Going forward: An Illini loss, an Illini win and a loss of swagger.

The warning signs have all been bright and garish, far too great in number to ignore...

Perhaps the inclusion of this particular song by the Mountain Goats is a bit mellow dramatic for the situation (are there any Mountain Goats songs that aren't?) but I believe that many in the Illini fan base share similar feelings to the characters in the song. Like an unhappy married couple unwilling to get a divorce, Illini fans  know they will only be disappointed in their football team this season, bu t are willing at least to go through the motions of these final two weeks. We know it isn't working, and we realize now that it hasn't worked from the beginning, but hey there are still two games left, so lets make the most of what we have.

Things will shortly get completely out of hand...

The loss to Minnesota was as devastating as any loss could be. Confidence in the defense, gone. Confidence in the offense, shaken. Hopes for a meaningful bowl selection, gone. Hopes for a bowl, at all, diminished. My confidence in the coaching staff in general, far diminished. This was the worst team in the conference, a team that lost to FCS South Dakota,  and three teams we beat by double digits. It was our last home game of the season, Senior Day, Dad's Weekend, the last chance to demonstrate our improvement to a mass of high school recruits.  And we blew it.

This is an unshakable loss, the mistakes were too many to be dismissed as aberration, and the costs too much to be easily forgotten. The fact that Mikel Leshoure only got 18 total carries in this game, and Scheelhaase ended up with 19 is entirely too reminiscent of years past. Why, in the face of weak pass protection by Minnesota we rushed only three consistently and abandoned blitzing seemingly entirely. How we at nearly every opportunity mismanaged the clock and our timeouts. The mismanagement of field position We were out coached by their interim replacement, plain and simple

But I will walk down to the end with you, if you will come all the way down with me...

I don't think I am the only one who lost their real hope in what this team could be this weekend. Fan support emptied like the student section in the third quarter. It is a pity, given what was invested in this team over the last two months, but now all that is left is to go through the motions, play out the games and think about missed opportunities. We know Zook has done enough to keep his job for another year. He has enough to show the AD and a president that is reticent to spend a great deal of money that there has been improvement. We know there is very little different we can reasonably expect next year from this year. Maybe we will roll the dice and end up 7-5, but just as easily be 5-7, or 3-9. I don't know, but I have braced myself for one more season of this sort of unpredictability, or more accurately inconsistency.

So, now that that is over with, lets talk about basketball, shall we?

Yes, basketball. Thank God for basketball.

Thirty four minutes of near perfection from the Illini turned the SIU game into a laugher. The Illini would lead by as much as 30 before pulling the start line and letting the young'ns let the lead get back into the scarier range of 17 points or so. But in those thirty four minutes, we saw how this team is coming together and when fully formed what a beast it could be.

Demetri McCamey knows everything about this team, knows every player, where they are supposed to be and when to get it to them, he is playing point guard as well as he ever has, and has even seemingly stepped up his defense. D.J. Richardson is once again the team's best defender and an apparent assassin from three point range, whenever SIU looked to make a run, his shooting was an absolute punch to the gut. Brandon Paul, has discovered that when he drives the lane he can do some crazy ass shit, only this time it is a good thing. And most importantly, we have seen meaningful contributions from two of our freshmen already, which are even now filling in holes that plagued this team last year.

What happened last year when Tisdale got into foul trouble early last year and we lost our best option for inside scoring? We struggled. What happened Saturday? Meyers Leonard came in, with swagger and didn't miss a beat. Dude has skills and confidence and is only going to get better.

What happened last year when our outside shooters were ice cold and we couldn't create a shot to save our life? We struggled. In comes Jereme Richmond, who not only can drive, but can create jumpers and fade aways like an NBA forward. He is only just getting started, but his presence, and potential lead me to believe that he will be taking a starting position before Big Ten season if he keeps on progressing.

All of that, and Mike Davis is a bad ass. 14 points, seven rebounds and even a steal and a block for good measure. I will take that every game, thank you, and if we get it every game I doubt we will have quite as nervous a February as we had last year.

I'll say it again, thank God for basketball.