SBNation Illinois Football Preview: The Enthusiasm Gap

[Dan]

In the overall hunt for program enthusiasm, Beckman should keep the postseason train rolling. But considering the current makeup of the Big Ten's Leaders Division -- Ohio State ineligible for the Big Ten title game, Wisconsin replacing Russell Wilson, Penn State facing change and scandal, Purdue not quite ready for prime time, it is pretty easy to paint a picture of a shockingly successful Illinois season. Let's say Beckman finds success in a Scheelhaase-O'Toole platoon, Darius Millines becomes an Eric Page-like "possession receiver plus" type of receiver, Josh Ferguson and Donovonn Young erupt, and the defense remains a Top 20 unit. With four easy conference home games, a win over Northwestern, and perhaps a road upset, Illinois could steal a spot in the conference title game, no?

Excited yet, Illinois fans? No? Well, I tried.

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-footbal...otball-preview

2012 Illinois Fighting Illini Football: Statistical Profile

http://www.footballstudyhall.com/pag...stical-profile

[AHSIllini32]

That's a helluva write up and pretty spot on if you ask me. Pretty in line with what everyone on here has been saying; should get to another bowl game and if things break right could land a spot in the B1G champ. game.

[GeorgiaIllini]

If, if, if if. Let's take a step back here folks. New regime. New systems. Numerous high quality players left for NFL. Historic performance of program.

How about we win a few games before we start talking about title games? Just repeating the overall performance of the last two years (6 or maybe 7 wins; minor bowl game) would be a great start for the new regime. Let's not mess that up by setting even higher, presently unrealistic expectations.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaIllini

If, if, if if. Let's take a step back here folks. New regime. New systems. Numerous high quality players left for NFL. Historic performance of program.

How about we win a few games before we start talking about title games? Just repeating the overall performance of the last two years (6 or maybe 7 wins; minor bowl game) would be a great start for the new regime. Let's not mess that up by setting even higher, presently unrealistic expectations.

Who's doing that? All really anyone (outside of thakid of course) is saying is exactly what you just did, including the writer.

IF things go our way and we adapt to the new systems well there's no reason we can't be right in the thick of making the title game.

Is it likely? No. Possible? Hell yes.

Even though we lost some high quality guys to the NFL we still have a ridiculous amount of potential NFL players on the roster, especially on defense.

[stlcruddy]

People won't like to hear this, but patience may pay off this time. The new regime has the right focus. Check out this profile on linebackers coach Mike Ward. The dude is a good guy and gets good results...

http://www.stlsportsminute.com/2012/...oach-mike.html

Go Illini in 2012 and beyond...

[IlliniX]

I think 95% of fans feel 6-7 wins is what we will be looking at this year. My thoughts on Beckman is that he might be a better recruiter than I originally thought. Zook could not get it done anymore recruiting-wise after we had the slide after the Rose Bowl. Beckman might be better offensively, but who knows for sure. Zook did not do to bad a number of seasons (finished high in conference offense totals). Beckman has the same enthusiasm as Zook did. Zook had VC on defense, so we might be worse there in the future. Beckman should be light years ahead of Zook on special teams --- but we were at the bottom of NCAA in special teams during his tenure so no where but up to go. Beckman will not make the horrible bone headed in-game decisions like Zook. Better decision and better special teams could be the difference between being bad/mediocre or good. I think most people see it the same way. We have had very few seasons of good football in a row. We usually follow up great years (sugar bowl, rose bowl) with several bad years. Even last year starting 6-0 was followed by 0-6. Have some regular old seasons of 6-8 wins with no total collapses and do this for more than a couple years and the fans might start believing.

[U of I 89-05-10]

Enthusiasm gap doesn't even begin to describe our VERY large and even more apathetic fan base. If Beckman wins big this year, it'll certainly help generate excitement, but it never generates as much as we "die hard" message board fans would like; there are just too many UI fans who have been constantly let down the past 20 years.

If basketball wins big, AH will have packed crowds every night and high demand for tickets, regardless of opponent ... our football fans (probably rightfully so) are just too pessimistic. I'm very much looking forward to the day that Coach Beckman changes that.

[256ILLINI]

"Junior Nathan Scheelhaase is a strong runner"

Strong isn't the word I'd use to describe Nate as a runner. He's a great person, but I don't think he's broken a tackle or juked a defender in his time at Illinois


"Tommy Davis was a decent returner at Northern Illinois, but he might not be able to single-handedly fix everything"

They forgot to mention Tim Salem is an absolute boss of a special teams coach

[Sure Shot]

Originally Posted by U of I 89-05-10

Enthusiasm gap doesn't even begin to describe our VERY large and even more apathetic fan base. If Beckman wins big this year, it'll certainly help generate excitement, but it never generates as much as we "die hard" message board fans would like; there are just too many UI fans who have been constantly let down the past 20 years.

If basketball wins big, AH will have packed crowds every night and high demand for tickets, regardless of opponent ... our football fans (probably rightfully so) are just too pessimistic. I'm very much looking forward to the day that Coach Beckman changes that.

There's no "day". It's a gradual process, and what I'm excited about is that Beckman understands the job, and he and MT have a plan and a vision for developing that sort of following that goes beyond "win and they'll come".

[mdonsbach]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/coll...eview-illinois

[U of I 89-05-10]

Originally Posted by Sure Shot

There's no "day". It's a gradual process, and what I'm excited about is that Beckman understands the job, and he and MT have a plan and a vision for developing that sort of following that goes beyond "win and they'll come".

