Austin Illini Club     

 Football

The Austin Illini will gather next to watch the Illini host Northwestern 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 17, at Third Base. 

Third Base is the newest Hi-Def sports bar in Austin, located near 6th-street and Mo-Pac, with a huge parking garage attached to it.  It is family friendly, and kids are welcome to join us.  A map is at its website: http://www.thirdbaseaustin.com/map

There are lots of rumors about which bowl Illinois will play.  Click Here for some mythbusting advice.

Illinois' 2007 Football Schedule:

* - BT Network = Big Ten Network

Ron Zook recruited the 2006 National Championship team at Florida; and, even handicapped by an awful record, Ron Zook brought us one of the best 2007 recruiting classes in the Big Ten, no less the country.  Illinois also went from being completely out-played in every aspect of almost every game in 2004 and 2005 to being competitive in all but one game in 2006 and needing only to significantly improve special teams to become a contending team.  Football is back at Illinois, and the winning tradition of Red Grange, Dick Butkus, and Simeon Rice shall continue!

Austin Illini Recaps of this year's 2007 Football Season:

Preview: Football Is Back

Illini Rally Falls Short Against Missouri

Illini win Home Opener Against Western Illinois

Illini Avenge Last Year Home Loss; Defeat Syracuse 41-20

Illinois soundly defeats Indiana to start season 3-1; Penn State preview

Illinois upsets # 19 Penn State, 27-20!

Illini beat Wisconsin for First top-5 win since 1989; play Iowa this week.

Illinois Loses Defensive Struggle Against Iowa; Host Michigan Next

Illini Special Teams Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory Against Michigan.

Illini Avoid Trap and Beat Ball State; Bowl Eligible; Face Minnesota Next

Illini Roll Over Minnesota 44-17; Face #1 OSU Next in Columbus

Illinois Upsets Ohio State in Columbus; Re-ranked #20!!

Bowl Prediction Mythbusting

Illini Easily Beat Northwestern; Advance to 9-3; BCS Bowl?

Rose Bowl, Baby!!!

Click on the appropriate year for Austin Illini Recaps of the 2004,  2005, or 2006 Football Seasons

Football is Back!!!

August 29, 2007

The start of the 2007 college football season is finally here! Illinois kicks its season off this Saturday, September 1, at 2:30 at home on ESPN2HD against Missouri.

Because the home opener against Missouri will be in High Definition, we will gather Saturday at 2:00 to watch the Missouri game at Third Base, a new, premier, High-Definition Sports Bar venue in Austin with great food. They have promised us a section with sound, but please get there early to ensure you get a good seat.

Third Base is a family-friendly environment, so children are welcome. Third Base is also conveniently located just off MoPac at 1717 West 6th Street, near the west end of Sixth Street just before MoPac. From Mo-Pac, take the 5th street exit and turn onto 5th Street heading East. Take the first left turn after MoPac (just past El Arroyo) onto Campbell. Then take another quick left onto 6th street. The entrance is on your left before a big, off-white, stone wall. From downtown, take 6th street almost to MoPac, and Third Base is in the bottom floor of the only four-story office building you can see on the left after the tree cover breaks just before you get to MoPac. Click here for a map.

Missouri is on everyone's list as an upstart team this year, with many picking them to win the Big 12 North. However, Illinois is also on many "sleeper" lists, with a fantastic new recruiting class (including the #1 wide receiver prospect in the country) and a team full of returning starters.

Also, although our record last year was not as good as we might have hoped, our performance was greatly improved. We "coulda won" every game except two. Our offense and defense improved tremendously over the previous season and played toe-to-toe with the best teams in the country, including Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin. Much to the chagrin of the PC-tyrants, our "Special" teams put "handicap" back into the meaning of "special." Not only was our punting absolutely horrendous, but our punt and kick-off coverage often was pourous, giving our opponents something like 30 yards better starting position than we had. Even the very best teams cannot recover from such a disadvantage. Nonetheless, two years ago, we were routinely dominated in every aspect of the game. Last year, only our special teams was lacking. This year, we could very well shock the Big Ten.

With another year of offseason improvement, Illinois should contend for a bowl game and should win a few games against top opponents that will shock everyone but loyal Illini fans who knew it was coming. You are now among the privileged few "in the know." :-)

Illini Rally Falls Short Against Missouri; Home Opener Against Western Illinois

September 5, 2007

Illinois plays Western Illinois in THE Memorial Stadium (Champaign) this Saturday at 6:00. The game conflicts with the UT game, also at 6:00, but Legends has assured us a spot with sound, so we will gather at Legends at 5:45 to watch Illinois play Western Illinois on the Big Ten Network. Please come early so we can establish our territory in the midst of Texas, Penn State/Notre Dame, and Missouri fans who will also be there to watch there own games.

I know what you're thinking... it's only Western Illinois... why bother coming out to watch the game. But we can look forward to actually watching the Illini win for a change! O.K., so I hope Illinois will win more than just this game and I'm kidding, but really... not that much.

This game also is our first on the new Big Ten Network, which changes our television viewing options. There are both advantages and pitfalls. Those with Direct TV will receive the Big Ten Network as part of the basic package at no extra expense. That is the big advantage. However, Time Warner here in Texas (which most people have) will NOT carry the Big Ten Network, so cable customers (like me) are out of luck. (The Big Ten Network requires service providers who carry the network to not charge an extra fee to customers, making it economically infeasible for providers outside of the Midwest to carry the network because demand outside the Midwest simply is not high enough.) Also, games that would have been available to cable customers via the ESPN+ premium packages are no longer available on ESPN GamePlan (football) or ESPN FullCourt (basketball). Those are the pitfalls.

Recap of last week's game against Missouri

Last week against Missouri was yet another moral victory under the guise of a loss. Missouri has been picked picked by most to win the Big 12 North division and play for the Big 12 Championship in December, so few people gave Illinois much of a chance in this game.

Illinois scored first on a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Not only did Illinois draw first blood, but our special teams (which caused almost all of our losses last year) created our first score of the season: the perfect way to start the season and signal that things have changed. And special teams generally played well all game long, which was good to see: no other particularly spectacular plays like the blocked punt, but no particularly awful plays, either, which is exactly the positive consistency that we desperately needed to see.

But then our starting quarterback, sophomore sensation Isiah "Juice" Williams, was knocked out of the game with a concussion early in the second quarter on a "questionable," helmet-to-helmet hit when Juice had already been tackled down a different defender (no call, unfortunately). Then, just as the Illini were driving for their first offensive touchdown of the year, the Illini back-up quarterback (freshman Eddie McGee) fumbled on the Missouri three yard line. The Missouri defender (appropriately-named "Pig" Brown) recovered the fumble in the end zone and returned it back 102 yards for a touchdown: a shocking 14-point swing.

Two more turnovers later (another fumble by McGee and a pick), Illinois had fallen behind 37-13 late in the third quarter. Down by 24 (more than three touchdowns), it did not look good. Illinois' secondary played so far off Missouri's defenders that Missouri's quarterback had little trouble finding open receivers. Illinois' defensive line generally did a good job stopping the run, and even put decent pressure on pass plays requiring Missouri's quarterback to scramble quite a bit, but the open receivers and poor downfield tackling proved to be a weak spot for the Illini. Missouri's quarterback threw for 359 yards, completing 37 of 54 attempts.

Nonetheless, after falling down 37-13 (and inspiring Gary to give up and leave Third Base), McGee finally stopped turning the ball over and gained some confidence. From that point, Illinois scored three unanswered touchdowns to cut the lead to three (37-34) in the fourth quarter. Missouri then drove and kicked a field goal to extend the lead to 6 with just under three minutes left in the game, 40-34 (6-points down).

With the game on the line, McGee led his most impressive drive of the game from the Illinois 30 to the Missouri 20 in just under two minutes, leaving under a minute in the game. His passes had great touch on them, especially short passes thrown with enough velocity to avoid a pick, but not so much velocity that NO ONE could catch it. Mendenhall also seemed to get stronger as the game progressed: a sign of better conditioning. Illinois had Missouri's defense on its heels. Victory was in our sights. With less than a minute left in the game, a touchdown would have put the Illini up by a point for a win much like the thrilling comeback against Rutgers two years ago.

Alas, though, the curse of playing predominantly underclassmen hit us again. From the 20-yard line, McGee under threw a receiver in double-coverage at the goal line for an interception. (He had the whole end-zone behind the receiver, and should have thrown OVER the coverage so that only the receiver could catch it: a clear freshman mistake). Missouri took over at the two yard line and killed the clock to end the game.

Illinois gave the ball up a mere 72 inches (two measley steps) from victory.

Despite the obvious problems with four turnovers (two fumbles and two interceptions), McGee showed a great deal of promise, especially as a back-up. (Some internet chatter even suggested platooning McGee with Juice, which will not happen even though it is good to hear positive chatter after a loss). Juice is known as an amazingly mobile quarterback, and McGee looked even faster than Juice, albeit not as strong or elusive. He also threw the ball with a decent zip and touch, even though his accuracy and game-day placement of his throws could certainly improve. He threw for 257 yards in just 2 1/2 quarters, completing over half his pass attempts (17 of 31).

The moral victories came from seeing that we DO have a capable (albeit mistake prone) back-up to our "franchise" quarterback who helped turn our recruiting fate around by being one of the first "surprise" recruits to commit to Illinois.

