Someone asked if Saturday’s 28-21 victory over No. 1-ranked Ohio State was the biggest victory in Illini football history and, to be honest, I’m having a tough time coming up with a bigger one.
The Memorial Stadium dedication game in 1924, when Grange ran wild to beat Michigan, was a biggie. But in the last 50 years, what could have been bigger than beating the No. 1-ranked team on the road, a game that signaled the coming-of-age of an Illini team and its quarterback, Juice Williams?
Juice has been a frustrating guy to watch, at times, and even he’d admit that. His coaches have used great patience bringing him along and he stepped up big-time Saturday, throwing for four touchdowns and running with a wild-eyed determination on a game-ending drive that ate up the final 8:09 minutes, frustrating an Ohio State defense that simply was unable to get the ball back.
Four times on that final drive Williams ran for a first down including a fourth-and-inches sneak that probably wouldn’t have happened if not for Ohio State calling time out when it had too many men on the field once Illinois sent its punt team out there. Because of the timeout, Illinois had time to think about the decision and Williams (encouraged by freshman wideout Brian Gamble) went to Zook and pleaded for a chance to pick up the first down.
Actually, Williams said he assumed they’d call a running play for Rashard Mendenhall, who set the single-season rushing record with 88 yards (pushing him to 1,402 for the season). Instead, offensive coordinator Mike Locksley had Williams sneak, and he picked up the first down.
Here’s what was really impressive: Illinois did not have a single turnover and committed just one penalty. Three times Illinois intercepted Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman. And Illinois overcame injuries to three key starters.
When cornerback Vontae Davis went out with a concussion, freshman Marcus “Miami” Thomas of Chicago stepped in and was tremendous. He picked off one pass and deflected another that was intercepted by linebacker Antonio Steele.
When receiver Rejus Benn was sent to the sidelines (also a concussion), Decatur’s Marques Wilkins and Ohio native Brian Gamble stepped in, each hauling in a touchdown pass.
And when starting fullback Russ Weil went out with a twisted knee, Rahkeem Smith filled in and blocked admirably.
If Illinois beats Northwestern this week, it is assured of no worse than a second-place tie in the Big Ten. Which means not just bowl game, but GOOD bowl game, New Year’s Day bowl game.
Kudos to offensive coordinator Mike Locksley for what I thought was a magnificent game plan and kudos to linebacker J Leman, who led the defense with 12 tackles but who seemed like he was in on 22.
And kudos, of course, to Juice Williams, whose confidence should now take a monster step forward after winning a close game, a tough game, against the No. 1 team in the country on their Senior Day in front of 105,453 fans, the fifth largest crowd of Ohio Stadium history.
Switching to basketball, the regular-season opener is (Sunday) at 1 p.m. (Central) against Northeastern. As of Friday, Bruce Weber still hadn’t settled on a starting five. In fact, he listed seven starters on the press release noting that either Rodney Alexander OR Mike Davis OR Bill Cole would start at one forward spot.
He’s amazed that someone like Davis could go from being a sure redshirt to a potential starter. Ditto for Cole. I’m not sure Mike Tisdale will play today, but right now, he’s very much in Weber’s plans. I asked him who would be the No. 1 backup for Shaun Pruitt against a team with a legitimate low post player and he said Tisdale. That means he has moved Brian Carlwell out of his plans for the time being and Weber said Carlwell has work to do if it wants to get “back in the mix.” But since Northeastern does not have a real low post player, Weber may delay using Tisdale for a bit. Or he might play him. Weber himself said he wasn’t sure.
“I asked my coaches to list players 1 through 9,” Weber said. “Then I asked them who 10 and 11 are. I got all kinds of different answers. I’m not sure any of us know.”
The four certain starters are Brian Randle, Shaun Pruitt, Trent Meacham and Chester Frazier.
In the first five games, Illinois will have one home game, one true road game (Hawaii at Honolulu) and three neutral site games (at the Maui Invitational). They thought long and hard about the Hawaii game but the game is exempt (it does not count against your team total of allowed games) and when Hawaii agreed to return the game to Champaign next year, they went for it. I think it’s good because there is value in playing some true road games early.
The university is still exploring how he can make Michael Jordan’s visits work for the father of Illini freshman Jeffry Jordan. The NBA legend said he would like to attend some games and see his son, but he would like to limit the distractions and be able to focus on the game.
