[NU Sports] Bummer for us

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Couple interesting points raised by Alan ...

>  NYT this a.m., and this is truly a drag since one
> of the things the Cats could benefit from is the
> possibility the Cheating, er, Fighting Illini might

Interesting that each of the three times I've been
back to Chicago this year for an Illini game, one of
the local papers (this time it was the Trib's sib, the
Red Eye) has some almost joking aside comment about
the Illini being on a dream run "until NCAA sanctions
kick in" or something referencing Zook's recruiting
practices.

I know most of these comments are made in jest, but I
guess it just surprised me to see the Chicago media so
openly joke and reference this. Not something NCAA
schools usually like to kid about, I'm sure.

>  '... Illinois has a good shot to reach the Fiesta
> Bowl,' according to BCS guru Jerry Palm, 'if the
> Illini win next week against Northwestern and some
> teams ahead of them lose.'

I would think they need a lot of teams ahead of them
to lose. I would think the only real way would be if
Hawaii lost - then maybe a spot would open up for a
Big Ten school. But still tough to see a 3-loss team
in.

* One spot will surely go to an SEC school - Florida
is likely a favorite, though Georgia could be helped
by missing out on the SEC title game via losing the
tiebreak with Tennessee. A 10-2 Dawgs team that
doesn't lose to LSU in their last game might be
attractive.

* A second spot will almost surely go to the winner of
the Turkey Day contest between USC and ASU. If the
Devils win out, they're 11-1 and in the top 5 or 6. If
the Trojans win out, they're 10-2 and recovering
nicely from the Oregon loss.

Plus, in both those cases, their bowls' natural
selection appears to be headed to the title game, so
the Sugar would love to pick another SEC school as
would the Rose Bowl with the Pac 10.

* The third spot is also a virtual lock for the Big
XII. They have three teams in the top 5 of the BCS --
and really only one of those three will likely get in
because they'll face each other and 2 of the 3 will
end the year with a loss. The at-large spot probably
goes to 10-2 Texas.

Now, if Hawaii slips up, then there might be a spot
for the Illini. The BCS can't take another from either
of the three leagues above, so it's the Illini against
the Big East (which took a blow with UConn's loss this
weekend meaning WVU is really their only candidate and
the Mountaineers will win out to get the automatic
bid) and the ACC (which also was hurt by BC's loss).

>  If I were the Zooker, I know how I would game-plan
> against the Cats. Throw deep. A lot. Like Juice
> Williams did against the Buckeyes. 

That would be my game plan as well. But I have a
feeling Illinois is going to try and just bully us
with the run. Which they're also pretty potent with.
But as an NU fan, I'd rather see them run at us than
throw at us.

>  Meanwhile, if I were Fitz, I would assign someone -
> Kadela? - to spy on Williams on every play. The
> reason the Illini kept that sustained fourth-quarter
> drive going was Williams' ability to run the ball
> himself. 

I think we will - we seemed to have Lewis contained
nicely this week as he only really sprang 1-2 big runs
on the scramble. I was shocked at how 3rd and 4th down
after 3rd and 4th down, Juice just found big holes up
the gut to run to against OSU's defense.

But really, it'll be tough to stop to stop the Illini
unless they help with a few turnovers. We're gonna
have to bring our best on offense (hopefully going on
a few 4th downs in key positions as the Illini did in
Columbus - NO MORE FIELD GOALS!) and play inspired all
around.

And what would I use to fire up the troops? Play the
tape of that Illini visit to Evanston a few years ago
when they won and draped their flags all over our
Wildcat statue. Still the most classless act I've seen
by an opponent in Evanston and still a reason I just
love to hate the Illini!

GO CATS!!! KEEP SWEET SIOUX!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!

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