Also, Arrelious Benn--the #1 receiver recruit in the country who turned down Notre Dame, Florida State and others to be an Illini--looked as good as promised: several amazing catches from a tall and strong receiver that (physically, not mentally) looked like a young Terrell Owens. Not just a freshman project for future development, Benn should contribute quite a bit right away to the Illini passing attack.

Rashad Mendenhall also showed that he built up his strength again in the off-season and will prove to be a good anchor for our running game, scoring two touchdowns.

Linebacker J Lehman also continued his status as one of the top tacklers in the nations, with 20 against Missouri: not just the best in the game, but the best in the entire country last weekend. (He also does not smoke or drink at all.)

Illinois led the Big Ten in rushing last year. Last week, though, Illinois led the Big Ten in passing with 316 combined yards. Safety Justin Sanders also forced two fumbles, leading the Big Ten as well.

Finally, I can't say it enough: seeing the special teams not only not blow the game for us, but also make a spectacular play for our first score this season could not have been a better sign of better things to come this season.

Last year, our offense and defense improved enough to play toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the country. We played Ohio State closer than Texas or Michigan, and only Florida in the National Championship game played Ohio State tougher than we did. The improvement in our offense and defense over the previous year was a very encouraging sign last year.

But special teams repeatedly dug us into such a huge hole that we lost several games we should have won last year. It was the final piece in the puzzle we needed to rise back to contention in the Big Ten; and it looks like we are there.

Hope to see you at Legends for the Western Illinois game (with the Texas game in the background).

Lawrence Page

THE Austin Illini Club

Illini win Home Opener Against Western Illinois

September 12, 2007

Illinois easily got its first win of the season against Western Illinois last weekend, 21-0. Illinois next plays 0-2 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in New York in a rematch of last year's disappointing loss at Memorial Stadium. The game is on ESPN-U. We will gather at Legends at 11:00 to watch the Illini avenge Syracuse's win last year.

The game against Western Illinois was slow but steady. On special teams (the primary measuring stick this year), we saw no spectacular plays, but against saw no horrible gaffs partly because Zook has given up trying to coach Special Teams and left it to his assistants. Our defense also looked solid and held Western scoreless.

Our offense did not take advantage of the opportunity to truly open up and see just how much power is under the hood, but it did consistently drive for over 400 yards and three touchdowns. A large part of these tune-ups focus upon developing consistency and stability, not on improving big-play ability that only rubs salt into the wound of the lesser opponent.

Mostly because of the lack of big-lays, the knee-jerk buzz on the chat boards and elsewhere focused on Juice's lackluster return to play after being knocked out of the Missouri game. Many people (whose only qualification for making commentary is that they own a computer with internet access) have insisted that Juice be replaced by McGee, the freshman backup quarterback who looked impressive at times against Missouri despite his four turnovers.

If you are one of the naysayers, I respectfully ask yo to consider the following. First, not a single reporter even asked the question of Ron Zook at his mid-week press-conference. If journalists consider the notion oo far-fetched, consider for yourself just how wild-eyed the idea is.

Second, Juice stuck with his commitment to Illinois and rebuffed the Sampson-like overtures from other schools who tried to lure him way while we were being pummeled by 65 points on our own field at homecoming two years ago. He stuck with us. Although he is not immune to criticism, we owe him more loyalty and respect than a knee-jerk reaction like that.

Third, Juice was forced into action prematurely last year to replace a sub-par senior quarterback who was awful. Everything he did last year was an upside from where we stood at the time. But it was not an indicator of his ability as a Big Ten starter; instead, his sensational runs and amazing arm strength merely provided optimism for the future. He learned from his mistakes, and will be MUCH better this year.

Fourth, we don't want to suffer through another year of freshman mistakes at quarterback. Even though McGee showed nice touch on his passes and ran very effectively, he turned the ball over 4 times, and they were all "bad" turnovers that were clearly his fault, not just a stroke of bad luck or the result of extremely good defense.

Finally, the fact that we did not completely steamroll over an inferior opponent does not mean that our starting quarterback should be replaced. We won by three touchdowns, and people think we should replace Juice? Really, the suggestion itself is ridiculous and shows just how desperate our fan base really is for wins.

I understand the desperation and impatience. But don't let our justifiable eagerness to turn the program around turn against us and undermine the confidence of our starting quarterback who is, after all, still only 19 years old.

Lawrence Page

THE Austin Illini Club

Illini Avenge Last Year; Defeat Syracuse 41-20; Alida's Last Game Next week

September 19, 2007

Illinois avenged last year's home loss to Syracuse and completely dominated "the Orange" in the Carrier Dome, winning 41-20. And... (we can finally say it in our favor)... it really wasn't that close.

Illinois next opens the Big Ten season at Indiana, hoping to avenge last year's give-away loss at home. (I actually should stop using that word because everything about this season will be "avenge" this and "avenge" that; I should especially avoid using it against Indiana, where we really had the game in control last year and then just gave it away.) We will gather at Legends at 11:00 this Saturday to watch the Indiana game. (We will have the back big screen, with chairs, not bar stools.) A map to Legends is on the Austin Illini website.

This week will unfortunately be the last gamewatch party for one of the most active Austin Illini, Alida Bray, who is moving to Chicago in a week after accepting a job with United Airlines. Alida came to Austin right out of undergrad a few years ago, and is well known for her wailing cry of "Nooooooooooooo" the past few football seasons. Anybody who has watched a game with us the past three years knows who she is. She has also helped me as the official Vice President of the Austin Illini the past year and a half. So please come out to bid her farewell.

That said, because she gets free flying with United, she should promise to fly down every week for our gamewatches, at least when she is not attending the game in Champaign with Moria Priven, another recent ex-patriot Austin Illini who provided some beautiful (or at least "effective") harmonizing to Alida's wailing cries of "Nooooooooooo" the past few years. (Moira reportedly now lives in Champaign).

Seriously, I already miss Moira and I know I will miss Alida's support and enthusiasm. Alida literally taught the Chief how to dance and has rarely missed a gamewatch with us.

As for the Syracuse game, things couldn't be going worse for former Longhorn coach Greg Robinson's Orangemen. His Orange have an even worse record than the Illini the past three years, and his future looks rather dismal, in sharp contrast to ours.

Illinois again focused on the run and saw yet another young star emerge in the running game: elusive freshman Troy Pollard, who ran for 92 yards, many of them after the first or second contact with a defender. Pollard averaged 7.1 yards per carry. (Transfer Daniel Dufrene had his coming out parties against Missouri and Western Illinois. We now have three solid running backs in addition to our quarterback, Juice Williams, who himself is a virtual running back.)

Junior Rashard Mendenhall led all rushers, with 150 total rushing yards averaging 9.1 yards per carry, including a break-away 50-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Mendenhall scored three touchdowns on the day, which (I might add) is three more touchdowns than Notre Dame's entire offense has scored all year.

Isiah "Juice" Williams (who now is officially listed as "Juice Williams" without the first name) looked much more comfortable at quarterback last week, throwing for just under 100 yards and adding 90 more on the ground. He ran for one touchdown and threw for another, which is (I WILL add) two more touchdowns than Notre Dame's offense has scored all year. Without any turnovers, Williams also had an outstanding quarterback rating of 135 last week.

Altogether, Illinois ran for 378 yards. Some have criticized Zook for not trying to pass more and instead focusing on what we already knew was the strength of our offense, but a solid ball-control win was much more important to this team right now than game-day practicing our passing for the benefit of future games.

Our defense also was solid, yet again, especially our run defense. Syracuse had to turn almost entirely to the passing game in the second half. Champaign Central and U of I graduate student J Lehman led the team with 8 tackles and 1.5 sacks. They held Syracuse scoreless in the first half, including stopping the Orange on fourth and short inside Illini territory on the only serious first half drive Syracuse was able to put up.

The bad news came on Special Teams, which essentially gave Syracuse 10 of its 20 points. (That explains the "and it wasn't that close" part). With Illinois in solid control at 17-0, our kicker completely gaffed an onside kick to start the second half. He missed the ball almost entirely, barely touching the top of the ball to roll it off the T, whereupon Syracuse recovered it on the Illinois 29 yard line (behind where the ball began). The defense managed to hold Syracuse to a field goal.

Then, late in the fourth quarter, following another Syracuse field goal, Syracuse recovered a pop-up, on-side kick on the Illini 23 yard line where the Illinois special teams simply did not pay attention. Syracuse took the ball quickly for a futile, scrub-time touchdown with only 61 seconds remaining.

I guess the optimistic glean is that Special Teams did not cost us the game.

The adventure continues against Indiana on Saturday at 11:00. Please come out if only to say goodbye to VP Alida Bray.

Lawrence Page

THE Austin Illini Club

Illinois soundly defeats Indiana to start season 3-1; Penn State preview

September 29, 2007

At 4-1, and fresh off our first win over a top-20 team since 2001, Illinois hosts #5-ranked Wisconsin this Saturday. The game is in Hi-Def on ESPNHD. As a result, we will gather at Third Base to watch the Wisconsin game this Saturday at 11:00 on Saturday. The Wisconsin alumni club will watch the game with us, like the Penn State club watched us beat them last week. Third Base has also promised us the big projection screen in the room that holds 80 people. So we need to show up in force not only to outnumber the Wisconsin fans, but also to fill the room.

Third Base is the newest Hi-Def sports bar in Austin, located near 6th-street and Mo-Pac, with a huge parking garage attached to it. We went there for the season opener, and had a great crowd, so we hope to see a big crowd come out again. A map is at its website: http://www.thirdbaseaustin.com/map

Paint the Pub Orange!

