Touchdown Times: October 24, 2013

Touchdown Times A publication of THE DAILY ILLINI Thursday, October 24, 2013

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Defense

Offense

Connor Cook 18 QB Jeremy Langford 33 RB Trevon Pendleton 37 FB Josiah Price 82 TE Bennie Fowler 13 WR Tony Lippett 14 WR MacGarrett Kings Jr. 3 WR Jack Conklin 74 LT Blake Treadwell 64 LG Jack Allen 66 C Dan France 59 RG Fou Fonoti 51 RT

Passing

Connor Cook

Michigan State C-A-INT

103-181-2

Yards 1,030

Yards

Rushing

Carries 119 42

551 219

Receiving

Catches

Yards

Jeremy Langford Nick Hill

MacGarrett Kings Jr. Bennie Fowler Tony Lippett

Defense

Denicos Allen Kurtis Drummond Max Bullough Darqueze Dennard Taiwan Jones

THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com

2

25 18 17

Tackles 43 43 42 31 30

287 238 183

Sacks 2 0 1 0 0

Shilique Calhoun 89 DE Tyler Hoover 91 DT Micajah Reynolds 60 NT Marcus Rush 44 DE Taiwan Jones 34 STAR Max Bullough 40 LB Denicos Allen 28 LB Trae Waynes 15 CB Isaiah Lewis 9 SS Kurtis Drummond 27 FS Darqueze Dennard 31 CB

TD 9

Avg 4.6 5.2

TD

Long 46

TD 7 1

Long

3 3 0

46 37 20

TFL

INT

5.5 2 6.5 2 3

0 1 0 2 0

Offense

Defense

Nathan Scheelhaase 2 QB Josh Ferguson 6 RB Ryan Lankford 12 WR Martize Barr 7 WR Steve Hull 9 WR Jon Davis 3 TE Simon Cvijanovic 68 LT Michael Heitz 74 LG Alex Hill 52 C Ted Karras 69 RG Corey Lewis 70 RT

Passing

Tim Kynard 59 DE Jake Howe 95 NT Austin Teitsma 44 DT Houston Bates 55 LEO Jonathan Brown 45 WLB Mason Monheim 43 MLB Mike Svetina 34 STAR Jaylen Dunlap 28 CB Earnest Thomas 9 SS Zane Petty 21 FS Eaton Spence 27 CB

Illinois C-A-INT

Yards 1,546

TD

Long

115-175-4

Rushing

Carries

Yards

Avg 6.0 4.3

TD

335 281

Receiving

Catches

Yards

TD

Long

Defense

Tackles

Sacks

TFL

INT

Nathan Scheelhaase

Josh Ferguson Donovonn Young

Ryan Lankford Martize Barr Josh Ferguson

Jonathan Brown Mason Monheim Eaton Spence Earnest Thomas III Austin Teitsma

56 66

14 20 23

66 47 31 50 32

286 206 346

2 1 0 0 0

12

1 1 3

7.5 4.5 0 2 2.5

72

2 3

72 30 53

0 0 0 0 0

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

3

JARRAD HENDERSON MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

Michigan State defensive end Shilique Calhoun (89) chases down Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld (7) for a sack during the third quarter at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., on Oct. 12.

Michigan State won 42-28.

Illini face nation’s top defense in Spartans MSU presents toughest challenge yet for offense

BY STEPHEN BOURBON STAFF WRITER

A week after facing the nation’s sixth-best defense, the Illinois football team (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten) faces an even tougher challenge this Saturday.

When Michigan State (6-1, 3-0) visits Champaign, the Spartans will bring the country’s best overall defense — allowing just 228.0 yards per game.

Facing the daunting task of the Spartans’ defense, offensive coordinator Bill Cubit wasn’t fazed by the challenge.

“I said, ‘If you don’t like challenges, just stay in the locker room. Don’t even bother coming out,’” he said. “For us, it’s a big challenge, and we’ve got to meet that challenge.

Those guys on the other side, they want to stay No. 1. They don’t want to drop down.”

While this will be a tough challenge for the upstart Illini offense, facing stingy defenses is nothing new this season. The Illini faced Wisconsin last Saturday, who

owns the sixth-best defense in the country, as well as the eighth-best defense in Cincinnati.

Illinois had success against both teams on the offensive side of the ball, scoring 45 and 32 points on Cincinnati and Wisconsin, respectively.

One of the most explosive playmakers on the Michigan State defense is sophomore Shilique Calhoun. The 6-foot-4 defensive end leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and 15 quarterback hurries.

In addition, Calhoun recorded three defensive touchdowns in the Spartans’ first two games this season. In the season opener against Western Michigan, he returned a fumble 16 yards for a score, and he notched another scoop-and-score the following week to go along with an interception returned 56 yards for a touchdown.

