Touchdown Times Sept. 12, 2013

Touchdown Times A publication of THE DAILY ILLINI Thursday, September 12, 2013

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Thursday, September 12, 2013

Offense

Defense

Keith Price 17 QB Bishop Sankey 25 RB Austin Seferian-Jenkins 88 TE Kevin Smith 8 WR Jaydon Mickens 4 WR Kasen Williams 2 WR Micah Hatchie 72 LT Dexter Charles 76 LG Mike Criste 78 C Colin Tanigawa 64 RG Ben Riva 59 RT

Passing Keith Price

Rushing

Bishop Sankey Dwayne Washington

Receiving

Jaydon Mickens Kasen Williams

Defense

John Timu Shaq Thompson Will Shamburger

THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com

2

Washington C-A-INT 23-21-1

Carries 25 13

Catches 9 3

Tackles 13 9 7

Yards 324

Yards 161 52

Yards 109 68

Sacks 0 0 0

Offense

Hau’oli Kikaha 8 DE Danny Shelton 71 DT Evan Hudson 80 DT Cory Littleton 42 DE Travis Feeney 41 LB John Timu 10 LB Shaq Thompson 7 LB Gregory Ducre 18 CB Sean Parker 1 SS Will Shamburger 13 FS Marcus Peters 21 CB

TD 2

Avg 6.4 4.0

TD 0 1

TFL 0.5 0 0.5

Long 42

TD 2 1

Long 26 38

INT 0 0 0

Defense

Nathan Scheelhaase 2 QB Josh Ferguson 6 RB Ryan Lankford 12 WR Miles Osei 8 WR Spencer Harris 80 WR Evan Wilson 89 TE Simon Cvijanovic 68 LT Michael Heitz 74 LG Alex Hill 52 C Ted Karras 69 RG Corey Lewis 70 RT

Passing

Nathan Scheelhaase

Rushing

Josh Ferguson Donovonn Young

Illinois

C-A-INT

Yards

TD

Carries

Yards

Avg

54-73-1 18 22

Sat., Sept. 7 vs.

Cincinnati W 45-17

Sat., Oct. 26 vs. Michigan State 2:30 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 2 @ Penn State TBD

96 70

6

5.3 3.2

Long 55

TD 0 2

Catches

Yards

TD

Long

Defense

Tackles

Sacks

TFL

INT

9 7 6

Martize Barr Ryan Lankford Josh Ferguson Jonathan Brown Mason Monheim Earnest Thomas III Austin Teitsma V’Angelo Bentley

Sat., Sept. 14 vs. No. 19 Washington (Soldier Field) 5 p.m. | Big Ten Network

Sat., Nov. 9 @Indiana TBD

728

Receiving

Schedule Sat., Aug. 31 vs. Southern Illinois W 42-34

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 V’Angelo Bentley 2 CB Earnest Thomas 9 SS Taylor Barton 3 FS Eaton Spence 27 CB

Sat., Sept. 28 vs. Miami (Ohio) TBD

Sat., Nov. 16 vs. No. 4 Ohio State TBD

23 18 16 9 6

108 125 158 .5 1.0 0 0 0

1 0 2

1 2.5 0 0.5 1

30 52 53 0 0 0 0 0

Games in bold are at home

Sat., Oct. 5 @ No. 23 Nebraska 11 a.m.

Sat., Oct. 19 vs. No. 20 Wisconsin 7 p.m. | Big Ten Network

Sat., Nov. 23 @ Purdue TBD

Sat., Nov. 30 vs. No. 17 Northwestern TBD

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Thursday, September 12, 2013

3

Quick offense, strong defense will test Illini

BY STEPHEN BOURBON STAFF WRITER

The biggest game will be under the biggest lights.

The surprisingly upstart Illinois football team (2-0) will be facing its first ranked opponent of the season when the team faces off against No. 19 Washington (1-0) at Soldier Field on Saturday.

The Illini are coming off of a 45-17 victory against Cincinnati, a game in which the Illini broke the Bearcats’ back in the third quarter. A goal-line stand by the Illini defense, supplemented by a 99-yard drive the other way, turned the game from potentially 21-17 to 28-10.