Last weeks game (which I watched on time-delay) was incredible. (This is a fun recap to write!)

The first half featured offensive explosions and lots of ball movement up and down the field. Penn State plowed down the field on the opening drive, but sputtered in the red zone to settle for a field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, Arrelious Benn returned his first kickoff return ever back for a touchdown through the Penn State coverage as if they were toddlers.

Illinois held Penn State to three plays, and then drove down the field for another touchdown, 14-3 Illinois.

Penn State answered with its own touchdown, 14-10.

Illinois' next drive was churning down the field, but then stopped short with an interception. No problem, our defense stripped the ball away a few plays later and we got it back around the same spot. Then Arrelious Benn again showed how amazing a recruit he was by catching a pass near the 15, and shedding five hard tackles before trotting into the endzone for another touchdown, 21-10. He shed Penn State's "Linebacker-U" defenders like they were high schoolers. (Imagine what he was like playing against actual high schoolers last year!)

Then Penn State put together another great drive to answer with its own touchdown, 21-17. The teams exchanged a few scoreless drives, but Penn State's kicker launched a 70-yard rolling punt that shifted the field-position exchanges greatly in Penn State's favor. But even then, Penn State missed its field goal attempt, and the half ended with Illinois up 21-17.

After a wild first half of solid touchdown drives by both teams, turnovers on both sides, a kickoff returned for a touchdown, and a missed field goal, the second half grinded down into a defensive struggle.

Instead of special teams putting us in a hole like they did the past two years, our offensive play-calling was uninspired and tried too hard to rely on our weaker passing game instead of grinding out the clock with our much stronger running game. As a result, our offense produced hardly any momentum in the second half.

Six of our eight second-half drives did not cross our own 30 yard-line. Three of those six drives ended on three-and-outs (three plays, no first down, punt), and one ended on an interception on the second play of the drive. Fortunately, Illinois broke through into Penn State territory twice, but those drives only resulted in field goals. Still, bless Jason Reda for his golden foot, because those field goals proved to be the difference in the game.

Because of our offensive shutdown, Penn State started five of its seven second-half drives at or inside midfield. They played "downhill" for most of the second half.

But our defense really clamped down, stepped up, and deserved all sorts of mixed metaphors because they were all over the place. Three of those five "downhill" Penn State drives ended on interceptions, and one ended in a pooch-punt. Penn State did score a field goal on the other short-field drive, but holding them to only a field goal given the field position we handed to them was truly amazing.

J Lehman also proved his muster in pass coverage by reaching around a receiver to strip the ball from the hands of the reciver in the end zone. Perfect timing, perfect strip; and nothing short of perfection would have worked because the pass was perfect, as well. Two plays later, Lehman then made a leaping interception of a much less-perfect pass on the three yard line to kill the drive, completely.

On the next Penn State drive, Vontae Davis made a spectacular jump in front of his receiver to intercept the ball at the Illinois 18.

On the next Penn State drive, they were forced into a fourth-and-long situation where they could not kick the field goal because they were down by 7 with less than three minutes left. Morelli dropped back to pass, found nothing, the pocket collapsed and he needed to run: normally good news on fourth-and-long. But then he kept running, and running, and that yellow line came closer, and he crossed it and slid down. But just as he started to slide, Justin Harrison came from off-screen to force a fumble back five yards, short of the first down. No matter who recovered it, Penn State lost the ball on downs.

Illinois' next drive only went three shorts plays, giving Penn State the ball back at the Illinois 42 with only 0:20 seconds left: another "short field" drive, and a touchdown away from sending the game to overtime. On the second play, Illinois sacked Morelli, and with no time outs left, Morelli needed to hurry to get the next play off. He did so, but the panic of the moment made him underthrow the ball, which Kevin Mitchell intercepted. Illinois then sat on the ball for one play to kill the clock.

What did I tell you at the end of last year? Football is back at Illinois!

The Penn State games from the past three years have provided a good barometer for the state of our program. Two years ago, Penn State came to our house and completely destroyed us in the most lop-sided game I have ever watched, no less the most lop-sided Illinois loss I have seen. Absolute domination in all facets of the game.

Last year, we played at Penn State and played them incredibly close all game until the final three minutes. As a mere freshman, Juice breathed new life into our offense, keeping the score close. However, special teams kept shanking their "rugby punts" and muffing kick returns to give Penn State a huge advantage in field position. Nonetheless, down by less than a touchdown with three minutes left, we forced Penn State to punt, giving us a chance to drive the ball downfield and win the game. But then our special teams pinned us back at our own two-yard line, resulting in a safety and then a returned punt for a touchdown to make it look worse than it was. Close, but our young team still found a way to lose the game.

This year, Illinois led most of the game, matched Penn State offensively punch-for-punch, and played amazing defense that overcame the field-position disadvantage that we could not overcome last year. And despite not being able to put the game safely away until the very last play, our young team managed to learn how to win a close game against a tough opponent. The three second-half interceptions and the fourth-down fumble by the quarterback all came deep in Illini territory, each ending a drive that looked like it would tie the game or take the lead.

The bad news in some ways is that we now have a quarterback controversy. When the Illinois offense sputtered in the second half, Zook pulled Juice Williams and put McGee into the game in the fourth quarter. The problem was not so much Juice's performance as the poor play-calling: even the announcers ridiculed it; "Penn State hasn't stopped the run, and yet Illinois has again gone three-and-out by trying to force the pass."

Nonetheless, McGee did make a difference by breaking away on a 53-yard quarterback draw that resulted in our second field goal of the half. Without that field goal, Penn State could have kicked its own field goal with three minutes left, and then kicked another field goal to win the game. Each time, they were within field goal range, the first time held to a fourth-and-long. But because of the extra field goal pushing the lead back to seven points, they were forced to go for a touchdown twice, resulting in a fumble and then an interception.

That said, McGee did not make the difference so much as he took advantage of one lucky break in the Penn State defense. McGee is talented, and it is great to have him there, but his pass plays ended even more futilely than Juice's pass plays. He looked less composed and is not nearly as strong and tough to bring down as Juice. All he did (and give him credit for doing it) was break free for a big play that was more a defensive lapse than an offensive highlight.

Now the screws turn tighter as we move from the #19 team to the #5 team in the country. Illinois actually received some top-25 votes due to its 4-1 start, win over a top-25 team, and its only loss coming from undefeated #17 Missouri, to whom we lost because our starting quarterback was knocked out of the game (and our backup gave the ball away four times).

A win over Wisconsin would shoot us deep into the top-25. But Wisconsin is tough. We would be lucky to go 2-2 through this four-game stretch against Penn State, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan; we are 1-0 so far in this stretch, which is the best way to start the toughest part of our season.

Meanwhile, in the midst of upset weekend throughout college football, Indiana went to Iowa and completely controlled them. So the Iowa game at Iowa looks less imposing than it once did. A loss to Wisconsin and Michigan would put us exactly where we would want to be. And a win over either or both of them would be fantastic!

Illini beat Wisconsin for First top-5 win since 1989; play Iowa this week.

October 7, 2007

Fresh off its first win over a top-5 team since 1990, Illinois travels to Iowa to play the Hawkeyes. We will gather at Third Base again to watch the Iowa game at 11:00 in High Definition on ESPN2-HD. Illinois is now ranked again: #18 in the AP, #19 in the coaches poll. Football is back!

The Texas-Iowa State game this Saturday starts at 11:30 just after our game, and will be on-air throughout the pub, but we have arranged with the management that I will bring my own speakers so we can hook them up to the Third Base sound system and have control over our own sound in our area, which will be however many tables we manage to fill before the UT fans show up. We need to show up early and in force at Third Base to reward the Third Base management for sticking its neck out to help us during a UT conflict. Please come out and join us so we can all cheer the Illini together.

I will post more of a recap tomorrow on the Austin Illini website, but I got plowed over on my bike by a Ford Explorer this evening and could not finish it tonight (I know, I'm a slacker), but allow me to leave you with a few quotes and some notes I put together earlier this week. (By the way, PLEASE be kind to cyclists on the roads. Really, cyclists deal with far too many people who deliberately try to run us off the road, and it really isn't a fair fight.)

Illinois is MUCH better than its record, and is poised to bust out next year with a bit more experience and another great recruiting class. Without our special teams losing the field position game or giving up touchdowns, we would be at least 7-3 and bowl-eligible so far this year. Lots of close losses in a rebuilding year with mostly freshman and sophomore starters is the best predictor of a "come-from-nowhere" turnaround in the subsequent year. See it and enjoy it before the bandwagon starts rolling.

-Austin Illini Recap, after a close loss to Ohio State.

November 4, 2006,

"We're gonna destroy u!"

-Taunting text message from Wisconsin Alumni Club President Adam Loewy to Austin Illini Club President, Lawrence Page

October 4, 2007

We are now 2-0 in our toughest four-game stretch of the season, and winning either of the next two games would put us ahead of what even the most optimistic Illini considered the best case scenario during this stretch of the season. And the best part is that we truly deserved to win both the Penn State and Wisconsin games: they were not fluke wins.

As rebuilding programs go, this one is a masterpiece. It started with the highly-touted recruiting class of mostly linemen two years ago. No matter how much credit the position players get, football is won and lost in the trenches, so any rebuilding program needs to develop the lines.

Then, Zook brought in position players like Vontae Davis, Arrelious Benn, Juice Williams, and Rashard Mendenhall. And they all have amazing back-ups like Eddie McGee, Dufrene, Pollard, and Hudson.

