The one thing I took away from this game is that team didn’t see very smart and played without any heart. I didn’t see any leadership from Juice on offense and Martez on defense. Martez looked confused and didn’t play fast.

Juice was the 2nd best QB on the field and it wasn’t close. His release is so slow. He has improved very little since his sophomore season. Unless this was an aberration this is going to be another long season. The good news is the rest of the Big Ten that I saw looked equally crappy. Better hope USC goes unbeaten and plays for the BCS championship or its going to be another Rose Bowl blowout. I’ll take them to beat OSU at Columbus next weak even though they are starting a true freshman.

Duck99 you said it perfectly. Where was the leadership? Where was the intensity? Juice is a senior and has watched Mizzou beat him twice and when things went wrong today he seemed to look defeated, unwilling to take on the challenge. It all started when Benn went out, and continued with every failing drive thereafter. Did you see him on the sidelines? He was pouting, with no emotion or since of urgency. Where was the “Tebowness?” Had Tebow lost his top receiver on the first drive and had his team started from behind, he would have been fired up, encouraging his teammates, and would have took it upon himself to lead his team past the burden that they were faced with. And thats what a true leader would have done. I mean sure, was this game soley Juice’s fault? Not even close. His recievers let him down (AJ Jenkins and Jeff Cumberland) and the running game struggled to get established, but I just didn’t see the heart and determination out of our team leader.

Obviously another thing Juice couldn’t control was the defense. Martez just looks lost. He doesn’t go all out, which is a sight Illini fans are not used to seeing from our MLB’s, with J and Brit having played the position the past three seasons. D-line pressure was there, but Gabbert seemed to be able to do whatever he wanted. I don’t understand how we have yet to figure out that offense, when we’ve seen it the past three years.

I would like to say I liked the performances from both RB’s Mikel Leshoure and Troy Pollard, along with LB Ian Thomas. But other than that, today’s performance was one to forget. Ok enough from this game… Illinois just needs to refocus and make the decision to not let this ruin their season. They are still a very talented team and are more than capable of beating any team on their schedule. It’s up to them how the remainder of this season turns out.