked California before managing to put the foot on the accelerator in full reverse to pull out the loss in the fourth quarter, and thereby avoided going lossless in non-conference play for the first time since the disastrous 2001 Sugar Bowl season. Fortunately, this year's team has managed to regain its prime form in time for the Big Ten season, achieving two blowout losses in its first two Big Ten games, and managing to in-score (the opposite of "out-score" ) its opponents by an impressively pathetic combined score of 26-91. As with top-caliber boxing matches, the demand to watch this game is so high that it is available only through pay-per-view on ESPN Gameplan here in Austin. Not only is game watching for this game complicated by the pay-per-view limitations, but the OU-Texas game starts at noon, as does the White-Sox-Red Sox game (if necessary). Thus, multiple televisions are necessary, making Legends the place to come and watch the game with us.
Looking Toward Next Season: Optimism CrushedNovember As might be obvious from the fact that we lost track of the season after a preview of the Indiana game, football has not been kind to us this year. What began as a promising season with a thrilling 20-point comeback victory against a resurgent Rutgers team has turned into one of the worst seasons in Illinois football history. With one weekend to play, Illinois is winless in the Big Ten: for the second time in the past three years. Not only has Illinois lost all its Big Ten games, but none have been close and many have been downright embarrassing.
And, as the saying goes, most of these games were not that close. What is most distressing is not the losses or the record, but the sheer magnitude of the losses and how, except for futile and isolated moments, Illinois was thoroughly and completely out-played in virtually every aspect of the game. Penn State could have tripled their score against Illinois: they scored touchdowns on all but one drive in the first half and then ran the ball every play and scored only a defensive touchdown in the second half. And 40-2. TWO?!?! An anomalous safety from a blocked extra point and subsequent run-back? Not even a field goal in scrub time at the end of the 4th quarter?!?! Losing by more than three touchdowns to Indiana?!?! Pathetic. Many have blamed the lack of talent and lack of experience for the collapse. Ron Turner certainly left the cupboard bare when he left. But lack of talent can only explain so much. Illinois had mid-tier recruiting classes in the Big Ten the past four years: #4, #6, #6, and #8. Although some of the current would-be seniors have quit the team, Illinois simply should not be losing to Indiana by more than three touchdowns. The most disturbing thing about this season is Ron Zook's inability to adjust strategically to the team he inherited. Likewise with Florida, he was widely quoted for looking in awe at Miami through the tunnel before a game one year and saying "We're going to look like that in a few years." His focus appears to be so intent on merely recruiting that he has not developed an ability to strategically adapt and truly show his own coaching prowess, not just the athletic ability of others. Other schools routinely recruit the best basketball talent, but with only one McDonald's All-American, and a team filled with players scouted in the top 30 to top 50 (or lower) in their recruiting classes, Bruce Weber took the basketball team to a near-perfect record and to within one basket of the National Championship. Most true fans appreciate a team of above average players rising above their individual abilities, not a team of mercenaries like the New York Yankees. And being able to rise above those shortcomings stems mostly from the two fundamental aspects of coaching: teaching and strategy. What if the stellar recruits Zook has amassed do not turn out to be the best case scenario he foresees? What if one stud player develops his abilities a bit differently than expected and, say, a quarterback is better used as a wide receiver, or a linebacker is better used as a safety? Will Zook recognize it, or will he just look to replace them in his next recruiting class? Will Zook be able to strategically adjust his system to his players (both before and during the game), or will he continue to just fantasize about programming a perfect video game or rotisserie players? In particular, Zook's sticking with the no-huddle, no-hurry offense is puzzling. Brasic has never adjusted to it, and spends five L-O-N-G seconds before each and every play looking at the sideline for guidance. Not only does he cluelessly look for guidance, but he does so as part of his cadence. The offensive line sets, he crouches to accept the snap in the shotgun, then he stands up and looks to the sideline for five seconds or more while his offensive line remains in the three-point stance. By the time he snaps it, their legs must be cold, stiff, and weakened just enough to give the defense an even greater advantage. It is very premature to pass final judgment on Zook after one season. These are justifiable concerns, not conclusions. Moreover, even if Zook is inappropriately focusing too much on the future instead of learning how to strategically adapt to a different league and a different set of players than he might ideally want, the sheer and utter failure of this season might teach him to focus on adapting better than he has so far. But this is not a good start to the Zook era so far. |
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Copyright © 2004, 2007 Austin Illini
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It
didn't look pretty, but it was damn fun!
Illinois'
new option offense started clicking even better. Brasic started adjusting
his throws to the field and making completions. It resulted only in a
field goal, but at least Illinois was in double figures: 27-10.
With
3:40 left to play, Illinois patiently drove down the field again, finally
looking like a team in sync. From the 13 yard-line, Brasic hit E.B. Halsey
on a swing pass to the right, and E.B. aggressively dove into the end zone to
tie the game at 27.
After
congratulating Rutgers, the Illini team along with Ron Zook jumped into the
I-Block section to celebrate the victory with the fans. A great start to
the season. No complacency. Stay for the end of the game next
time.