Two years ago, Zook let the underclassmen play and they were completely dominated, much to the chagrin of Illini fans who hoped for some change from the last two Ron Turner seasons.

Last year, a year of strength conditioning showed, and those underclassmen started scaring some great teams. But our young team made underclassmen mistakes and found ways to lose games they could have won.

Now, with another great recruiting class and another solid year of off-season strength training, this year's team is surprising everyone but people who were actually paying attention the past two years. The work this team did in the last offseason is readily apparent.

As opposed to our players being several steps behind behind everyone else two years ago and struggling to keep up with our mistakes last year, this year all of our players have an added boost of strength from their off-season conditioning. They are the ones making open field tackles, pushing defenders back, leaping to break up passes, and stopping on a dime to change direction and leave the other team behind. Our highly-touted freshman-linemen recruiting class from two years ago have grown into solid juniors who are now pushing everyone else around. And our talented position players now not only have the room to make plays, they add an extra strong push, themselves.

And despite his enthusiasm, Zook appears to have his priorities straight and does not seem inclined to let hybris get the best of our young upstart team. In his post-game comments, he said that we are in uncharted territory and that we didn't expect to be here this quickly. He also doesn't take any game lightly, knowing that this team is still young and riding a wave of enthusiastic play that was necessary to win these games. Without that enthusiasm and extra effort, we can easily lose to the worst team out there. We do not have a winning tradition back, yet, but we are well on the way to developing one.

Lawrence Page

THE Austin Illini Club

Illinois Loses Defensive Struggle Against Iowa; Host Michigan Next

October 14 2007

Illinois lost a defensive struggle at Iowa last week, 10-6, but remains 5-2 on the year and remains tied for second place in the Big Ten with only one Big Ten loss. Illinois next hosts Michigan at Memorial Stadium. We will gather at Third Base again to watch the Michigan game at 7:00 in High Definition on ABC. We will get the sound for this game because there are no conflicts. Although Third Base will start charging a cover at 9:00 for the pay-per-view UFC fight, Austin Illini members do not need to pay the cover unless they stay after the Illini game to watch the UFC fight.

Third Base has been very friendly and accommodating to us and has expressed interest in being our venue for the basketball season, as well. The food is great and the service so far has been fantastic, so come out and join us on Saturday night. So please come out and reward their hospitality.

There is little to say about the Iowa loss except two general points to which the loss can be attributed. First, Iowa to its credit came out and played the best defense so far against our multiple-option game. They did a great job preparing for and covering the sweeps and cuts that sliced through Wisconsin and Penn State, limiting our offense to only 6 points, when we have put up over 30 points against most teams so far: even in our loss to Missouri.

Second, Illinois play-calling was uninspired and predictable. One our best scoring drive of the game, we had the ball first and goal at the 2 yard line. Locksley called a draw up the middle, an option sweep to the left, and a pass play that flew harmlessly over all receivers, forcing us to settle for a field goal. Anyone who has watched or even just scouted our offense would predict not only those three plays, but also those three plays in that order. Three draw plays up the middle in a row would not only have worked, but would have been less predictable that that series.

Our defense generally did a solid job of bending but not breaking, limiting Iowa to just one touchdown on a big pass play. One or two broken coverage plays per game should be expected, and the defense played tight several times, once again either pushing red-zone drives back out of field goal range or getting key turnovers to prevent Iowa from scoring when they otherwise were marching don the field toward what looked like an inevitable score.

Losing by 4 points at Iowa is not the end of the world. Again, we have still already achieved what most would have considered the best case scenario in this four-game stretch by winning two games. A win against Michigan would not only exceed those expectations, it would secure our eligibility for a bowl game, which always has been the most realistic goal fo this season. I now believe that we should be able to get a bid to a decent bowl game, but we also are young and inexperienced enough that we could lose all of our remaining games. But Zook seems to have the team on the right page, and I doubt that will happen.

Lawrence Page

THE Austin Illini Club

Illini Special Teams Snatch Defeat From the Jaws of Victory Against Michigan

October 21, 2007

We had around 30 people show up at Third Base last Saturday Night to watch Illinois lose a tough, close game to Michigan (including the second youngest Austin Illini, Sophie Arriguchi, born August 18, 2007).

Illinois next hosts Ball State for our homecoming this weekend. We will gather at Legends at 10:45 to watch the Illini-Ball State homecoming game this Saturday on the Big Ten Network. (The game was pulled from hi-def ESPN2HD coverage earlier this week.) 

Some of our elder Austin Illini live near Legends and have not been able to watch the games with us at Third Base, so this homecoming gamewatch party is a nod to them to come out and join us; and I have made sure that we will NOT be sitting on bar stools this time at Legends. Revealing their primary loyalties, the Frocks apparently do not have a competing gamewatch this week because they have UT season tickets, so everyone else please come out and join us at Legends so we can all watch the homecoming game together.

As most who have paid attention know, the Illini were a few special teams gaffs away from going to a bowl game last year; and special teams was one of the key elements we needed to improve in order to elevate our team into a competitive program. Special teams had played decently so far this season, allowing us to start the season 5-1.

Well, the special teams bug finally bit us against Michigan, and bit us hard. (I have a big lump on my hip to prove it... wait, that was from something else....)

In the first half, Joe Morgan hit a punt returner before the ball even arrived (the ball hit Morgan on the back of his helmet) for a stupid 15-yard penalty. Fortunately, the defense held Michigan to a loss of three yards and Michigan was forced to punt.

Then just before the half, with Illinois up 14-10, Michigan punted after our defense pushed them back to a 4th-and-27. The Illini wisely removed Morgan from punt coverage but instead sent him to block the punt. He then got flagged for roughing the kicker: an automatic first down. Instead of giving us the ball with a chance to either go into the half with a lead or to add to our lead, Michigan continued that drive to score a touchdown of their own. (Not kidding; the same guy, whom you could tell from the sideline close-ups KNEW he had really messed up.)

There were other key mistakes outside of special teams: like giving up two awful, 15-yard personal foul penalties on Michigan's go-ahead touchdown drive to start the fourth quarter: the first happening at the start of the drive when Illinois had held Michigan to three-and-out were it not for Vontae Davis' unnecessary facemask personal foul that turned a 4th-and-15 into a first down to keep the drive alive.

Despite those gaffs, our defense still stopped that same Michigan drive at the Illinois 43: one of our defense's most crucial stops of the season. Solid. Critical. The sort of stop you would expect of a winning, dominant team to make up for two stupid personal fouls. Big-time. But then special teams again came in to seal our fate. Michigan punted, and Kyle Hudson muffed the punt at our 10 yard-line. Instead of starting our own drive to eat the clock and secure the win, Michigan recovered the fumble and scored the go-ahead touchdown. Michigan scored an insurance field goal for the final score, 37-27.

So the Michigan game was an obvious letdown, but there are some salving points. First, I repeat that going into the four-game stretch we just finished, most realistic Illini fans considered going 2-2 through this stretch to be a best-case, optimistic scenario. We ended up at that optimistic 2-2, one win shy of qualifying for a bowl game. Despite losing two straight, we now face an easy tail end of our schedule against Ball State, Minnesota (who lost to North Dakota State last week), and Northwestern. The only tough remaining game we have is at Ohio State.

We should not only qualify for a bowl game this year, but earn a bid to a decent bowl game.

Second, for us here in Austin, the Illini almost played themselves out of the Alamo Bowl and into a better bowl game. Although we should prefer a better bowl, the Illini are now on target to play in the Alamo Bowl in our backyard (San Antonio). If Illinois had defeated Iowa and Michigan, we would not get to see Illinois play its "up-and-coming" bowl game just 80 miles away from us. (O.K., so that was an admittedly-selfish point, but it is something to consider).

Third, we did truly give the Michigan game away on some critical penalties and an awful 4th-quarter muffed punt that gave Michigan the ball back inside the red zone after our defense came up with one of its best, crucial defensive stops all year. Although is it awful to watch a game like this slip away, we held the reigns and we held control of this game, as opposed to simply being out-played by a team that is beyond our abilities like we all saw just two short years ago. We now clearly need to rise up and win the games we have in our grasp, but at least we know we can do it and belong among the elite of college football.

Finally, at 3-2 in the Big Ten, Illinois is still tied for second in the Big Ten with Penn State, behind only Michigan and Ohio State who are tied for first. Illinois still controls its destiny and still can end up in the top eschelon of the Big Ten, which is a far cry from just last year. Our dream of going from "worst-to-first" is now a longshot, but going from worst-to-top-tier, ranked, and in a decent bowl game would still be rather fantastic, nonetheless.

So the sky is not falling, and football is still on the rise at Illinois.

A few parting notes for those dedicated few who made it this far.

Ball State starts a defensive end who is 31 years old: still just a kid to me, but interesting to note.

Someone on an Illini chat board also actually compiled the following syllogism:

Ball State beat W. Kentucky 35-12

W. Kentucky beat Middle Tennessee State 20-17

Middle Tennessee State beat Memphis 21-7

Memphis beat Rice 38-35

Rice beat Southern Miss 31-29

Southern Miss beat East Carolina 28-21

East Carolina beat UCF 52-38

UCF beat Tulsa 44-23

Tulsa beat BYU 55-47

BYU beat Arizona 20-7

Arizona beat Washington State 48-20

Washington State beat San Diego State 45-17

San Diego State beat Colorado State 24-20

Colorado State beat UNLV 48-23

UNLV beat Utah 27-0

Utah beat UCLA 44-6

UCLA beat Stanford 45-17

Stanford beat USC 24-23

USC beat Nebraska 49-31

Nebraska beat Iowa State 35-17

Iowa State beat Iowa 15-13

Iowa beat Illinois 10-6.

