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OH HSKR FAN

All-American
Will the Illini finish in the top half in 2007?

I personally feel that Zook got the raw deal at Florida. Never easy to replace the legend at a school.

Illinois was 2-10 last year but their rushing offense was ranked 13th in the nation? If they are running the ball that well one would think they would be able to control more clock and win more games. As we all know Time of Posession is an important stat in games.

Now here is the statistical anomaly. The Illini were 38th in total defense but 90th in scoring defense. Turnovers and special teams absolutely killed them.

Look at some of their scores this year.

IU L 32-34
Ohio L 17-20
Wisky L 24-30
Bucks L 10-17

Zook is a hell of a recruiter from what it appears.
 
If they would play consistent defense like they played against Ohio State (granted some of it was caused by "Tressel ball"), they should have a very good chance of finishing in the top half. What year is Teddy Lehman or whatever his name was? No. 47... He's a pretty good player (had a few cheapshots/no calls against Ohio State) and has a lot of intensity.
 
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Illinois is a team on the rise. CONSISTENCY, especially on Offense is the key to their success next year. They had a Freshman QB, but the guy is a real talent and should be much better with a year under his belt. Zook is putting together a good recruiting class and so the future is bright.
 
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Juice Williams looks to me like the real deal. I think Illinois will be a team that nobody wants to play next year.

Anybody ever read Phil Steele's college football preview? Steele believes that very good or very poor turnover margins are mostly luck that will reverse itself the following year. If a team (like Illinois) looks good on the stat sheet but has a poor record, he'll peg them much higher for the upcoming year if he decides their record is due to turnovers. The man's right more often than not. I think Illinois is due for a bowl game next year. C****s S****s Bowl sounds about right.
 
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Was just talking about Zook today with a co-worker who is--get this shit--a fan of both Michigan and Florida. We both agreed that Zook is a solid recruiter but can't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. You could give him an NFL team and he'd still go 4-4 or 5-3 in conference...
 
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MililaniBuckeye;693424; said:
Was just talking about Zook today with a co-worker who is--get this shit--a fan of both Michigan and Florida. We both agreed that Zook is a solid recruiter but can't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. You could give him an NFL team and he'd still go 4-4 or 5-3 in conference...
Good enough for an eight-year extension at Illinois.
 
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I really don't think that Illinois did so well against Ohio State. Tressel was making a point to his team in the second half. The lesson did them well in preparing for running the ball and controlling the clock in the following games. Zook shouldn't get too much credit for that.
 
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