That is not to say that I dislike it in any way. Quite the contrary I thoroughly enjoy the cities of Bloomington and Normal (are all Universities in the state of Illinois spread out across two cities?) the campus is beautiful and the students are friendly.

That is not to say however that I believe Illinois has any business doing anything but beating the Redbirds on Saturday night, and soundly at that. Part of this yes, is because they are an FCS team. But further investigation reveals that ISU also has first year head coach Brock Spack and were badly beaten last week by the Jake Christensen led Eastern Illinois Panthers. Badly beaten as in 31 to 6, (admittedly only a field goal worse than our loss) but not only that Spack claimed that his team was badly out sized by his fellow FCS opponent. If the Redbirds are out sized and pushed around by Eastern, I sincerely hope that the Illini should be an even more lopsided affair.

Along with that the Redbirds starting QB has been lost for 6 weeks to a thumb injury, and a RS Freshman will be taking the snaps until further notice. Don't take any opponent lightly, but the situation the Illini face on Saturday looks pretty favorable, and it is exactly what the team needs.

The Illini struggled to show off what was supposed to be considerable talent in St. Louis and were completely unable to find a rhythm in the running game. Carelessness, turnovers and very costly mistakes led the passing game to a fumble, an INT and a turnover on downs. Its an offense that new OC Schultz was supposed to have running like a Ferrari and it already looks like there is problems with the transmission. 

In short a team that gave up 30+ points to Jake "Iowa fans hate me" Christensen is exactly what this offense needs to shake off the bad day in St. Louis.

Likewise a defense that kept things close in the first half against the Tigers but ended up with about 3 too many blown coverages in the second half could really use an FCS offense to push around. There is absolutely a reason that week one is supposed to be against soft opponents, and I think Ron Zook's Illini teams could really benefit from such a consideration in the future as it has taken them a game or so to really get into seasoned condition. The D-line should get a great push and hopefully the secondary wont lose track of receivers anymore. Especially with the shake ups that are going on in the defensive backfield this week, this game is going to be an important proving ground for several players.

This will be our last chance to see the team get itself together before a bye week and the trip to the great maw of Columbus Ohio. Lets just hope that its a good showing for us to ponder during that long down time.