I figure that means Ball State over Illinois by 329?

I doubt it, but this team is young enough to "accomplish" anything.

Finally, in lieu of writing the foregoing Austin Illini summary, I considered attaching a 60-megabyte file to this e-mail containing information you can find on FightingIllini.com, but then... not so much. For those who want to see the stat sheet, it is at the following link (and available at this site after every game): http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/Illinois-BallStateNotes.pdf

Lawrence Page

THE Austin Illini Club

Illini Avoid Trap and Beat Ball State; Bowl Eligible; Face Minnesota Next

October 29, 2007

[Deep Scottish accent] "Carl, I want you to kill all the golphers on the course."

Bill Murray: "Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but... if I kill all the golfers... they'll lock me up and throw away the key."

"Not Golfers, you fool! GOPHERS! Rodents!"

Bill Murray: "Oh... We can do that.... We don't even need to have a reason."

Illinois won its homecoming game against Ball State last weekend to advance to 6-3 on the season and become bowl-eligible for the first time since our 2001 Big Ten Championship/Sugar Bowl season. After several years in the Big Ten cellar, Illinois is on target to finish the season a shocking 8-4 if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern, and possibly 9-3 if they also pull off an an upset of Ohio State in Columbus next week. However, even if they lose to OSU next week, Illinois could still actually play in the Citrus Bowl on New Years Day if Michigan and Ohio State both qualify for a BCS bowl (i.e., if they both win their next two games and then Michigan beats OSU)!

Illinois next plays the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis. Minnesota is awful this year, but actually leads the all-time series against Illinois 31-26-3. We will gather at Third Base at 7:00 p.m. this Saturday to watch the Minnesota game on the Big Ten Network in Hi Definition (Direct TV only). Third Base is located near the intersection of 5th Street and MoPac. A map to Third base is available at their website at http://www.thirdbaseaustin.com/map

The Ball State game last week was slow going, but all in all Illinois pulled out the expected victory and avoided the "trap." The entire Ball State game can be summarized in one quick paragraph.

The first quarter was nothing but an exchange of punts. Illinois scored first with a touchdown in the second quarter. The halftime score was a blazing 7-3. Ball State's defense scored first in the second half on a fluke, tipped interception run back for a touchdown to briefly take the lead at 10-7, but Illinois scored touchdowns on their next two drives to re-take the lead 21-10. Ball State then scored its only offensive touchdown to bring our lead back to within 4 points, but Illinois scored the only points in the 4th quarter with a touchdown to seal the victory, 28-17.

Illinois could have easily scored again on its final drive to make the score reflect our domination of the game, but instead killed the clock to end the game after driving down to the Ball State 5-yard line, frustrating the heck out of Gary's buddy who put $500 on the Illini: the Vegas line was Illini by 13, and they won by only 11, only needing a field goal to "cover" the spread.

Rashard Mendenhall led the team offensively with 189 yards and two touchdowns. Juice played the entire game, ran for our other two touchdowns, and ended up one yard shy of 100 rushing yards in the game. The downside of Juice's game was that he only threw for 145 yards (97 to Arrelious Benn) and two interceptions, one of which was a fluke, tipped screen pass that wasn't really his fault. But Juice is now rated dead last in quarterback passing efficiency among all 120 Division 1 starting quarterbacks. Lowly NORTH TEXAS (1-7 this year) has TWO starting quarterbacks rated above Juice in quarterback ratings. (Our backup Eddie McGee is not rated, probably because he has not started).

Back to the plus side, Mendenhall is now only 218 yards short of the single-season Illinois record of 1,330 set by Antonio Harris in 2002. Mendenhall also only needs one more 100-yard game to tie the school record of 6 set by NFL legend Jim Grabowski in 1965 and J.C. Caroline in 1953. He also only needs one more touchdown to tie Howard Griffith's season school record of 15.

Arrelious Benn has already surpassed Brandon Lloyd's freshman receiving record of 511 in 1999, and needs only one more reception to tie the freshman receptions record of 43 set by Ty Douthard in 1993.

On defense, senior linebacker J Lehman has 100 tackles in 9 games, ranking him eleventh in the Nation this year and tied for first in the Big Ten.

Our defense looked pretty good, especially on a second-quarter goal line stand where we stopped Ball State on a first and goal from the 5 yard line, holding Ball State to a field goal instead of a touchdown. Our run defense remained solid, whereas our secondary continues to play loose on pass coverage, giving Ball State some key large gains on their only scoring drives. Nonetheless, the Ball State coaching staff apparently did not notice our weakness and did not take advantage of it, calling a majority of running plays throughout the game.

Special teams at first looked like it was breaking down from its early-season resurgence. On our very first punt of the game, they drew yet another stupid 15-yard interference penalty by hitting the returner long before the ball arrived: it wasn't even close. Fortunately, that play did not set the tone, and special teams calmed down to pretty much play an average game so as to not put us in a position to lose the game. Also, Kyle Hudson did not return a single punt last week after his muffed punt cost us the Michigan game the previous week.

For those who crave even more bathroom reading, the U of I official game notes for the Minnesota game are available at the following link: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/Illinois-MinnesotaNotes.pdf

Lawrence Page

THE Austin Illini Club

"License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. [*Bites head off of gopher clay explosive, spits it in the gopher hole.*] And that's all she wrote."

November 5, 2007

Illinois easily defeated Minnesota last weekend, 44-17, to advance to 7-3 on the year so far. After years in the cellar, the Illini have firm grasp of third place in the Big Ten. We had another great crowd of over 30 people at Third Base last week, including the very youngest Austin Illini, Natalie Gerlach (formerly known as the sonogram named "The Turtle"), born just 30 minutes before the Western Illinois game this year (Sept 8). I also taught little Isabella Kruger how to throw an underhand spiral! We also met some new Austin Illini who happened to show up at Third Base: Mihir Shah and Charles Vith, both fairly recent graduates.

Illinois next plays Ohio State in Columbus on the ABC game of the week. As most know, Ohio State has been ranked #1 for most of the season and is undefeated this year, so this game will be a big one for us. We will gather at Third Base to watch the Ohio State game in Hi-Def this Saturday at 2:15.

Because this is such a big game for us, and to encourage people to come, we will raffle off some Illini regalia to those who attend the Austin Illini gamewatch, including an Illini baseball cap and some shirts. And Gary has promised to imbibe too much and show off at halftime his famous "Hula Girl" Halloween costume that he wore this year. The fun just never stops!

Recap

The Minnesota game was the decisive blowout victory that the Illini needed to regain its confidence. (However, it will take more than confidence to beat Ohio State this year.) Although coached by an Illini alum of the 1983 Rose Bowl team, Tim Brewster, Minnesota really looked like Brewster came out of Lou Tepper's teams by the way he let us score. (Tepper was infamous for his "let them score" decision to concede a fourth-quarter goal line stand against Minnesota in 1996)

Rashard Mendenhall finished with 208 yards rushing, just 10 yards short of setting a new Illinois single season record. He did set a new single season touchdown record and with yet another 100+ yard performance, joined Jim Grabowski with the single season record of 6 such 100+ yard games.

Juice also played one of his best games of the season, confirming my suspicion that he had never quite fully recovered so far this season from the concussion he suffered in the season opener against Missouri. He made better and quicker decisions, threw the ball with touch or zip depending on the situation, and threw two beautiful bombs (one for a touchdown) for his largest passing gains of the season. Juice has not thrown a deep ball well this season, even though he did throw it well last season to keep us in some of our "moral victory" close losses against the powerhouse teams of the Big Ten. So it was great to see Juice get his passing game back.

The Minnesota game also saw the emergence of a new player on offense: Tight End Jeff Cumberland (#17), who came out of nowhere on one rush for 24 yards and four catches for 53 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Cumberland had only one previous catch all season against Syracuse, and did not even play any of the other games. Granted, he might be reserved for our godawful opponents so as to reduce the risk of injury to our key players the week before we played Ohio State, but he ran perfect routes and did a great job, so he probably won a bigger role in the offense with his performance last week.

Illinois punted only once the entire game, which is one rather effective way to not let your special teams ruin a blowout victory.

Bowl Update

As for Illinois' position for bowl games, the bad news is that it looks like the Illini have played their way out of the Austin-friendly Alamo bowl. Wait... that's GOOD news! Illinois is in third place in the Big Ten behind only Michigan and Ohio State (tied for first) and even a loss to Ohio State this week (plus a win against Northwestern) would keep us in Third Place at the end of the season. We also would own the head-to-head tiebreaker against two of the three other teams who could end up tied for third with us--Penn State and Wisconsin--so we would get the Big Ten's third-place bowl game over those two teams: either the Outback Bowl on New Years Day, or the Insight Bowl (formerly our favorite Micron PC Bowl where we crushed Virginia in 2000) on December 31.

