Observations on the huge victory over Illinois, 45-28!

1-Our defense is atrocious! They had 543 yards in total offense, and 29 first downs to go with 28 points. Thank God for the five turnovers, and the one that we gave back, but the referees blew the whistle early! Cato June and Ernest Shazor were burned deep for long TD passes by Lloyd and Young; we could sure use a good recruit at free safety (Mundy, Whitner, Hiley, Hall, McCoy, etc.). We have virtually no pass rush unless we blitz. Our linebackers are consistently blocked, and they consistently miss tackles (Diggs, McClintock, Kaufman, Reid, etc.); I'm not sure if Woodley is good enough to start next year, but we really need help at linebacker. Our safeties are so pathetic that game films are showing teams to throw deep, and still we can't adjust; we are getting burned constantly deep. We had three sacks both on blitzes (Curry, June and Drake). Beutjer was 25 of 49 for 368 yards, but had 3 picks to go with 2 TDs. Hobson led our defense with 8 tackles; LeSueur McClintock and Kaufman had 6 each. Jackson had two picks and Drake had one; Julius Curry recovered the fumble caused by Hobson. Brabbs picked up the fumble caused by Woods on the kickoff, and ran to the 1. Perhaps, we should look at Brabbs as a backup to Perry. They did only have five 3rd down conversions.

2-Navarre has led us to 6 red zone touchdowns and 45 red zone points; he was poised and solid. He was 22 of 37 for 264 yards, 4 TDs/No Picks and only two sacks. Our passing game was ready for Illinois attacking defense. We were 7 of 14 in 3rd down conversions with Navarre. We had 20 first downs, and 14 were by passing. Braylon Edwards did an awesome job against their 1st round draft pick corner, Eugene Wilson, with 4 catches for 101 yards and 1 TD, Bellamy had 5 catches for 34 yards and 1 TD, Calvin Bell had 5 catches for 51 yards and Joppru (player of the game) had 7 catches for 77 yards and 2 TDs. We had 17 points off turnovers which ended up being the difference in the game. It looked like the 2 or 3 tipped passes by the Illini were not Navarre's fault, but our offensive line's fault for not blocking properly; we also had at least 3 dropped passes. Give Navarre an A+ in this game!

3-Special Teams play wasn't a factor until right at the end of the half with our blocked field goal maintaining our momentum. They had two field goals, and one blocked; we had one of one field goal. They punted three times to our six punts. Coverage was good on punts and kickoffs except for the one 39 yard return, and we did create a turnover on one kickoff that led to 3 points.. Brabbs and Neinberg looked solid today, let's hope it keeps up. Brabbs had the nice pooch punt that was downed at the one, and led to the turnover on Jackson's 2nd pick. We almost had another downed punt inside the five, but it hit the line. They had 5 penalties for 55 yards compared to our 2 penalties for 20 yards; this really shows discipline and poise on our part (much improvement from Notre Dame). Time of possession was 4 minutes in our favor thanks to the turnovers.

4-It looked like Stenavich started over Morgan at Left Tackle, Combs over Markus Curry at corner and Kashama starts over Woods replacing Orr (I think he tipped the pass that led to Jackson's 2nd pick). Heuer didn't start, and I believe Bowman has replaced him. Watson logged a lot of playing time in the second half, and looked good on some plays.

5-Perry had 22 rushes for 90 yards and 2 TDs (no fumbles), but our rushing game wasn't real effective with only 138 yards (improved in the second half). Their rushing game netted 175 yards after three sacks. David Underwood showed why he's second string with a fumble in the red zone, but he and Bracken did log some valuable time with 11 carries between them for 42 yards. Our running game must improve if we expect to beat Iowa and Ohio State along with other tough opponents like Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State.

6-Matt Sinclair, a former M recruit from St. Louis, led the Illini with 11 tackles. The son of former Michigan standout, Jerry Schumaker, also looked solid with 9 tackles and some were very hard hits followed by his running his mouth.

7-Other than perhaps Ohio State and Michigan State, I don't think there is anyone that Lloyd Carr would rather beat than Illinois since he and Moeller were fired in the 1980s.

8-Lloyd is using the bench to send messages to Tyrece Butler, Markus Curry and others who don't perform. butler looked good against Washington, but against Notre Dame he was very tentative and even possibly intimidated. If he wants playing time, he better step up. Combs has beaten out Curry for the corner position I believe; he really is looking good at corner.

Observations on the first half with the fighting Illini, 28-13!

1-Our defense is atrocious! Thank God for the three turnovers, and the one that we gave back, but the referees blew the whistle early! Cato June should be benched in favor of Shazor; he looks like a freshman. We have virtually no pass rush unless we blitz; our front four is pathetic against the run and the pass. Our linebackers are consistently blocked, and they consistently miss tackles (Diggs, McClintock, Kaufman, Reid, etc.). Our safeties are so pathetic that game films are showing teams to throw deep, and still we can't adjust; we are getting burned constantly deep. The Illini have over 300 yards in offense (315), and have only been forced by our defense to punt twice; however, it is their 3 turnovers that have killed them (attribute this to our hard-hitting style). Beutjer made us look foolish defensively with all the missed tackles on one scramble that was called back for holding, but it sure did expose our defensive weaknesses. We have two sacks both on blitzes (Curry and Drake). They have 16 first downs. Beutjer is 13 of 28 for 198 yards, but has 2 picks and 1 TD. Hobson, Julius Curry and Kaufman lead our defense with 5 tackles each. Jackson and Drake have picks and Julius Curry recovered the fumble caused by Hobson. They only have 2 3rd down conversions in 7 attempts.

2-Navarre has led us to 4 red zone touchdowns; he is poised and looking solid. He would be even better if it weren't for 3 drops. He is 15 of 25 for 175 yards, 3 TDs/No Picks and only one sack. Our passing game was ready for Illinois attacking defense, and we have 4 TDs so far; at this rate, we'll score 56 points. We are 5 of 9 in 3rd down conversions. Braylon Edwards is doing an awesome job against their 1st round draft pick corner with 4 catches, Bellamy has 3 and Joppru 4 catches

3-Special Teams play hasn't been a factor until right at the end of the half with our blocked field goal maintaining our momentum. They have two field goals, and one blocked. They have punted twice to our four punts. Coverage has been good on punts and kickoffs as almost everything has been a touchback or fair catch except the one penalty with Brandon Williams tripping into the returner early in the game. Brabbs and Neinberg look solid so far, let's hope it keeps up. They have 4 penalties for 40 yards to our 2 penalties for 20 yards. Time of possession has been about even, but again the difference here is turnovers; otherwise, they'd be dominating time of possession. Each team has come close to blocking a punt.

4-It looks like Stenavich started over Morgan at Left Tackle, Combs over Markus Curry at corner and Kashama starts over Woods replacing Orr. Heuer didn't start, and I believe Bowman has replaced him.

5-Perry has 11 rushes for 49 yards, but our rushing game hasn't been real effective except in between our passing; our net rushing is only 57 yards. It looks like we'll have another sub-200 yard rushing day. Their rushing game has 117 yards net after two sacks so they are exposing our weak linebacking which is easy to see on film preparing for a game. Davis has 60 yards and Harris has 47; they could have 100 yards each before this game is over if we don't improve in the second half.