“It’s just that anywhere he goes he attracts so much attention,” Webver said. “And there are NCAA rules for what we can do as far as parents. Our department is communicating with the NCAA. I hope they have some common sense. There are special cases and we have to look at things like parking and getting him into the arena.
“I want him to be a dad and get to watch the game. It’s hard for him to do that like any other father because people are always hounding him for autographs and pictures. We’ll do our best to meet his needs within reason so he can enjoy watching his son.”
So far as anyone knows, Michael Jordan does not plan to attend today’s game. But I would look for him in Hawaii, where there’s plenty of great golf and lots of NBA scouts for Michael to mingle with. Plus, Jeff Jordan’s birthday is Nov. 18, so what better way to be on hand for a little cake and ice cream?
November 10th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
OUTSTANDING! OUTSTANDING! OUTSTANDING!
To Juice, and J. and KYLE “Freakin” Hudson, Marcus Thomas, Dufrene, The entire Offensive Line and entire Defensive Line, Ah Heck - all of you Illini warriors…Thank you! You guys were absolutely stellar today; all of you! Ohio State didnt give you anything. You kicked down the door in Columbus and said “here we are! Now lets play some football!”
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…and to the coaches. These guys played in a way that just screamed discipline and excellent coaching and I give you the credit for getting these guys to a place that makes a win like this possible….and also an excellent game plan. OUTSTANDING!
November 10th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
It is time for some honesty. I am amazed that it is their coach with funny time outs. I was wrong about Zook for a long time, maybe he can coach. I believe Locksley can call a game now. Juice is a real college quarterback. Mendenhall didn’t have so many yards, but he still ate up the time and the game and deserves to be making money next fall. All in all, I think things will be pretty good around here with or without him. I am very impressed! (Go Air Force)
November 10th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Wow! What a great win for the Illini. I used to agree with Ky Mike & Brooks about Williams arm not winning games for Illinois, but now I am very pleasantly surprised by the way he played today. what would you have thought if at the beginning of the season someone had said Illinois would be 8-3 and beat Ohio State? I would have said it was impossible. What a great game. I was especially impressed with the ‘gutsy’ fourth down plays. Go Illini!
November 11th, 2007 at 12:01 am
What a game!!!! Congrats to the Illini and their win over #1
(or should I say former #1) OSU. Maybe one the most exciting Illini football games I’ve ever seen and one of the most impressive outings I’ve seen from an Illni QB. Juice was un-frickin-believable. I guess that QB by committee talk can quiet down for now.
The stat of the game….OSU had the ball for only 74 seconds in the fourth quarter. Pretty amazing. And it was all because of Juice, a heck of a blocking effort from the O line and that gutsy (although somewhat crazy) 4th down call.
This game sure is a good sign for things to come.
Go Illni!!!!
November 11th, 2007 at 12:16 am
What a great win for the program!!! The 2 things I like most about it were:
1. It was the “anti-Michigan game”. Good play calling (how bout that play action folks?) Discipline, execution under pressure, no turnovers, no switcheroo with the qb’s, etc. It was Crisp & Clean.
2. What will now go down in Illini history as “THE DRIVE”!! Everyone knew that if OSU got the ball back they were going to tie the game. The fans were waiting for it, the osu coaches were waiting for it and they are STILL waiting for it. We ripped their hearts out. How awesome was that?? How more frustrating could it be to be on OSU and never get the chance to make that last big charge to Win the game? You don’t se a drive like that very often and I for one LOVED IT!!!
Oh, and I also loved us going for it on the 2 4th downs. What do they always say? Play for the win on the road and the tie at home. I am not a big fan of gutless coaches and I thought Zook showed up strong tonight (though he needed some prodding from Juice and me yelling at him through my TV on the last one).
November 11th, 2007 at 12:37 am
Ye gods, what a game! I think I picked the Illini to win 4 or 5 games when I looked at the schedule. Eight already, and could well reach 10. And now the recruits will have even more reason to come.
Oskee wow wow! Hail to the Chief!
November 11th, 2007 at 1:04 am
Huge win today. Juice played a great game. And how about Miami? Interception and then he knocked away the touchdown pass that ended up getting intercepted. What a great day to be an Illini fan.
