Next we come to the interview with Rejus Benn, by far the most highly touted NFL prospect on the team

One of the more squawked about items that came from Benn's one on one sessions was his apparent hatred for Iowa. Unlike perhaps what certain Iowa City papers may portray it, he seemed very respectful about his distaste for Ferentz's team. "I certainly dislike Iowa." A short but sweet statement about one of  Illinois's more bitter of rivalries. I am surprised that this story had as much play as it did, considering that the two teams will not even play each other for the next two seasons. When he was asked why, he explained that he felt the Illini should have won the 2007, (a touchdown called back with an illegal procedure call) and that the fans rushed the field after beating them, something he thought was very disrespectful. He doesn't like the uniforms or the pink locker rooms or any of that. Regardless a player disliking another team doesn't seem as nearly important as Iowa may think.

He is not concerned whatsoever about there being too many receivers on offense for him to have a big season, He says that he is only concerned with winning. There is a good possibility of course that his catches will actually go up, if teams stop double teaming him because of the threats posed by Fayson and the other receivers.

I asked him, having lived in Champaign for two winters now, how does he feel about playing outdoors in Champaign in December.

He responded simply "I hope it snows." If you are fan of that "old fashioned cold weather football" what not, a statement like that probably makes you smile. I however am going to be at that game, freezing to death in the windy frigid Memorial Stadium. Maybe the cold weather will provide some benefit when playing a team from the warm sunny city of Fresno, but I would hope the Illini wouldn't even need that to win over the WAC team.

I asked a couple of questions to Doug Pilcher, but not enough for their own separate post...

I asked him how he felt about the offense getting most of the publicity for this coming season, and what he thought the defense could upstage the offense. He said that he didn't think the defense needs to steal the spotlight from the offense, but just hold up their end of the bargain. The defense needs to keep the team in the game, and give the offense an opportunity to succeed.

I asked him who he thought would step up this year and become a leader and possibly a star on defense. He told me to watch for Martez Wilson who should make a huge impact on the defense in the middle.

I asked him how strong he felt the line was and how much of an impact that Corey Liuget would have in his second year. He says the line will not disappoint this year, and that Liuget would definitely be making a name for himself at defensive tackle. I sure hope so, because with most of the questions about the defense being concerned with the secondary, a defensive tackle coming straight up the middle to sit on a Quarterback would go along way in helping this team's pass defense. A so-so defense can be helped most by strength along the line. And coverage deficiencies can be easily masked by a really good pass rush.

The final installment will of course deal with one Mr. Ron Zook. Stay tuned.