Illini Head To Penn State: Face A Must Win Game

Yes yes, in college football every game is a must win. But this one feels particularly so. In the last two weeks, a well oiled football machine has gotten sand in its pistons, run off the road, and is currently billowing smoke from the radiator. Two weeks ago, many were thinking that the showdown against Michigan would be a fantastic game to determine who would be second banana to Wisconsin in the Big Ten this year. Now, people are wondering if the Illini can get past 7 wins on the season.

As bad of a tire fire as Minnesota is, I don't exactly want to be heading into Minneapolis the last weekend of the year looking to shore up a bowl selection, and with Wisconsin and Michigan still on the schedule, the best candidate for win number seven is Penn State.

The Nittany Lions have gotten by this year similarly to Ohio State, with a stout strong defense and next to no offense to speak of. Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden have shared duties this year, and have combined for 8 touchdowns and 4 INTs. Ugh. PSU is currently 85th in passing yards per game with 206, 89th in points scored with 23, and had to scrape by the likes of Temple and Indiana by less than a touchdown a piece. 

That said, their scoring defense is really, really good, fifth in the nation, holding teams to just 13 points a game. Given the struggles that Illinois has had these past two weeks on offense, particularly against strong defensive lines, (which PSU has, naturally) I am not a fan of this match up.

What was particularly troubling about last week, was just how poorly the Illini offensive line was blocking. Yes the interior Purdue D-line is better than we give it credit for, but these same O-linemen pushed around Purdue last year in a route. Against the Nittany Lions, this cannot happen again. Granted last week Nathan Scheelhaase held onto the ball too long, too often, but in order to get the passing game going again, this offensive line has to turn in a much much better performance.

I also think that if there is a player that can have a real impact this week, it is Jason Ford. Ford was having a quite good game last week, but was injured and hampered somewhat, limiting his actual carries. If he can be the down hill between the tackles runner again this week, and be able to attack at the D-line so it can't cheat so much, it will give the offense some breathing room. I also would like to see some better play calling from the offensive booth. I can't argue at all with the development that Petrino has fostered in players like A.J Jenkins and Scheelhaase, but his play calling of late seems to be confusing. Instead of using Nathan's speed on his feet as a threat, they are forcing it through with designed straight ahead runs. Instead of letting the running backs run out of the I-formation, running plays are called through end reads (which too often are the wrong read.)

This can still be yet a good team, a team that isn't being ridiculed in the press as a paper tiger, but it needs to get smarter. The self inflicted wounds half to be minimized. The penalties have to be cut down. And most of all the turnovers have to stop. This team does not have the margin of error we thought it did.