“They’re really strong up front. They’re relentless,” Cubit said. “Every time I turn on the tape, they’re taking a sack-fumble back or an interception back for a touchdown. They’re just relentless.”

The Illini are spending this week trying to get healthy after having a few players get nicked up in the Wisconsin game.

STAR Eric Finney is expected to play this weekend after sustaining a shoulder injury in practice last week and missing the Wisconsin game.

The news isn’t as good for the starting kick and punt returners for Illinois. V’Angelo Bentley, who is fourth in the nation in kick return average, injured his foot during the Wisconsin game and was in a walking boot after the game. Wide receiver and fellow returner Miles Osei left last Saturday’s game with a concussion after multiple players said he wasn’t acting like himself on the sidelines.

“He didn’t look right and wasn’t speaking all together,” head coach Tim Beckman said. “I really credit the players on that one for coming up to us.”

If neither are available to play, Martize Barr, Darius Mosely and Caleb Day will compete this week for the two spots as punt returners. Ryan Lankford will also vie for the two kick returner spots.

This is the first matchup against Michigan State since 2010, when the Spartans took home a 26-6 victory in East Lansing, Mich.

Stephen can be reached at sbourbo2@ dailyillini.com and @steve_bourbon.

“They’re really strong up front. They’re relentless. Every time I turn on the tape, they’re taking a sackfumble back or an interception back for a touchdown. They’re just relentless.”

BILL CUBIT

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

Thursday, October 24, 2013

4

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

5

ILLINI DEFENSE CAN’T KEEP UP <RXWK ODGHQ XQLW DPRQJ ZRUVW LQ WKH QDWLRQ

BY SEAN HAMMOND SENIOR WRITER

“When you don’t win, you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and figure out how to help the kids, because you’re all in it together. Coach talks about family, and we are a family. I’m not saying, ‘Hey, my kids can’t play.’ Shoot, I’ve got to coach them better.” — Tim Banks, Illinois defensive coordinator, following a 56-32 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday.

“Guys need to grow up.”

— Houston Bates, Illinois LEO after the loss to Wisconsin.

Y

Wisconsins' Melvin Gordon runs for a touchdown during Illinois' game against No. 25 Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium, on Saturday. Wisconsin scored 56 points and racked up 478 total yards against Illinois.

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

ou can’t make anyone grow up faster. Of the 11 starters on the Illinois defense, only senior linebacker Jonathan Brown and junior cornerback Earnest Thomas III had started more than half a season’s worth of games coming into 2013.

Everyone knew the defense would be young. They’ve known it since January. But what could they do about it?

In a major power conference, a young defense often means a bad defense. Tim Banks’ unit has been one of the worst in the nation in numerous defensive statistical categories.

Banks said after Saturday’s loss, when Illinois gave up 56 points and 478 total yards, that the players needed to play better, but the coaches also needed to coach better.

Although Banks is thinking about coaching better, frustrated fans of the program might be thinking about better coaches. Head coach Tim Beckman did what he felt he had to do last year after a dismal season offensively — he fired offensive coordinators Chris Beatty and Billy Gonzales.

But the difference was last year’s offense had experience and several veteran leaders, two things this year’s defense has little of.

“Inexperience is starting to show it’s ugly face,” said Brown, one of only two senior starters on defense. “It’s one thing to have a lot of young guys that can play. It’s another thing to have a lot of seniors that can make the plays.”

Banks has been successful as a defensive coordinator. At Cincinnati (where he was co-defensive coordinator in 2010 and 2011), his defenses improved drastically in the two years he coached there.

In Banks’ final season in Cincinnati, the Bearcats defense ranked 20th nationally in scoring defense, sixth in rush defense, second in sacks and ninth in forced turnovers.

The 2011 defense was also anchored by four senior and five junior starters. Illinois’ 2013 defense has a fair number of academic upperclassmen. But there’s no replacement for on-field experience.

“It always starts with the kids,” Banks said. “It’s our job to put them in the positions; it’s their job to go out and execute. I had really good kids, a little bit older kids, at Cincinnati.”

The Illini don’t compare themselves with other teams. They don’t pay much attention to what’s going on outside Champaign.

But junior defensive lineman Austin Teitsma said they do compare themselves with past Illinois defenses — most notably the 2011 Illini defense.

Those Illini ranked seventh in the nation in total defense. They featured four future NFL starters (and possibly a fifth in Brown).

They gave up more than 30 points only twice all season.

So if the 2011 Illini defense is what the 2013 Illini aspire to be, what did the 2011 defensive line do that the 2013 one isn’t doing?

“Tackling,” Teitsma said. “That’s it.”

Washington revealed Illinois’ biggest problem, and Nebraska and Wisconsin have exploited it: tackling — or, more appropri-

ately, the lack thereof.

Illinois is youngest in the secondary, and it shows. Thomas is the only one who started more than two games back there for the Illini last season, and everyone else seems to be snatching at air.