Indeed, even losing to Ohio State would likely HELP our position due to the BCS. If Ohio State beats us but loses to Michigan, the Big Ten will likely get two BCS bids: one for Michigan as the Big Ten champion, and one for Ohio State who has been #1 all year and would likely not drop from #1 to out of the BCS with just one loss. With Ohio State taking an at-large BCS bowl bid, Illinois could get into the Capital One Citrus bowl, normally reserved for the #2 Big Ten team. (It happened last year, when #3 Wisconsin played in the Citrus bowl because #2 Michigan earned an at-large bid and #1 Ohio State played in the National Championship game.) However, if Ohio State loses to Illinois, then the Big Ten will probably only get one at-large BCS bid, and Illinois will fall to the Outback or the Insight bowl. Ironic, but true; a loss this week actually helps our bowl position and is very unlikely to hurt us.

November 12, 2007

Last year, and again at the start of this season, I said “Football is back at Illinois,” but even I did not expect this much so soon.

As if you don’t already know, Illinois upset #1 Ohio State in Columbus to advance to 8-3 and most likely secure third place in the conference and a New Years Day bowl bid. With quality-wins over Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State, Illinois just needs to beat Northwestern in Champaign next weekend to finish the regular season an amazing 9-3, with more wins than the past FOUR YEARS combined.

Third Base worked out perfectly as a venue for us. We had about 50 people show up: the best Illini crowd I have ever seen show up in Austin for a football game, and second only to the Final Four crowds we drew at Ringers in 2005. Thanks to everyone who showed up; and for those who did not, we have two football games left, and then the rest of Basketball season to keep it going.

Even the Third Base management got into the celebration, buying us a round of orange and blue jello-shots to celebrate the victory!

Game Recap

This game was phenomenal; and the best part was that it was not a fluke and that Illinois truly deserved to win.

It started as an intimidating slugfest: like two big punchers just standing in the middle of the ring slugging each other in the jaw and taking each other’s best shots without falling down. Ohio State scored a quick touchdown on two plays, including a 65-yard pass play due to blown coverage by our safeties. Just as we thought they had thrown a knockout punch to set the tone of a hapless home blow-out, backup Illini running back Daniel Dufrene broke free on our second play from scrimmage for a 70-yard run before being pushed down at the 3 yard line. He lost the ball as he went down, but it somewhat looked like the ground caused the fumble and Illinois got the next play off just as replays showed that the ball actually had come out well before he hit the ground. Juice bobbled the ensuing snap but quickly found Tight End Michael Hookmanawanui (I am NOT making that name up) on a fade route in the corner of the endzone for a touchdown. Five plays, two touchdowns. 7-7.

Ohio State then quickly sliced through our defense and drove for another touchdown, and just as I started shouting for no punts, Ohio State’s defense stopped our next drive on three plays. They swarmed our option, and sacked Juice for a loss. 14-7 bad guys.

After the punt, Illinois flirted with two consecutive takeaways, only to succeed on the next play when DeRae Hicks made a phenomenal, perfectly-timed, leap-up interception of a 15 yard-pass. Illinois drove down the field—including a key 14-yard pass to Kyle Hudson on 3rd and 12 to avoid going three-and-out—and Juice faked a handoff and hit Jacob Willis on for a 33-yard play-action, touchdown pass.

The two teams scored 28 first quarter points, 12 more than Illinois and Iowa scored in their entire game four weeks ago—and four minutes still remained in the first quarter.

The teams exchanged a few 3-and-outs. Then the dreaded special teams bug hit us, and a shanked punt gave Ohio State the ball at midfield. Ohio State got a first down and looked to be driving for another touchdown.

However, as if to demonstrate just how far this team has progressed, the Defense came to the rescue. Instead of falling into a field position hole due to a special teams gaff, Illinois stood up and took field-position back to their advantage through the next few series. First, the Defense pushed Ohio State back to a 4th-and 24, forcing them to punt. Taking the ball at the 20 yard-line, Illinois did not score, but drove far enough to pin the Buckeyes back on their 13 yard-line, shifting field position back to Illinois’ advantage. Illinois held Ohio State and got the ball back at midfield.

Ohio State’s defense held Illinois to nine yards on the next three downs. Illinois then showed how much they have progressed yet again. Instead of punting to potentially give the ball back to Ohio State at their 20 yard line, Zook chose to go for the first down. Mendenhall not only got it but ran for over 20 yards to keep alive and set up the go-ahead touchdown a few plays later: a beautiful nine-yard touch-pass to Kevin Gamble.

Illinois not only survived punch-for-punch with top-ranked Ohio State, they punched harder and went into halftime up 21-14. And the rowdy OSU fans in “the horseshoe” were rather… quiet.

Coming out of halftime, Ohio State held us to three-and-out on our first possession, and ran the punt back to our 42 yard-line. Ohio State quickly drove to the nine yard line, and a tying touchdown looked imminent. However, Illinois’ line pressured OSU’s quarterback to scramble and force a pass into the endzone. Illinois’ Marcus Thomas broke in front of the receiver to cut off the touchdown pass, but missed. Instead, the ball ricocheted off him to Antonio Steele deep in the end zone for the interception.

Illinois drove right into action. Although Ohio State had covered Illinois’ unique multiple-option set well in the first half, Juice started making better decisions without telegraphing them. Realizing that Ohio State had keyed on Mendenhall, Juice used the fake to Mendenhall and kept the ball more. Then on another play-action pass (fake handoff) Juice hit Wilkins for a 31-yard touchdown pass, and the crowd goes… silent. 28-14, Illinois.

Ohio State did not give up. Highlighted by upon a 35-yard run by their quarterback and a fourth-and-one conversion for a first down, Ohio State immediately drove down and scored on a 17 yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left in the 3rd quarter to cut the Illini lead to 28-21.

The OSU crowd went wild. They were happy… but for the last time in the game. The fourth quarter belonged to the Illini. Ohio State ran only three offensive plays in the fourth quarter. Our offense kept them off the field, and our defense made sure they didn’t stay on that long.

Illinois drove slowly, using its rushing attack to grind the clock down. 5-yards. 4-yards. 3-yards; first down. 4 yards. 6 yards; first down. Even when they were hit, they would still fall forward for positive yardage. Illinois drove to midfield, took 6 minutes off the clock, and punted deep into Ohio state territory to the OSU 17.

Ohio State drove out to the 36 on another run by Boeckman. But then, pressured into another scramble, Boeckman threw a 40-yard bomb deep into Illinois territory. But then Marcus Thomas made an adjustment, stepped inside the receiver, and intercepted the pass on the Illini 24 yard line. Eight minutes and nine seconds left.

Chip away again. 3 yards. 6 yard pass. ½ yard.

With 4th and inches from Illinois’ own 34, Illinois started to set up a run to keep the drive alive, but then changed and lined up for a punt. However, the shift caught Ohio State off guard with their run defense and some special teams kick coverage on the field. They needed to call timeout to avoid a penalty for too many men on the field that would have given Illinois the first down.

During the timeout, in a “Hoosiers”-like moment (the movie, not the school), Juice went to Zook and assured him, “I can get the first down.” Zook looked at him and responded, “You better.”

Illinois came out of the OSU timeout with its offense, went for the first down, and got it. Six minutes left.

2 yards. 1 yard. Juice up the middle for 12 yards; first down. 4:30 left.

1 yard. Lose a yard. Juice up the middle for 11 yards; first down. 3:30 left.

5 yards. 2 yards. Ohio State called its final timeout. On 3rd and 3, with Ohio State out of timeouts, and just over two minutes left in the game, Illinois only needed one more first down to ice the game. Juice then ran up the middle for four yards and got that first down. 2:00 left.

No gain. No gain. Take a knee. Game over. 28-21.

Illinois started celebrating at mid-field, and the Ohio State thugs took it personally and started swinging, causing a mild frucas on the field. They claimed Illinois “disrespected” their midfield logo.

Illinois had lost 40-2 at Columbus two years ago. And Ohio State essentially conceded the safety. Last year, Illinois played Ohio State closer than anyone but Florida in the National Championship game. This year, Illinois pulls of the upset.

Key Stats

Ohio State’s defense only allowed 7 touchdowns in its first ten games. Illinois scored 4 on them in one game. Ohio State had held other opponents to an average of 9.7 points per game; Illinois scored 28, the most all season against Ohio State’s statistically #1 defense in the country. Illinois did not turn the ball over, and took the ball away three times. Illinois had 400 yards of offense to Ohio State’s 336. Ohio State had held other teams to an average of only 222 offensive yards. Ohio State had also held teams to an average of only 65 rushing yards; Illinois put up 260 against them.

Other “Editorial Observations”

Instead of watching our players haplessly fall victim to faster, tougher opponents, our players hustled more, hit harder, showed more finesse, and made the big plays typical of a big-game program. Instead of watching the other team’s players make the extra effort to make big plays, our guys were the ones who slashed and grunted to make big plays on both offense and defense. Vontae Davis drilled Maurice Wells for a loss on a first-quarter screen pass, making even the broadcasters go “OOOW-OHHHH!!” Davis actually knocked himself senseless for a few scary moments as the training staff checked him as he laid motionless for a neck injury. Then he got up quickly and actually head-butted J Lehman on his way off the field.

Our interceptions also all required great adjustments and quick reactions by our defense, particularly the third quarter interception in the end zone that prevented Ohio State from tying the game.

As most have pointed out (including the announcers several times), the win was Illinois first victory over a #1 team since 1956, and the first time Illinois had EVER defeated the #1 team on the road.

Every play is important, but that interception was one of two crucial turning points in the game. The other was the Ohio state timeout in the fourth quarter, during which Zook decided to go for the first down on 4th and inches from our own 34 yard line. Had Ohio State stopped us, they would have had a short field to score the tying touchdown. But we still had time left on the clock to respond, and Zook trusted Juice to squeeze out the inches needed for the first down.

