2006 Illinois Football Picks & Predictions
There’s no need to beat around the bush, barring a miracle, the 2006 Illinois Fighting Illini football team will be doing more rolling over than fighting and will finish dead last in the Big 10. When you have trouble moving the football or getting many stops on defense you have to find ways to make things happen. For example, Northwestern’s defense was horrible last season, but they were scrappy and came up with 30 takeaways. Illinois forced only 8 turnover last season which was the fewest in the country. 3 of their top 4 tacklers a season ago were defensive backs. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that that means you are getting blown away up front. The defensive line finished with just 12 sacks last season which was the fewest in the nation. The Illini are hoping new Defensive Coordinator Vince Okruch can get the front four making a bigger push up front this season. The fact is, they can hope all they want but it’s just not going to happen. Okruch is looking to try a speed approach to get some pressure in their opponents backfields, but with our college football predictions we see the Illini just don’t have enough talented players to get the job done with this type of approach even though it’s really their only hope.
Illinois offense really isn’t even worth talking about. Tim Brasic is a decent quarterback, but he doesn’t have enough play makers around him to do any damage this season in the Big 10. The Illini return 4 receivers, all 5 offensive lineman, and Thomas and Halsey in the backfield, but you still shouldn’t expect them to move the ball. What you can expect is a 2-10 or 3-9 season from the Illini. If they go 3-9, it will have been a good year. Indiana is there only chance at a Big 10 victory. They will get by Eastern Illinois at home in their season opener and they should beat Ohio on October 14th. Other than that, there are no guarantees for the Fighting Illini. Ron Zook is a good coach and several years of heavy recruiting should get the Illini back to the middle of the pack in the Big 10 before 2010.
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