Spring Practice Questions: Illinois Fighting Illini

Last Year: 2-10, 1-7 Big Ten... but a much better awful year than 2005. Illinois was actually in a fair number of games and didn't, like, lose by 30 all the time.

Fans Are: Cautiously optimistic after Zook's miraculous recruiting class and equally miraculous but much less publicized turnaround of the previously inept defense.

Expectations: Failure, failure, and more failure for the man termed [NAME REDACTED] in the blogosphere.

1. Is Juice Williams actually a quarterback?

Despite the copious evidence available that he is -- played it in high school, listed as such on the team roster, generally plays the position when on the field -- his 40% completion rate suggests otherwise. Williams' legs helped Illinois to the tenth-best rush offense in the country, but his arm condemned them to dead last in passing efficiency. He has many excuses for this: being a true freshman from a high school running offense,Ron Zook, and wide receivers less pedestrian than roadkill. With a year of experience and remarkable recruiting class featuring Arrelious Benn, the nation's top wide receiver, Williams figures to improve.
Exactly how much is in question, though. Williams looked awful last year. Awful. If you didn't see any Illinois games -- and we're betting you didn't -- it's hard to explain exactly how helpless Williams looked without some visual aids. Here:



Benn will help, as will practice time, but Williams had all the appearances of a future wide receiver last year.
His future is murky. Disclaimer: I would have said the exact same thing -- probably did -- about Troy Smith before he pwned Michigan as a sophomore.

2. Ron Zook can recruit. Lordy, can he recruit. Can he do anything else?

While the blogospheric conventional wisdom on Ron Zook is the only things he's good for are waterskiing, beating up frat guys, and screwing up football teams, the remarkable turnaround of the Illinois defense suggests the man has at least a modicum of football coaching ability lurking somewhere within his massive biceps. The Illini leapt -- nay, soared -- from 2005's 116th in total defense to 2006's 33rd. Linebacker J Leman (yes, that's his name: J, no period. Like Peterman) emerged into a potential all-conference player. The secondary was competent. The Illinois defense gave Ohio State a harder time than any team other than Florida.

They were legitimately decent, and they return most of their starters. Michigan and their imposing offensive troika of Henne, Hart, and Manningham return to the schedule and might depress the overall numbers, but the potential for a repeat of last year's impressive showing is there.

3. Is this a breakthrough year, then?

Probably not. There's still uncertainty about Williams and Zook's recruiting classes are still mere babes. All that incoming talent still has to adapt to life in college football; Williams is probably still going to be a very bad quarterback. Watch out for the Illini in 2008, but next year a bowl berth, any bowl berth, will be a satisfactory result.