Washington didn’t play in Week 2 but was more than impressive in its only contest of the season. The Huskies opened the year against then-No. 19 Boise State, and the game didn’t live up to the hype. Even though the score was just 10-3 at halftime, the Huskies offense tore up the Broncos for 28 second-half points on the way to a 38-6 victory.

The Huskies offense, led by three-year starting quarterback Keith Price, compiled 592 yards and played at a very quick tempo when it has the ball. That tempo will once again test a young Illinois secondary, whose depth is filled out by mainly freshmen and sophomores.

“Everyone is going to have to have a role,” defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. “Especially up front, if those guys get tired, there goes our pass rush.”

Defensively, the Huskies held down a traditionally explosive Boise State offense, holding the Broncos to just 3.8 yards per pass and only 175 passing yards. Despite this, offensive coordinator Bill Cubit says his own personnel should be able to match up.

“Our kids are really smart guys,” he said.

“It reminds me of when I was at Stanford, and we could do a lot of different things with kids and they can understand what we’re trying to get done in a small period of time.”

One aspect of the offense Cubit might still be looking to get in rhythm is the running game. The team racked up 210 yards rushing against Cincinnati, but starting running back Donovonn Young is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry this season, including a game against Southern Illinois

Illinois’ Josh Ferguson runs the ball during the game against Southern Illinois at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 31. in which he netted just six yards. New this week on the depth chart was adding Josh Ferguson to the starting lineup at running back, as he and Young are both listed as starters.

Ferguson has had a solid year, averag-

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ing 5.3 yards per carry but also has been a major asset in the passing game with 158 receiving yards through two games.

“We know we have to prepare even harder this week,” head coach Tim Beckman said. “Not everyone gets to do this ... to

JOSEPH LEE THE DAILY ILLINI

play a game in Chicago at Soldier Field.

It’s the experience that college football gives a young man.”

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

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Thursday, September 12, 2013

4

THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com

COMING

Soldier Field provides unique ex

BY SEAN HAMMOND SENIOR WRITER

M

ike Bellamy hasn’t been back to Soldier Field since he was a member of the Chicago Bears in 1994.

The first time he drove down Lake Shore Drive past the stadium on his way to Illini Day at Wrigley Field in June of 2012, he was awestruck.

“It gave me goose pimples,” the Illinois wide receivers coach said. “To see the change.”

The stadium, a Chicago landmark, was renovated in 2002. Home to the Bears since 1971, the doric columns rising above the entrance — which date back to the stadium’s construction in 1924 — were preserved while the new $632 million renovations were added.

For that 2002 season, while the stadium was under construction, the Bears played home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

Saturday, the Illini will take the field in the Bears’ house. And Bellamy will be back.

Bellamy, a native of New York, lived in Chicago’s south side during his high school years and went to Kenwood Academy near Hyde Park.

He dreamed of playing for the Bears in Soldier Field.

That dream was realized, to some extent.

After playing for the Illini in the early ‘90s and various other NFL and European teams, Bellamy was a member of the Bears for nine months during the 1994 season. He never played in a game.

“The thing about it is I’ll be just as excited and nervous as the players,” Bellamy said. “It’s an opportunity for all of us. It’s a sense of pride, a sense of playing in front of your home fans.”

A home away from home The story goes that Bears founder and longtime owner and coach George Halas modeled his team’s colors after those of his alma mater, Illinois.

The Bears are Chicago’s team. The Fighting Illini are Illinois’ team.

When Illinois takes the field against Washington on Saturday, it will be only the eighth time the Illini have played in Chicago in more than 120 years of football.

They played Northwestern at Wrigley Field in 2010, but the last time they played at Soldier

Field was in 1994, a one-point loss to Washington State. Before that, one would have to go all the way back to 1931 to find an Illinois football game played in the Windy City.

Luca Serra, director of sponsorship and media at Soldier Field, says talks of bringing the Illini to Chicago were in the works for a while, but not finalized until a little more than a year ago.

He says the move makes financial sense both for Soldier Field and for Illinois.

“There used to be a mentality that a lot of schools didn’t want to give up their true home field advantage by going to neutral sites like ours,” said Serra, who’s worked at Soldier Field for more than 10 years. “It’s a matter of re-energizing the alumni base that exists (in Chicago).