I am still in favor of McGee though. One game doesn’t change anything. Sorry Magoo. Still love you my MTZ brother. haha. Juice makes nice throws down the field. 4 touchdowns. Amazing. But if I told you that Juice would throw for 141 yards and Rashard would have no touchdowns, you would say that we absolutely had no chance of winning. That’s why I love football. Several drops on Juice passes. Not his fault. The only thing that drives me nuts about Juice is he can’t throw the short to mid range pass. It’s either way off or 100 mph. No complaining today though. He played a great game.
Any one else like the 4th and 1 call being run out of the shotgun???? I know Rashard made it, but ugh!!!!!! Also, saw that the Ohio State boards said we won because the officials weren’t calling obvious holding calls on us. I thought we played a clean game. Sore losers I guess.
Jake- Pearl didn’t clean up our program. We had minor, self reported violations. Pearl lied to get his name in the press. You honestly can never call yourself an Illini fan again. You are dead to me. You have no basketball knowledge if you think that Pearl is a good coach. Wow.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:56 am
WOW!! Seven TD’s in the last two games for Juice!
And people STILL find things to complain about with him. Yeah, I’m talking about you, BrooksTaylor.
GO ILLINI!!!!!!
November 11th, 2007 at 3:13 am
Grat game…congrats to the FIGHTING ILLINI for this hard-fought and well-earned win.
I only have one simple question…how in the world did we ever lose to Iowa?
November 11th, 2007 at 4:30 am
A pretty good reason never to bet on college football - emotion and passion. You could almost feel the intensity on the part of every Illinois player on almost every play. One has to be very impressed with Coach Zook and his staff not only for a solid game plan, but making the team believe. crk
November 11th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Kudos also to the offensive line and to the defense! They put pressure on the OSU QB and the secondary came up big!
Juice is the man at QB. He proved he deserved it and he is getting better each game. He saved the day in the 4th qtr with his runs. OSU couldnt handle his tree trunk legs. See you in Florida on New Years Day?
November 11th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Top 4 myths busted on Saturday night:
1. Zook can’t win the big game. One of the biggest wins in Illini history.
2.Juice hasn’t improved and has no confidence. He was by far the class QB on the field last night. Found the open receivers. Made the correct option decisions. Took the offense on his shoulders.
3. Illinois never gets any calls/ there’s a referee conspiracy. Dufrene’s 80 yard run ended in a fumble. The correct call was a touchback to OSU. I fear the domino effect on events had the play been called correctly.
4. Illinois is an option team. We’re a team that runs some option plays. We had two 30+ yard TD passes. This offense has enough sophistication to take us anywhere we want to go.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:05 am
QuikHits:
Near perfection by the Illini - maybe the best performance ever by any Illinois team in history. The play reminded me of the Villanove upset of Georgetown in the ?’86? B’ball NC game.
Vontae Davis’ hit on ‘lil Wells was vicious - both players were stunned.
Juice was awesome and I loved to see him give God the glory in the postgame.
Lockley called a beautiful game. M’hall was marked, but Locks didn’t give up. The constant pounding paid off in the end - OSU defense was tired.
Congrats, Zookers - you’re a wonderful coach and man.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:07 am
What a great game it was, one of the best and most exciting games I have seen in some years and definitely the most exciting Illinois game that I have seen. It will be a great boost for the recruiting being on the national stage. This after a couple of months being on the NY Times newspaper for supposedly “funny recruiting”, I see Illinois again on the NY Times, this time in a positive limelight.
Where are all the guys calling for firing Ron Guenther now?
Link
November 11th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Brooks, You have got to be kidding me. Arguably the greatest win in the history of Illinois football and you want to throw your big “One game doesn’t change anything”. Are you nuts?! Seriously.
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I have stayed out of this so far but this is ridiculous. Juice gets better and better and now he is borderline scary and being mentioned in next years Heisman race; not by us, by the national media. But you say, sit him down in favor of a freshman.?! You do realize that Zook would be (and should be fired) if he were to bench Williams after Saturday?
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Hey I like McGee too but dude, figure it out.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Can we all just say ILLINOIS!!!!
Just a thought, Make MJ an assistant Coach( said tongue in cheek)
November 11th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Brother Brooks — I will side with you foreer on the praise for Weber and his ability to coach a badly injured team with no good practice bodies or uninjured players to a NCAA season, and I will never get tired of repeating it. But I gotta say — Juice is the man!
