Thursday, September 27, 2007

Bring on the Illini

It's sink or swim time. Let's look at what Chief Illi.....oops. What crappy mascot have the pc nazis deemed appropriate again?



Figure 1-1: Another great mascot castrated
Anyhoo-on to the Illini. Since Ron Zook took over, this team has become downright scary. The talent waiting on this team will insure a competitive squad for years, starting with the offensive threats of Juice Williams and Mendenhall in the backfield. Look for the option early and often.
As far as passing goes, I still don't see them as that much of a threat. Even tho' they have top recruit Arrelious Benn waiting, they still need to find a way to get the ball to him. Wait, that sounds disturbingly familiar.
As far as defenses go, PSU will be facing a faster, more competent defense than Michigan's. By the way, MGoblog really had some great insight into Michigan's defense from last week. In a nutshell, they really didn't do anything impressive, outside of the play of the DTs. It really came down to Morelli, the O-line whiffing on blocks, and Scott. Basically a "wait until they f-up" kind of defense. Hey, it worked. We got beat. Let's move on.
On defense, I expect Illinois to rush us early and often. Keep Morelli hemmed in, and make him force throws. Although Morelli didn't throw any picks last week, it seems that tacopants reared his ugly, invisible head more than once. This is assuming that Zook watches the game film, which we all know he will.
On offense, look for an option attack a la Michael Robinson, but with less throwing. Say what you want, but the PSU d held Hart to under 4 yards per carry last week.
For PSU, you know what to expect on offense. If we run up the gut on the first play, i think i will have to punch someone/thing. Probably a hobo. 'Cause they don't count. For once, I would just love to see play action on first down. And for the love of God, do not hand the ball off to Scott when we are driving.
On defense, more of the same last week with emphasis on making plays outside the hashmarks. PSUs DTs i looked pretty solid last week, IMO.
Final prediction? PSU, 14-10.

2 comments:

Q said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Q said...

I believe play fake on the first play of the game, was that first Morelli TD against Akron last year. One thing, we couldn't stop Juice running the option at all last year