You can do that through a winning season or by bringing the game to them.”

The Illini have done both. So far, anyway.

Serra says last week’s win over Cincinnati has caused daily spikes in ticket sales for this weekend’s game at Soldier Field. The stadium is approaching 40,000 tickets sold and hopes sales to be in the mid-40,000s by game day.

The Cincinnati game was originally going to be played at Soldier Field, Serra said. But talks

fell through and they set ington — a viable powe between two teams, eac Soldier Field has hoste football games in recen last season (Northern Il 1, 2012, as well as Notre D Oct. 6). Serra said they potential college games a to bringing the Illini bac “We’d love to have a annually,” Serra said. “ same team every year. things up. But to have Illi senting the Big Ten playi that would be fantastic.

“It would make sense f a home away from home orange and blue, and the team from Illinois also p

Selling Chicago

Miles Osei has never The fifth-year senior fr has played at Wrigley F Northwestern. But neit

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Thursday, September 12, 2013

5

G HOME

xperience for Chicagoland Illini

ttled for Illinois-Washer conference matchup ch without a loss. ted a number of college nt years, including two llinois vs. Iowa on Sept.

Dame versus Miami on are always looking for and wouldn’t be opposed ck in the future. college football game “We wouldn’t want the . You’ve got to change inois’ state school repreing every couple years,

for (Soldier Field) to be considering they’re the e other orange and blue plays here.”

r been to Soldier Field. rom Mt. Prospect, Ill., Field and has played at ther of those are quite

the same as playing in the home of the Bears.

“I know a lot of the Chicagoland guys are real excited,” Osei said. “It’s the first time we get to play amongst family. We’re in the heart of Chicago playing at Soldier Field. It’s an experience that no one can take away.”

It’s that experience on which the Illini are trying to sell recruits.

High school recruits will be in the stands Saturday. Because the game’s not on campus, the Illini coaching staff cannot interact with them.

But they are still able to give out three tickets to each recruit.

Presumably many recruits will use those two extra tickets on family members. And that’s what recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Golesh has used as a staple in his recruiting pitch.

“To be able to tell kids that we’re going to play a game a year up there, whether it’s against Northwestern or at U.S. Cellular Field or at Soldier Field or wherever it may be, I think that’s huge,” Golesh said. “(They) are going to play at home, as far as the Chicago area.”

Illinois currently has 47 players on its roster from Illinois, many of whom come from the Chicago area. The chance to play close to

home, with a guaranteed game in the Chicago area at least every other year, is enticing for a high school athlete.

And the territorial battle this creates only reinvigorates Illinois’ rivalry with “the team up north,” as head coach Tim Beckman calls them.

Golesh made it no secret that Illinois would like to model what it’s trying to do with the job Pat Fitzgerald has done with the Northwestern football program.

“You can’t hide that Coach Fitz has done a great job,” Golesh said. “For us to go up there and recruit against them has been somewhat of a challenge. But the tradition and what this program has been for the last 100 years doesn’t compare.”

Golesh was a graduate assistant with Northern Illinois in 2007, when the Huskies played Iowa at Soldier Field. He will be back alongside that historic grass field once again on Saturday.

And so will Bellamy. The stadium may not look like it did in 1994, but the history remains.

“It’s exciting for me,” Bellamy said, “to be coaching the state team and play in the stadium of our professional state team.”

“It’s the first time we get to play amongst family. We’re in the heart of Chicago playing at Soldier Field. It’s an experience that no one can take away.”

MILES OSEI

WIDE RECIEVER

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

PHOTO BY BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

Thursday, September 12, 2013

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6

Matchups to watch Illinois, Washington set for battle of pass-heavy offenses

BY MICHAEL WONSOVER STAFF WRITER

Sean Parker vs. Nathan Scheelhaase Scheelhaase followed up his career-high 416-yard passing performance against SIU with 312 passing yards and four touchdowns against Cincinnati, placing him sixth in the nation is passing yards (728). Scheelhaase will have to face the 23rdranked passing defense from last season in Washington, led by senior safety Sean Parker. Parker, who was an honorable mention all-Pac-12 last season, finished second on the team with 76 tackles after starting every game for the Huskies for the second consecutive season. Parker picked off Boise State quarterback Joe Southwick in Washington’s 38-6 win on Aug. 31.