I agree. I didn't mean it'd happen in one day and one night or anything. I meant I can't wait for Coach to get the process of building a program and eventually, one day, succeeding.

[blmillini]

You could rewrite that article for just about every team in the division while inserting the Illini question marks for exactly the same effect anywhere else. It is nice to see a positive outlook as long as that does not translate into unrealistic expectations. I don't think it will but we have seen it before.

[JSpence]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaIllini

If, if, if if. Let's take a step back here folks. New regime. New systems. Numerous high quality players left for NFL. Historic performance of program.

How about we win a few games before we start talking about title games? Just repeating the overall performance of the last two years (6 or maybe 7 wins; minor bowl game) would be a great start for the new regime. Let's not mess that up by setting even higher, presently unrealistic expectations.

At the end, I agree with the win count. And while we can be spotted two losses for the regime change and tough schedule and another for the talent lost to the draft, we can gain a win from better clock management and at least one more for competent special teams play. I think we _can_ hit 6. The year's gonna be fun as long as we temper expectations as you've said.

This has probably been said before. And anyone reading this who hasn't read the article really should! I prefer the ESPN article myself.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by 256ILLINI

"Junior Nathan Scheelhaase is a strong runner"

Strong isn't the word I'd use to describe Nate as a runner. He's a great person, but I don't think he's broken a tackle or juked a defender in his time at Illinois

I think strong here is meant as another word for good. Nate has also joked and/or broked many tackles in his time at Illinois.

[256ILLINI]

He may have joked and broked tackles, but he didn't juke any defenders, which is why he averaged a mediocre 3.3 yards per carry.

Strong runner = fast, but just because somebody is fast, doesn't mean they're a dynamic playmaker, which is what Beatty is going to try to turn him into this fall.

[DrewD007]

Originally Posted by 256ILLINI

He may have joked and broked tackles, but he didn't juke any defenders, which is why he averaged a mediocre 3.3 yards per carry.

Strong runner = fast, but just because somebody is fast, doesn't mean they're a dynamic playmaker, which is what Beatty is going to try to turn him into this fall.

Sacks count against running yard totals. Not sure how many times he got sacked but once you take that out he probably averaged over 4 a carry.

[256ILLINI]

Originally Posted by DrewD007

Sacks count against running yard totals. Not sure how many times he got sacked but once you take that out he probably averaged over 4 a carry.

You're right, he'd average 4.7, but he doesn't escape the pocket too well so he took a lot of sacks. That article says as much.

Denard Robinson, who took 195 more snaps than Scheelhaase, lost 106 yards less than Scheelhaase did and gained 446 more yards on only 30 more carries.

That's a strong runner, that was all I was trying to say

[ILLINIDAWG]

Originally Posted by U of I 89-05-10

Enthusiasm gap doesn't even begin to describe our VERY large and even more apathetic fan base. If Beckman wins big this year, it'll certainly help generate excitement, but it never generates as much as we "die hard" message board fans would like; there are just too many UI fans who have been constantly let down the past 20 years.

If basketball wins big, AH will have packed crowds every night and high demand for tickets, regardless of opponent ... our football fans (probably rightfully so) are just too pessimistic. I'm very much looking forward to the day that Coach Beckman changes that.

TWENTY! You must be young.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by 256ILLINI

He may have joked and broked tackles, but he didn't juke any defenders, which is why he averaged a mediocre 3.3 yards per carry.

Strong runner = fast, but just because somebody is fast, doesn't mean they're a dynamic playmaker, which is what Beatty is going to try to turn him into this fall.

How do you juke and break tackles without juking any defenders? That makes zero sense. Comparing Nate and Denard is rather useless too for a couple reasons: 1) I would be just about anything that UM's OL was significantly better than ours leading to less sacks and 2) Denard is an elite runner.

Nate is a good, strong runner for a QB.

[Ander1345]

Wasn't there a run against ASU where he broke like 5 tackles and gained like...5 yards? Ran from like one side of the field to the other. I'd say that's pretty shifty running.

I think if he was dinged up, it would make him a more timid runner too.

[WesterveltVictoryCigar]

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

I think strong here is meant as another word for good. Nate has also joked and/or broked many tackles in his time at Illinois.

Yep, it's not meant to be taken literally, it's a strength vs weakness characterization. For Nate, running is his strong suit compared to his passing skills.

[Kramer116]

It was tough for Nathan to be an effective runner when we got next to nothing from Ford all season long. The defense would never bite on the fakes to Ford.

[RHITIllini]

Originally Posted by Kramer116

It was tough for Nathan to be an effective runner when we got next to nothing from Ford all season long. The defense would never bite on the fakes to Ford.

Because Ford took plenty of bites (from the buffet that is)

[Oskee Mayer]

Originally Posted by 256ILLINI

"Junior Nathan Scheelhaase is a strong runner"

Strong isn't the word I'd use to describe Nate as a runner. He's a great person, but I don't think he's broken a tackle or juked a defender in his time at Illinois

I must have been watching games in a parallel universe where he broke lots of tackles. I'm talking about a defender getting a hand on him and not bringing him down, not Bronco Nagurski broken tackle.

[U of I 89-05-10]

Originally Posted by ILLINIDAWG

TWENTY! You must be young.

A little over 20 years ago was the last time we even resembled a consistently competitive program.