2007 Illinois Illini College Football Picks & Predictions


June 5, 2008 | Posted By Larry Cook

The surprise team in the Big Ten Conference will definitely be the Illinois Fighting Illini. Ron Zook hasn’t had much success since coming over from Florida, but Zook has a lot to look forward to for the 2007 football season. Illinois returns 19 starters which is has to be a formula for success. Experience means everything at the college level.

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Thanks to Ron Zook’s excellent recruiting, Illinois has a couple of cornerstones on offense. Sophomore quarterback Juice Williams is an exciting player, with nearly the same skill level as Indiana’s former quarterback in Antwaan Randle-El in the running game, but trumps Randle-El in passing comparisons. With a year of experience learning the job last season, the sky is the limit for this playmaker. He just has to rely on his arm instead of trying to make plays with his feet too quickly before looking over a defense.

His receivers, who had 46 drops last fall, can only get better. Illinois signed Arrelious Benn, a five-star recruit who is expected to immediately become the team’s key receiver. Another incoming freshman receiver, Anthony Morris, could have an immediate impact as well. Junior Kyle Hudson, sophomore Chris James and tight end Jeff Cumberland head a promising returnee group catching passes.

Last year’s tailbacks in Pierre Thomas and E.B. Halsey are gone. But the running game has a chance to be solid once again. Junior Rashard Mendenhall is a better breakaway threat than Thomas was and is strong enough to run between the tackles. He just has to hold onto the ball when he is hit. The line, which wasn’t dominant last season, is likely to undergo more changes in fall camp even though just one blocker is gone from last season. Speed kills and the Illinois offense will have plenty of it in 2007.

The defensive improvement for Illinois in 2006 was staggering. The Illini gave up 106 fewer yards per game rushing in 2006 than they did in 2005. They also cut their passing yards allowed per game by 53 yards. That is 159 yards given up per game less over the course of one season. Improvement would be an understatement, those numbers are colossal. Even with nine returning starters on defense, there are no guarantees for everyone to earn their jobs back with newcomers on the horizon, but either way the defense should be even stingier.

Even though Illinois allowed 12.7 fewer points per game last season, they still gave up 26.8 points per game last fall which was 9th in the Big Ten. The biggest upgrade could come on the line, where speedy redshirt freshman Jerry Brown and incoming freshmen Martez Wilson and Josh Brent should push solid returnees. Illinois is in good shape at linebacker with J. Leman in the middle returning from his All-Big Ten status a year ago. He was third in the entire nation in tackles last fall. Outside linebackers Brit Miller and Antonio Steele also are coming off strong years. The secondary, led by cornerback Vontae Davis who is already receiving high praises from NFL scouts, also should produce as a whole.

Ron Zook has added a promising recruiting class to an improving foundation. There is great reason for optimism in Fighting Illini country. The defense is respectable, and if Juice Williams takes a big step forward, the offense has potential. This team has still only won 8 games in the past four seasons, so it’s time to turn potential into wins. The next 3 years look to be a lot more fun for Illinois fans. But if the Fighting Illini don’t go bowling in 2007, we would be surprised.

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