The victory was clearly a team win, with many different defensive and offensive players making key plays. Nonetheless, Juice was clearly the player of the game. He looked sharp again, passed the ball well, and made quick decisions in the option to completely confound Ohio State’s defense in the second half. Despite struggling with his passing for most of this season and last season, Juice showed great touch on his passes, and we scored all four of our touchdowns on mid-range passes on which Juice put the perfect touch.

I doubt even more now that Juice really had fully recovered from the concussion he suffered in the season opener against Missouri until the Ball State game two weeks ago. He made poor decisions his first few weeks back from that hit, and his passes were nothing but bullets with too much zip on them. Against Ohio State, he passed the ball well and looked like (dare I say it) Vince Young in his sophomore year, repeatedly running through the defense up the middle for critical first downs in the fourth quarter.

Ohio State obviously planned to focus on stopping Rashard Mendenhall, and Mendenhall did not have his customary dominating game, breaking free only a few times for big gains. However, he still ran for 88 yards, and in so doing became the single-season rushing record holder for Illinois: better than Red Grange in the days when the forward pass was considered a novelty.

J Lehman also played his best game of the year at linebacker, regaining his uncanny ability to not only shift with the play while keeping his feet under him, but weave through blockers to make the tackle. He recognized what the plays were and was often the first defender to contact the ball carrier. And after almost every play on defense, you could hear someone say, “There he is again!” He led Illinois with "only" 12 tackles.

Illinois closes the regular season against Northwestern next week in Champaign. Because it is the final game of the season, it would be shocking if Northwestern caught the Illini in a trap. With a New Years Day bowl bid likely against an unknown opponent, Illinois does not have much to distract them from preparing. And it did not sound like either Zook or Juice considered this season over, both of them focusing in their post-game comments on what they need to do to continue to improve.

Best yet, J Lehman is the only impact player we will lose to graduation. Virtually everyone else returns next year.

Football is back!!!

Lawrence Page

THE Austin Illini Club

Bowl Prediction Mythbusting

What a week! Illinois beats #1 Ohio State, and two of my three rec-league softball teams won their Fall league championships, one of which was due to a walk-off, three-run homer hit by... well, I don't like to brag.... (I don't know which you might feel more proud of, but I'm having a hard time deciding, myself. :-)

Illinois closes out the football season against Northwestern in Champaign. We will gather at Third Base to watch the Northwestern game at 10:45 this Saturday.  We had a huge crowd show up last week; let's keep it going. This is your last chance to watch our football team before its bowl game a month and a half from now.

Speaking of bowl games, I have a bit of myth-busting to do. Many people in their understandable enthusiasm have relied upon bowl-projections on ESPN.com or elsewhere. While these rival sports "experts" of mine might sometimes have good points to make, please read bowl projections with a grain of salt. Every year, several end-of-season twists and BCS upsets completely shake up the bowl picture. [Editors Note: a few hours after this post was published, #2 Oregon lost to lowly Arizona, eliminating them from the BCS title game after everyone had already written them in ink.]

Here's where we stand.  With an Illinois win and an Ohio State loss to Michigan, Illinois will clinch second place in the Big Ten, with Michigan winning the Big Ten Championship. Illinois won the head-to-head tiebreaker and would get sole possession of second place over Ohio State.  But that is not necessarily good. 

Bowls are not obligated to choose their teams in exact order of conference standings. For instance, "Big Ten No. 3" means "third choice of Big Ten teams" -- not "the Big Ten's third-place team." (The sole exception is the Rose Bowl, which must take the Big Ten Champ unless that team qualifies for the BCS championship game.) Thus, overall records, not just Big Ten records, would be more relevant to the Big Ten bowl selections after the Rose Bowl.

Thus, even if we get the second place tiebreaker over Ohio State, the Capitol One (Cirtus) bowl may still select Ohio State over us because they will probably remain ranked higher, would have a better overall record, and would arguably be a better draw (ticket sales and television viewing). However, if Florida ends up the SEC representative for the Cap One/Citrus bowl, then a Ron-Zook-vs-his-former-team matchup might be more preferable and news-worthy than a rematch of last year's blowout Championship game.  So Illinois might get the selection over OSU. Your guess is as good as the experts on that one.

Michigan, on the other hand, is ranked lower than us right now. A Michigan loss this weekend will result in our tying Michigan for second-place in the Big Ten, with Michigan taking the tiebreaker because they won the head-to-head game over us. However, if Michigan loses to Ohio State a week after we beat Ohio State, combined with their loss to Wisconsin last week (who we beat), combined with their opening and closing the season with two straight losses, combined with their likely dropping out of the Top-25, combined with Michigan's infamous Appalacian-State loss, we arguably would have a stronger case to be selected over an unranked Michigan if they lose this weekend than over Ohio State if they lose.   Indeed, Michigan would likely fall to the #4 bowl and Wisconsin would likely get selected for the #3 bowl (Outback Bowl), with Wisconsin having a better overall record and with Wisconsin's win over Michigan last week.  But it IS Michigan, who carries a lot of college football clout. 

As a result, we probably would have a BETTER chance of a Capital One/Citrus Bowl bid (#2 Big Ten choice) if we get third place in the Big Ten than if we got second place.  

Confused?  Exactly.  The bowl picture will remain muddy until the actual selections are made.

One thing is pretty much certain. A win over Northwestern will almost certainly mean we will play on New Years Day, either in the Capitol One (Citrus) bowl (#2 Big Ten) or the Outback Bowl (#3 Big Ten). It would be shocking for either Wisconsin or Penn State to leap-frog us, especially because we have more quality wins and we beat both those teams head-to-head. 

Illini Easily Beat Northwestern; Advance to 9-3; BCS Bowl?

For this edition of Bowl myth-busting, the simple line is that there are too many variables to tell where Illinois will land, but there is at least about a 30% chance Illinois will end up in a BCS bowl. The teams for whom we should root tomorrow to give Illinois a BCS at-large bid are outlined below.  In this order of preference, root for

Pittsburgh (over West Virginia);

Washington (over Hawaii);

Arizona (over Arizona State);

Virginia Tech (over Boston College); and

(gulp) Oklahoma (over Missouri) if West Va. does not lose to Pittsburgh;

    or

Missouri (over Oklahoma) if West Va. loses to Pittsburgh.

Alternatively, even if Illinois does not get an at-large BCS bowl bid, Illinois is a virtual lock for a New Years Day bowl: most likely the Citrus Bowl.

We still do not know where we will go, but there are two BCS scenarios for Illinois: either the Rose Bowl (if Ohio State moves up into the National Championship game due to a Missouri or West Virginia loss this weekend); or an at-large pick in one of the other bowls (essentially if Hawaii loses this weekend to Washington, Boston College loses to Va. Tech, and/or Arizona State loses to Arizona).

As much as I would love going to the Rose Bowl, my ideal world would actually involve our going to the Fiesta Bowl to play an overrated Kansas (or even a re-match against Missouri, even though we start next year against Missouri, again). Going to the Rose Bowl against USC or to the Citrus Bowl against Florida could result in a recurrence of the 2001 Sugar Bowl agaisnt LSU: a bit of humiliation for our young team, who still is fresh off a 2-10 season just last year. (But we could shock the world again, like we did at Ohio State.)

BCS explained.

The BCS Championship game now is an additional game instead of taking the place of one of the games. So there are 10 BCS slots available, not just 8: two for each of the four BCS bowls, plus two more for the National Championship game.

The first eligibility for BCS games (guaranteed) is the conference champions from the 6 major BCS conferences: SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac Ten, and ACC. Second, any team in the top-6 BCS poll also becomes automatically eligible, regardless of conference. Thereafter, any team in the top 14 is eligible for an at-large BCS bid.

Illinois is currently ranked 15th in the BCS, just short of at-large eligibility.

Each conference is limited to only two BCS teams. Thus, even though the SEC has four teams and the Big 12 has three teams in the Top-14 right now, they can only get two BCS bids. That effectively already moves Illinois up three spots to #12 (remove Tennessee-LSU loser and Florida; and remove either Oklahoma, Kansas or Missouri).

Three other BCS-eligible teams also play this week and could drop below Illinois with a loss: Arizona State, Hawaii, and Boston College. With all three losing, Illinois could move up to #12 in the BCS standings (thereby qualifying for an at-large bid), and an effective #9 BCS rank after eliminating the three surplus SEC and Big 12 teams. That scenario would virtually guarantee Illinois a BCS at-large bid.

The SEC and Big 12 will certainly get two BCS bids: the winner of the SEC conference title game and probably #4 Georgia for the SEC; and the winner of the Big 12 title game or Missouri/Kansas for the second spot. The Big East will likely get only one BCS team: West Virginia.

Here's where it gets tricky. The Pac Ten has two teams currently eligible for the BCS (USC and Arizona State), but Arizona State is on the edge and would drop out of eligibility with a loss to Arizona (not likely, but possible). The ACC could also get two BCS teams if Boston College beats Va Tech (not likely), but BC would likely drop out of at-large eligibility with a loss.

As a result, Illinois will almost certainly move up two to five spots and qualify for an at-large BCS spot. The question is whether we will get that at-large bid. With this season being so unpredictable, it is really difficult to tell what will happen.