When sophomore cornerback V’Angelo Bentley went down with an undisclosed left leg injury against Wisconsin, a young group might have gotten younger.

“We’re not having busted coverages for the most part,” Banks said. “We’ve had some here and there, but it wasn’t that we didn’t know where we needed to be, it’s just that we weren’t able to get where we needed to be.”

It comes down to executing, and the Illini haven’t executed.

Beckman wasn’t happy with the performance of his cornerbacks last week. No one on defense “graded out.” In other words, no one played up to the expectations the coaching staff demands.

It’s easy to point at the cornerbacks, but the defensive line has been invisible most of the season. Beckman admitted that the line might be the most difficult part of any defense to build. Big, skilled athletes don’t come along too often.

Banks isn’t using that as an excuse.

“If you don’t inherit them, you’ve got to develop them,” Banks said. “You’ve got to find a way. And it does take time. I mean it really does, but once you got it, you’ve got your program right where you need it.”

When asked which unit on defense he was happy with at the midway point in the season, Banks didn’t point to any one group.

Everyone has had ups, and everyone has had downs.

He and Beckman have seen improvement, often small, but improvement nonetheless. Is he happy with the progress? No. “We’re never happy as coaches. We want it to be right now,” Banks said. “To say that they’re makings strides is accurate. I think our guys are getting better; I think they’re getting more confident.

“It’s just a work in progress. I wish I could tell you something different, but it’s not. It’s a work in progress.”

How long it will remain a work in progress is the question.

Despite a promising 3-1 start, it’s likely this year will become just another year in the rebuilding process. For the defense, that means rebuilding back toward 2011.

Brown knows. He was there. He was the younger guy on that squad. He’s been in his teammates’ shoes.

Does he feel pressure as the senior leader of the defense? He doesn’t see it as pressure.

“I see it as an opportunity each day to just lay the foundation for the future,” Brown said. “If it doesn’t happen this year, I know that this group of guys will mature and they’ll be a good team.”

Sean can be reached at sphammo2@dailyillini.com and @sean_hammond.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com

6

Matchups to watch Illinois’ offense faces top-ranked defense

BY MICHAEL WONSOVER STAFF WRITER

Bill Cubit vs. Pat Narduzzi Saturday’s game may come down to this matchup of coordinators. Offensive coordinator Bill Cubit is going to make the calls for an Illini team that ranks 48th in the country in total offense and 36th in the nation in points per game at 35.3. Narduzzi, in his seventh year as the defensive coordinator of Michigan State, heads a Spartans squad that ranks first in the FBS in total defense, allowing 228 yards per game. Cubit may have to reach in his bag of tricks for the Illini to score on the stifling Michigan State defense, which shut out Purdue in its last game.

JULIA NAGY THE STATE NEWS

MICHAEL BOJDA THE DAILY ILLINI

Offensive coordinator Bill Cubit has had success this season but faces his biggest challenge yet in the nation’s top defense.

Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi leads the nation’s top defense into Champaign on Saturday.

Nathan Scheelhasse vs.

Darqueze Dennard

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

Illinois’ Nathan Scheelhaase is having the best year of his career so far but has struggled in Big Ten play, failing to throw a touchdown.

Scheelhaase is in the midst of a career season, as he ranks 31st in the FBS in passing yards per game (267.7) and is tied for 35th in passing touchdowns (12). Scheelhaase also ranks 14th in the country and second in the Big Ten in passing efficiency at 158.0.

Scheelhaase will have to throw toward the best cornerback he’s faced yet in MSU’s Darqueze Dennard. Dennard, a first-team AllBig Ten selection by the coaches last season, has eight career interceptions and leads a defense that ranks first in the country in opponent’s passing efficiency at 88.41. Scheelhaase has yet to throw a touchdown against a Big Ten opponent this season, and it doesn’t get any easier with Dennard in the secondary.

JULIA NAGY THE STATE NEWS

Michigan State senior cornerback Darqueze Dennard (31) was a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season and could make Nathan Scheelhaase’s life difficult on Saturday.

Illinois defense vs. Jeremy Langford

FOLAKE OSIBODU THE DAILY ILLINI

Illinois’ defense has struggled to stop the run so far this season, especially in Big Ten play. It won’t get any easier this weekend against Jeremy Langford.

Langord has thrived this season once finally getting the chance to show what he can do. The junior running back, who played primarily on special teams during his first two seasons in East Lansing, has rushed for 551 yards this season to go along with eight total touchdowns. Langford rushed for 109 yards and three touchdowns against Indiana and followed it up with 131 rushing yards against Purdue last week. Illinois’ defense has struggled against the run this season, ranking 106th in the FBS in rushing yards allowed per game at 211. Last time out Wisconsin ran all over Illinois, rushing for 289 yards and six scores. Jonathan Brown and company will have to bottle up Langford for Illinois to have a chance in this one.