PHOTO COURTESY OF

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

Nathan Scheelhaase has been one of the best quarterbacks in the nation through two games, but he will face his toughest test yet in Washington’s secondary, led by Sean Parker.

CANASTASIA STEPANKOWSKY THE DAILY

Sean Parker (1) is the anchor of Washington’s top-25 passing defense.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins vs.

Illinois defense Preseason All-American tight end Seferian-Jenkins was suspended during Washington’s only game so far this season after he was charged with a DUI over the summer. Seferian-Jenkins, who was a third-team AP All-American last season, will return to face Illinois after finishing with 852 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season. Illinois allowed 83 yards and a touchdown to SIU’s MyCole Pruitt on Aug. 31, who is also a heralded tight end, being named to the FCS preseason All-American second team by The Sports Network. Linebackers Jonathan Brown and Mason Monheim may have to drop back into coverage to help contain the Huskies 6-foot-6 tight end.

DARYL QUITALIG THE DAILY ILLINI

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSHUA BESSEX THE DAILY

Illinois’ defense struggled against a top tight end in it’s first game and will have a challenge on its hands once again in Seferian-Jenkins.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins, one of the nation’s top tight ends, will be itching to get back on the field after missing Washington’s first game.

Keith Price vs. Illinois secondary Washington senior quarterback Price has already broken several records during his first three seasons in Seattle. Entering this season, Price holds the school records for completion percentage in a season (.669 in 2011), career competition percentage (.631), passing efficiency for a season (161.9 in 2011) and career passing efficiency (138.9). Price threw for 3,063 yards and a school-record 33 touchdowns during his first season as a starter in 2011, but dropped off to throw for just 2,728 yards and 19 touchdowns in last year’s up-and-down campaign. Illinois has struggled defending the pass so far, as both Southern Illinois (341) and Cincinnati (308) threw for more than 300 yards against the Illini this season.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANASTASIA STEPANKOWSKY THE DAILY

Keith Price (17) has set records during his four seasons at Washington. He could have a big day against Illinois’ struggling secondary.

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

V’Angelo Bentley and the rest of the inexperienced secondary have struggled so far this season.

THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com

Thursday, September 12, 2013

7

OURPICKS Eliot Sill Sports editor

(7 - 3)

Sean Hammond Stephen Bourbon Torrence Sorrell Senior writer Staff writer Assistant sports editor

(6 - 4)

(7 - 3)

(8 - 2

Erik Prado On-air reporter

Michael Wonsover Videographer

(7 - 3)

(8 - 2)

Illinois vs.

No. 19 Washington 36-24

35 - 31

37-34

35-21

24-21

35 - 28

No. 1 Alabama vs.

No. 6 Texas A&M

STREAM

WPGU

107.1 38-28

28-21

32-26

42-28

23-17

42 - 28

No. 16 UCLA vs.

No. 23 Nebraska

LIVE ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICE

44-17

54-45

41-29

28-21

31-14

38-35

59-38

49-14

60-17

49-14

52-17

45-17

31-28

21-14

17-10

35-17

Tennessee vs.

No. 2 Oregon

No. 20 Wisconsin vs.

Arizona State 41-24

Saturday, Sept. 14 Bowling Green @ Indiana 11 a.m. | ESPNU No. 16 UCLA @ No. 23 Nebraska 11 a.m. | ABC Akron @ No. 11 Michigan 11 a.m. | Big Ten Network Western Illinois @ Minnesota 11 a.m. | Big Ten Network

24-17

Youngstown State @ Michigan State 1 p.m. | Big Ten Network

No. 4 Ohio State @ California 6 p.m. | FOX

Iowa @ Iowa State 5 p.m. | Fox Sports 1

No. 21 Notre Dame @ Purdue 7 p.m.| ABC

Central Florida @ Penn State 5 p.m. | Big Ten Network

Western Michigan @ No. 17 Northwestern

No. 19 Washington vs. Illinois 5 p.m. | Big Ten Network

No. 20 Wisconsin @ Arizona State 9:30 p.m. | ESPN

8 p.m. | Big Ten Network

anywhere anytime 365 days a year.