November 11th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Brooks - Obviously you’re entitled to your opinion, but McGee wouldn’t have had a chance against OSU. We killed them with the run in the 4th qtr. McGee couldn’t have given us that kind of effort and maintained his poise. At least give Juice some credit man…heck of a game. We’ll just have to agree to disagree. Should be interesting to see how KYM spins this though…….
November 11th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Wasn’t it great to see Marques Wilkins have such an impact. I noticed him blocking on quite a few plays, too. Too bad one he caught for a first got called back. Other area athletes, Britt Miller, Kyle Hudson, Justin Harrison- all very noticeable in the win.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Great WIN to all of you Illini Fans that think Juice can’t get it done, are you for real Bet you have never coached a game but maybe from your couch and I know all of us on here have never played in front of the crowds that these young men have played in front of friendly and Hostile, So why dont we just let them play and be happy with the wins and take the good out of the losses it can be done you know. Oh and disgusted we lost to Iowa because we wern’t ready.
November 11th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Anybody still think Eddie McGee should be starting ahead of Juice Williams?
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I have been watch Illinois football since 1964 when I was ten years old. I don’t know if this is the biggest win but it is the best game I have ever seen Illinois play. No turnovers, one penalty, good game plan, good play calling and good execution on the field. To beat #1 you need to play flawlessly, which I think we did, and you need a little luck, which I think we got on the Dufrene non-fumble fumble.
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Ron Zook needs a new nickname like “Ron Zeus” or “The Zookinator”.
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On the down side, this win probably increases the chances that we will lose Mike Locksley to an almost certainty.
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How about the class of Jim Tressel in handling this loss. Could you imagine how Lloyd Carr or Charlie Weis would have acted?
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FRG - I think it’s high time you made a positive post about our AD. If you are going to give Ron Gunther the raspberries every time something happens that you don’t like, you have to give him credit when some thing incredibly good happens. Don’t just remain mute, let’s hear from you.
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Having been born and raised in the Quad Cities, the Iowa loss stung really bad just because it was the hated Squawkeyes. Now, it could prevent us from winning the Big Ten. If we had won that game and if Ohio State beats Michigan and we beat Northwestern next week, we would have tied Ohio State for the Big Ten title and we would have had the Rose Bowl tie breaker. Just when I thought I couldn‘t hate Iowa any more than I already do.
November 11th, 2007 at 11:52 am
whata gameplan. Outcoached Tressel. Embarrased him. Way to go zook and staff
November 11th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I’m not sure if it was the greatest game or not, but has there ever been a better non-scoring drive in Illini history. Chewing up 8:09 to end the game. Even Woody Hayes might be in awe of that.
Bob
November 11th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Mark,
What a fantastic game against tOSU! Not only did the Illini win, but they made it look like it was not a fluke. Simply amazing after what has happened in 2002 through 2006. We had 50+ screaming fans at Players Sports Bar in San Diego. One of them was Sam Price, the running back (Grabowski was the fullback) from the 1965 Rose Bowl team.
Hope to see you in Maui! Maybe I can buy you and John a brewski.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
As a 12 year old I saw Illinois upset #1 MSU on the shoulders of Abe Woodson and Mickey Bates. It has been a long time.
Rashard M will never get the credit he deserves for this win because his numbers were not great. In the final drive OSU must have been fearing him breaking one and they hounded him allowing Juice to make the great decisions with third and x. Without the respect due Mendenhall(sp) Juice would have never pulled off those first downs. I love Dufrene and look forward to him, Pollard, Leseure (sp) and Hodges next year of RM goes pro. football is fun again. I agree that Juice is a winner and our B10 loses were when we were playing musical QB not when Juice ran the show.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Yotter-
your right it was AWESOME to see Marques make his first TD catch against the no. 1 team!! Also nice to see the other area players do well..