JULIA NAGY THE STATE NEWS

Michigan State running back Jeremy Langford has rushed for 240 yards in the last two games and provides another challenge for a poor Illini run defense.

THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com

Thursday, October 24, 2013

7

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Eliot Sill Sports editor

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No. 12 UCLA at No. 2 Oregon

No. 20 South Carolina vs.

No. 5 Missouri

Boise State at BYU

Standings

Saturday, Oct. 26

LEGENDS

CONF

OVR

LEADERS

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MICHIGAN STATE

3-0

6-1

OHIO STATE

3-0

7-0

NEBRASKA

2-0

5-1

WISCONSIN

3-1

5-2

MICHIGAN

2-1

6-1

PENN STATE

1-1

4-2

IOWA

1-2

4-3

INDIANA

1-2

3-4

MINNESOTA

1-2

5-2

ILLINOIS

0-2

3-3

NORTHWESTERN

0-3

4-3

PURDUE

0-3

1-6

Northwestern @ Iowa

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

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8

Quarterly report: Illinois falling back to mediocrity ELIOT SILL Sports editor

T

he Illinois football season, for a while at least, was pleasant. Through four games, the Illini had played above their anticipated capabilities, led by a resurgent Nathan Scheelhaase.

And now here we are. It’s more like home for Illinois fans, in all the worst ways.

At the halfway point now, we’ve seen the good and bad of the Illinois football team.

Let’s break it down in another quarterly report.

Quarterbacks Nathan Scheelhaase’s limitations have come to light in the past two games: His arm isn’t very strong, his footwork in the pocket resembles a drumroll, his running has become a crutch. But let’s not overreact to a couple of bad games against a couple of good teams.

Aaron Bailey has been brought along more and more and brings a genuine excitement into the game when he comes in.

Grade: B-

Running backs Josh Ferguson has made defenders look

really weak by taking them on and making them into supporting actors in his Oscarnominated highlight film.

Donovonn Young has continued to improve, running effectively in limited action. The running game has gone away as Illinois has gotten behind. It’d be best to stick it out a little longer with on the ground.

Grade: B+

Wide receivers Ryan Lankford hasn’t been the lightning bolt he was in the season’s early games.

Martize Barr has cooled off from his hot start. Miles Osei is concussed. Illinois needs this group to frustrate secondaries with its variety instead of make them feel like they can cover receivers of all sorts of skill sets.

The tight ends have been mitigated as well.

Grade: C-

Offensive line They haven’t been very noticeable lately, and that’s good. A killer penalty against Ted Karras cost Illinois big on its first drive against Wisconsin. A penalty like that has a butterfly effect on the rest of the game. It’s all about being solid for the O-line, and the guys up front have been fairly solid.

Grade: B

Defensive line This unit has done a terrible job the last

two weeks against good rushing attacks of Nebraska and Wisconsin. On each of Melvin Gordon’s three touchdowns, not a single tackle was missed, but rather the Wisconsin blocking so proficiently eliminated Illinois defenders that Gordon need not have shed a single defender.

Austin Teitsma, Jake Howe, Houston Bates and Tim Kynard have all been bullied.

Illinois has just five sacks this season.

Grade: F

Linebackers Jonathan Brown’s crew is steady, and they are trying. They pretty much have to be in the right place when the running back breaks through the trenches, otherwise it’s a big gain for the opposition. As bad as the defensive line is playing, the linebackers are probably the ones who are better for it.

Grade: C+

Defensive backs Teams have run all over Illinois lately, but the door’s open on the pass as well. Illinois has been unable to defend opposing receivers and this group has just one interception.

With V’Angelo Bentley now hurt, things are looking as bad as they have all season.

This unit’s struggles were veiled by victory. Now that two losses have brought Illinois fans back to reality, it’s unfortunate to have to forecast no improvement in the secondary this season, which is discouraging when

your head coach and defensive coordinator were defensive backs in their day.

Grade: F

Special teams Zalewski’s been better, and though the return game suffered two injuries Saturday, I’m interested to see what Lankford can do with the role. The punt returns have fallen off, but we know the players Illinois has back there are capable and dynamic.

Grade: B+

Overall It’s been back to earth for Illinois fans these last couple games, but you have to keep in mind who Illinois is losing to.

There’s no shame in getting run on by the Nebraskas and Wisconsins of the Big Ten. There’s nothing right now that says these last two games have been any worse than what Illinois showed itself to be capable of in the season’s early going. But the good vibes are gone, and the cold reality is here.

They beat who they should have, and lost to who they should have. Any further-reaching conclusions are, for the time being, not entirely fair.

Grade: C Semester grade: B

Eliot is a senior in Media. He can be reached at sill2@dailyillini.com. Follow him on Twitter @EliotTweet.

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