Fighting Illini defeat Arkansas State 33-15, Start Season 1-0 For First Time Since 2006

For a while there, everything could have been awful. Jason Ford was stopped at the goal line (the wrong one) for a safety, the Illinois offense had stalled in general, and the Arkansas State Redwolves had taken the lead off of two field goals. Then, a simple  short pass from Nathan Scheelhaase to Darius Milines changed the flow of the game. A spin move led to a missed tackle, and Milines wasn't touched again until the end zone.

The Illini retook the lead at 14-8 and would pour it on from then, scoring 33 points, and keeping ASU out of the end zone until garbage time. That touchdown was a turning point in the game in many ways, for one it seemed to demonstrate just how different the offensive approach will be this season. The first Illinois drives, including the Illini's first touchdown, were marked by the straightforward, conservative ground based approach of 2006-2010. That first touchdown drive featured 8 total passing yards, compared to the 47 that Ford gained.

From there the Arkansas State defense started crowding the line of scrimmage and keeping all their linebackers in to defend the run, and still Illinois played conservatively, handing the ball off to Ford, and getting a safety, two punts and about 7 yards of forward progress for their effort. With a player like Mikel Leshoure at running back, it might not have mattered, but it doesn't seem like this team has an NFL running back on it just yet.

When Paul Petrino finally opened up the offense a little, and put the ball in the hands of perhaps the two most dangerous on the team, quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase and senior WR A.J. Jenkins the offense ran smooth as I can remember.

A.J. Jenkins is finally getting the moment in the sun he has wanted for so long, and he seems to be making it count. The veteran is out to prove that he is the best wide out in the Big Ten, and he finally has a quarterback who can make the throws to prove it. With 11 receptions, 148 yards and a touchdown, the season couldn't have started any better for Jenkins, and he could be well on the way to the 100 catch 1000 yard season he wants.

Darius Milines was of course no slouch either, he contributed five catches, including the aforementioned 45 yard touchdown reception for 119 yards. Jenkins and Milines dominated the receiving stats, and didn't leave much room for anyone else, but when yards were so easy to come by, it doesn't bother me one bit.

Of course Jenkins and Milines owe a lot to Nathan Scheelhaase who looked crisp passing in the season opener, and looks like he has grown dramatically since his debut against Mizzou a year ago.  Just compare the numbers for the two games, 9/23 for 81 yards, a TD and 3 INTs compared to 16/23 for 267 yards, 2 TDs and no interceptions.  It certainly helps that this wasn't a Big 12 defense he was throwing against, we should take a moment and enjoy the feeling of having a quarterback who can spread the field and hit his receivers again.

This is exactly the sort of learning curve I was hoping this season would allow for with Scheelhaase. Throwing a young QB out against a talented defense like Missouri is no way to give a kid confidence, and it doesn't really help in his learning of the offense either. Along with the extra practice from last year's bowl season, these two weeks of low tier opponents should have Scheelhaase in top form by the time real competition comes to town.

The defense too played a quality game, though the stats might not reflect it. Despite giving up 350 yards, 290 of which was through the air, the Illini managed to keep Arkansas State out of the endzone until late in the fourth quarter when blown coverage led to a first and goal. Up until that point the bend but don't break defense had managed to force field goals and even managed an interception. (Grabbed by who else but Trulon Henry?)

Akeem Spence and the defensive line looked good, but the defensive backs once again looked a bit shaky, and despite the solid tackling and generally sound coverage, that is still way too many completed passes to give up to a Sun Belt team.

Turning our attention back to the offense though, there were a few things of note. Jason Ford led all rushers (there were actually seven players who recorded rushing statistics) with 86 yards on 22 carries, and more or less looked like the most reliable back to have on the field. Ford was best when he exploded into the line and tried to overpower his defender, usually breaking through or pushing the pile ahead for consistent yardage, but every time he moved laterally and tried to dance around looking for a gap, he lost his momentum and seemed to always lose yardage. This is clearly not his game and we shouldn't expect to see much Mikel Leshoure like running from him. The now seemingly ancient bucket o'hair Troy Pollard got 23 yards on his two carries, and young Josh Ferguson got 15 yards for his six attempts, but the guy who raised the most eyebrows seems to be Donovonn Young, who has inherited the #5 jersey, whose two previous owners had record seasons and NFL draft picks after their junior year. Young was one of the signing day gems for Ron Zook, and while he looks every bit the raw and undeveloped freshman, he showed some flashes of great speed, including a nice 24 yard run. Just looking at him you know it will be at least one off-season's worth of weight training before we can see what he can really do, but there is no doubt that his speed will be a nice compliment to Ford's strength this season.

Then of course we come to Reilly O'Toole, who managed just two pass attempts in the fourth quarter before heading back to the sideline.  This means we will see O'Toole as the primary back up this season, and it also means that he is far enough along in his development to warrant that promotion. We will see him again this season, and probably a lot more next week against SDSU. No redshirt means that unless Scheelhaase leaves early for the NFL this year or next year, we will have a situation where O'Toole will likely transfer or overtake him. And that is an unexpected development to be sure.