November 11th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Illinois 28, Ohio State 21-And THAT is why Juice is the QB. No turnovers, and he has developed a really nice touch on the long pass. He also recognizes when it is open. He saw the safety bite up on the play action on the second TD. And Brooks, if the first TD wasn’t a short to mid-range pass, what was it? Yes, I would like to see McGee play a little more, but Juice has proven the coaches right in the last 2 games. Juice is a load for any defense, especially with that offensive line in front of him. Those guys played maybe the best game I have ever seen from an Illinois offensive line. And Mendenhall was exactly what we needed him to be in that game. He was great on first down whether it was a 3-yard pickup or a 7- yard pickup, it kept Ohio State off-balance all day. Reminded me of some of the games Turner called at Ohio State. It’s 2 p.m. (that’s afternoon) and I may go to bed now. I think I finally might be able to sleep. Northwestern will be very tough next week. It always means more to them than it does to us.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Anybody know if ESPN 360 is available on DirectTV? I haven’t been able to locate it.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Great Game. It was good to see Marques Wilkins making plays. I think Britt Miller was in on almose every kickoff tackle.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
SATURDAY WAS PRETTY GOOD PAYBACK TO OHIO STATE FOR ENDING THE ILLINI BASKETBALL TEAMS’ CHANCE AT AN UNDEFEATED SEASON A FEW YEARS AGO.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
10-29-1983 Illinois 16, Michigan 6. Michigan wasn’t #1, but that was a bigger win.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Are you folks that still question why Juice is playing friggin’ touched in the head or what? Did you watch the game? Did you listen to OSU’s coach’s comments? There is like an elephant in the front room you fail to mention…..HE CAN RUN!!!! With the help of the O-line he took the heart right out of that team with his feet. That game was all about ball control, limiting turnovers, and playing a disciplined game and that was what they did and that was primarily on the ground. And Mendenhall was great blocking yesterday even if he didn’t have a ton of yards. Great win!! Go Juice and go Illini!
November 11th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Jake,
Where is the 5th myth that McGee is better at QB?
Bart,
I think your right. The dude is nuts IRT McGee better.
Keep on rollin Illini!
November 12th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Namber-You are right on brother re. Mendenhall. I would love to see him in an Illini uniform one more year - but you cannot deny him the big money.
Kevin-I was there when we beat Michigan (and everyone else that year), drove from Ann Arbor on Saturdays to see them, but I will respectfully disagree. Saturday’s win was the biggest!! tOSU akready had their NC game reservations made, and we were not expected to beat them (see my post from Friday). I fully expected to beat Michigan in ‘83. This one was bigger!
November 12th, 2007 at 9:21 am
pizzaman-Great observation. Let’s give Zook and Locksley lifetime contracts!!
Well, OK, maybe that’s a bit much, but you get the idea.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Great win for the Illini! You all have covered everything very well, so I won’t repeat with similar comments. I will say this one thing, though. I got just as excited about the 1st downs on that final drive as I did about the TD passes. I’ll bet that was the quietest 100′000 + crowd in that horseshoe in a long time. Also, I don’t feel the least bit guilty about the Dufrene non-call. We’re still way behind on things like that. Both teams must have thought that there wasn’t a fumble, since the Illini weren’t in any hurry to get the next play off & the demeanor on the OSU sideline didn’t indicate that they thought something was wrong. I’m sure they’re regretting that after seeing the replay. Some people on this board have talked about J Leman getting pushed around, but I must be missing it. He looked pretty good to me & he’s getting national attention for an award.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:26 am
I loved the Zook and Juice interview at the end of the game. So much emotion it was priceless. It was like one of those Hoosier movie moments. I love you guys. Very, Very proud to be part of the Illini Nation.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
PA Chief Lover-Yes I am ecstatic the team won, but this does not mean we should ignore RG’s previous handling of the football program. 72-109-2 does not lie.
November 12th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Congrats to all the Illini team. Saturdays “upset” was no fluke, as talk in the hallways at work was that the Illini would take them! This was the most well executed, nearly flawless, and imopressive game, on the national stage I’ve seen Illinois play in my 34 years watching them. Just to let you guys know the impact, there was even talk in the lineup on the Northside of the Huntington Beach Pier, on this Monday morning, about what a great job the Illini O-line and Juice and Defense did. That was a classic victory for ESPN and the ages! Hail to the Orange and Blue!
November 12th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Dear Fire Ron Gunther
Is it possible to win the right way? If so, do you accept some losses when trying to rebuild a shipwreck? Perhaps we are finally in the position to do it right, something we haven’t always done in the past. If so, it is worth the wait and you must lighten up my friend.