Search “WPGU” on the Live365 mobile app

Thursday, September 12, 2013

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8

Washington game is full of possibilities ELIOT SILL Sports editor

A

fter last week, anything is possible.

Rose Bowl, right? Why not?

Enter the Washington Huskies, the team whose job it is to knock some sense into Illinois fans before they go and get their hopes up.

A win in this game, and the ceiling shatters. Illinois is clearly a team that’s improving. Illinois has shown it can be the aggressor and keep opposing defenses on their heels. Illinois is the raging underdog — once counted out, now fearsome.

Cincinnati was only one game. I think the team knows that. I think head coach Tim Beckman knows that. But if the Illini topple Washington, well, that’d be two games. Two good wins over two good opponents. And a third win, which was only close because it was a fluke.

Oh, but how Illinois could lose. Picture the turnovers, the lapses on defense from a young secondary. The offense running out of tricks, using wrinkles that backfi re and gadget plays that go nowhere.

Picture the special teams horrors. The shanked punts!

Picture it coming down to the wire.

Nathan Scheelhaase barking orders to his receivers as the lights grow bright in Soldier Field and the clock winds down, the crowd, unsure when the game started, now drawn in and committed to the Orange and Blue. He takes the snap, drops back and rolls out of the pocket; will he fi nd his man and throw or see a crease and run?

Picture a last-second field goal attempt. Washington’s kicking. Illinois had edged out a 30-29 advantage, but Washington’s offense methodically worked clock as it drove downfield.

A late tightening by the Illinois defense helps somewhat, but a 40-yard field goal is in the works, and the difference between “Rose Bowl or Bust” and Cincinnati being the true fluke is rising, end over end, toward the uprights. The ball arcs, heads downward, does it have enough distance? The kick is...

Picture Illinois dominating. The defense takes another step forward, the offense continues to be impossibly vast, the special teams dazzle. Donovonn Young gets rolling early and doesn’t quit.

Josh Ferguson strikes knockout blow after knockout blow as an unfathomable pace-changer. Aaron Bailey blows through a soft Pac-12 defensive front with his Big Ten bulk. The Illini have Soldier Field in their clutches.

Picture an overtime thriller that lasts long into the night.

Picture a game that’s decided by the end of the fi rst quarter.

Isn’t it weird how you can see it all?

Two weeks ago, you couldn’t picture a touchdown pass. You actually forgot what an Illinois touchdown pass looked like.

And here we are — we still remember the terrible, but fresh on our minds is the great performance the Illini put on last week. There’s no way to know what to think.

Washington is the best team Illinois has faced this season, and it’s not really close. The Huskies decimated a Boise State team that was needing a win to prove itself, 38-6.

They had a bye week last week, so they’ve been preparing for Illinois for two weeks and may have had some luck digesting Bill Cubit’s ridiculous offense.

It’s entirely possible that they’re prepared and ready to dominate an inferior team.

Running back Bishop Sankey was a stud in Week 1, netting 161 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns. Quarterback Keith Price threw for 324 yards without preseason All-American Austin

Seferian-Jenkins, who returns from a one-game suspension.

Illinois’ defense has been carried by its linebackers, as the defensive line has done a so-so job of pressuring quarterbacks and the secondary has done a pretty rough job keeping receivers covered.

The Illini allowed 400 yards in both games so far, and Washington should provide the biggest challenge yet.

None of this, however, lends us a concrete insight into what to expect from Saturday’s game. It will be in Chicago, so it’s important for Illinois to put up a good showing. It will definitely be better than the one fans were expecting in the preseason.

But for now, let’s tamper our expectations. Anything’s possible in this one, but I think Washington will outplay the Illini and bring things back to reality by sending them home 2-1.

Picture an overtime thriller that lasts long into the night.

Picture a game that’s decided by the end of the first quarter.

Isn’t it weird how you can see it all?

Eliot is a senior in Media. He can be reached at sill2@dailyillini.com.

Follow him on Twitter @EliotTweet.

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