Also, keep in mind that the Rose Bowl is not a lock if Ohio State moves up to the national Championship game. The Rose Bowl is initially committed to a Pac-Ten/Big-Ten Champion match-up, but as most of us here in Texas knows, if one of those champions are pulled for the National Championship game, the Rose Bowl can pick any other BCS-eligible team. Many pundits have pushed for Illinois, but just as many are pushing for Georgia, especially seeing how successful it was to bring Texas into the Rose Bowl three years ago.

Also, if Missouri wins the Big 12 Championship (thereby keeping Ohio State out of the National Championship game and us out of the Rose Bowl), Missouri's success would still improve our BCS ranking, making our close loss to them look even better.

Nonetheless, our best chance for a BCS bowl is if Ohio State moves into the National Championship game, because then we would have defeated one of the two championship teams, not lost to only one of them. The VERY best case for Illinois would be if West Virginia loses to Pittsburgh, and then Missouri beats Oklahoma, resulting in Ohio State playing Missouri in the National Championship game.

To add to it, we want Arizona State to lose to Arizona, Hawaii to lose to Washington, and USC to lose to UCLA.

The BCS current standings, with our ideal scenario in parentheses, and the key games bolded.

1. Missouri 11-1 (If W Va. wins, lose (somewhat likely). If W Va. loses, win (not likely))

2. West Virginia 10-1 (Lose to Pittsburgh) (not likely)

3. Ohio State 11-1 (idle)

4. Georgia 10-2 (idle)

5. Kansas 11-1 (idle--eliminated from BCS if Oklahoma wins)

6. Virginia Tech 10-2 (Win over Boston College) (likely)

7. LSU 10-2 (win over Tennessee--eliminated from BCS with a loss) (likely)

8. USC 9-2 (lose to UCLA) (unlikely)

9. Oklahoma 10-2 (If W Va. wins, beat Missouri (likely). If W Va. loses, lose to Missouri (not likely)) (eliminated from BCS with a loss)

10. Florida 9-3 (idle) (ineligible for BCS bowl)

11. Boston College 10-2 (lose to Va Tech) (likely) (will likely drop out of BCS with loss)

12. Hawaii 11-0 (lose to Washington) (possible) (will drop out of BCS with loss)

13. Arizona State 9-2 (lose to Arizona) (possible) (will drop out of BCS with loss)

14. Tennessee 9-3 (lose to LSU) (likely) (eliminated from BCS with loss, also moving Illinois into top-14, at-large qualification)

15. Illinois 9-3 (idle)

__________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 28, 2007

For more information, contact Cassie Arner 217-244-3886

Nov. 28, 2007

The University of Illinois athletic ticket office announced today the plan for placing Illini Football Bowl Game ticket requests. Beginning, Mon., Dec. 3 at 9 a.m., I FUND donors as of Nov. 1, 2007 and current season ticket holders will be given the exclusive opportunity to place requests for Illinois' upcoming bowl game.

Donors and season ticket holders will have from Dec. 3-7 to place ticket orders. All orders will be filled based on the I FUND/Season Ticket Holder Priority Point system. Those ordering tickets will be notified by Dec. 10, whether the requests have or have not been filled. If supplies remain after that point, the general public will have the chance to purchase tickets beginning Dec. 11.

An allotment of tickets has been reserved for University of Illinois student season ticket holders as well. Students who held season tickets for the 2007 season can place orders at the Athletic Box office of Assembly Hall beginning at 9 a.m. on Mon., Dec. 3. They will have from Dec. 3-5 to place those orders. Those students can purchase one ticket per person and they will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.

Students that did not purchase season tickets this season, may purchase tickets along with the general public on Dec. 11 if supplies remain.

For more information regarding placing bowl ticket orders, please contact the Illinois Athletic Ticket Office at 866-ILLINI-1 or visit Bowl Centralon fightingillini.com and CoachRonZook.com.

ILLINOIS BOWL TICKET ORDER TIMELINE

Dec. 3, 9 a.m. - Orders may be placed exclusively for I FUND Donors and Season Ticket Holders

Dec. 3, 9 a.m. - Orders may be placed by Student Season Ticket Holders

Dec. 5 - Deadline for student ticket requests

Dec. 7 - Deadline for I FUND Donors and Season Ticket Holder ticket requests

Dec. 10 - Notification of tickets issued to I FUND Donors and Season Ticket Holders

Dec. 11 - Tickets go on sale to the general public

Rose Bowl, Baby!!!

Can you believe it?!?!?!

After four years of being the Big Ten Cellar Dweller, Illinois is suddenly going to the Rose Bowl!

I have not been able to say that since I became an Illini back in the late 80s.

Granted, it is not as the Big Ten Champion, but as a replacement for Ohio State, who is going to the National Championship game. But for the first time since (sing it John Mayer) 1983, Illinois is going to Pasadena, this time as an at-large BCS selection!

As outlined on Friday, three of the key games went our way on Saturday, which was enough to move us into position to earn the at-large BCS bid.

First, Tennessee lost to LSU, knocking Tennessee below us in the BCS ranking, which moved us up to 14th and thereby technically qualify for an at-large bid.

Second, Boston College lost to Virginia Tech, knocking BC below us and pushing us up to 13th.

Third, West Virginia lost to Pitt, pulling Ohio State up out of the Rose Bowl and into the National Championship, and thereby also incidentally pulling our BCS rating higher by virtue of our win over Ohio State.

The three other key games did not go our way (Hawaii and Arizona State won and Missouri lost), but the first three were enough to propel us into the Rose Bowl as an at-large pick.

Arizona State ended up two spots above us in the final BCS standings at #11 but got snubbed by the BCS. They also only lost two games, compared to our three losses. So Gary thought (and insisted) that Arizona State would receive the last at-large BCS selection over us, most likely to the Fiesta Bowl instead of the Rose Bowl.

However, Arizona State did not beat the #1 team in the country, like we did: #1 both then and now. Arizona State did not play the combination of Ohio State, Missouri, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan. Instead, they faced only three ranked teams, losing to the only two that deserved to be ranked: Oregon and USC. Indeed, USC manhandled ASU at ASU. Although California was technically ranked when they played ASU, they ended up 3-6 in the Pac Ten, and 6-6 on the year; not exactly hot stuff and thus not worth including. ASU also did not look good against a rather bad Arizona team last weekend. Without ASU boasting any marquee wins, Illinois was the better choice.

Moreover, Illinois would certainly draw more tourism dollars to Pasedena and the Rose Bowl than Arizona State would draw to the Fiesta Bowl in its home town of Tempe Arizona. (Namely, zero boost to the local economy). Gotta account for the Benjamins.

Many also thought that the Rose Bowl would select Georgia as the replacement for Ohio State, because the Rose Bowl held first choice for the replacement of the #1 BCS team. With the success of Texas' trip to the Rose Bowl three years ago, and Georgia being ranked #3 in the BCS, Georgia-USC seemed like a more marquee match-up. However, Georgia is a more natural fit in the Sugar Bowl, which selected Georgia. The Rose Bowl clarified that they wanted to honor to Big Ten-Pac Ten tradition if at all possible.

As for the obvious question, no, I don't have any inside information on how to get Rose Bowl tickets. Neither does the Alumni Association or anyone at the Alumni Association. (I tried it for Final Four tickets 2 1/2 years ago). The tickets are controlled by the Athletic Department and the U of I Foundation.

Tickets go on sale for I Fund donors and student section season ticket holders Monday morning; the rest get sold starting the following Tuesday, December 11.

Scalpers, ticket brokers, and locals also have an allotment of general public tickets.

The Austin Illini often watch football games at Legends Sports Bar & Grill.  Legends is located in Northwest Austin, inside the Holiday Inn at the Southwest corner of MoPac and Route 183 (two of the major expressways in Austin).  Legends is easy to find but difficult to get to.  It is accessible only from the Southbound frontage road of Mopac or the Eastbound Frontage Road of Route 183.  From the North, take the MoPac Frontage Road straight underneath the Route 183 overpass, re-merge with the Frontage Road, take the first immediate right turn at Tallwood, and then the next right turn on Business Park Drive.  From the West heading East on the Route 183 Frontage road, take the last right turn before the turn onto the Northbound MoPac Frontage (Business Park Drive) or the first right turn after the curve (Tallwood) and the first right thereafter to get to Legends.  A map is below.

MAP TO LEGENDS FOR AUSTIN ILLINI GAMEWATCHING:

Third Base is family friendly and conveniently located near 6th and Mo-Pac with ample parking.  A map to Third Base is at their website: http://www.thirdbaseaustin.com/map.

Although in a slump the past five years, Illinois football goes back over a century of tradition, with 4 National Championship and Red Grange (kicking, below), Dick Butkus, and Simeon Rice among some of our most prominent football Alumni.  With the hiring of Ron Zook and the overhaul of the football program, we have high hopes for the future.  

Memorial Stadium, built in the 1920s as a tribute to World War One veterans, was also the home of the Chicago Bears a few years ago when Soldier Field was being rebuilt.  As opposed to many bowl-shaped stadiums where two-thirds of the seats are behind the end zones, Memorial Stadium features two giant balconies so as to place more than two-thirds of the seats where they belong: between the goal lines.  

Tailgating outside Memorial Stadium is also a time-honored tradition.  Because Memorial Stadium is located on the far Southern end of campus next to the Intramural fields, most people tailgate together in a large field, as opposed to in crowded concrete parking lots. 

[ Home ] [ 2006 ] [ 2005 ] [ 2004 ] [ Recaps ]

Copyright © 2004, 2007 Austin Illini