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2007 Illinois Illini Football Preview & Predictions

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Here is Jimmy Boyd's 2007 Illinois Illini football preview and predictions article for our readers to enjoy. We don't only offer free previews and a weekly pick to our visitors in order to help them beat the college football odds, we also provide our premium clients with access to the college football picks that we feel show the best value for the week. These winning selections will help bring your college football betting to a whole new level of winning, as we cash in for our clients week in and week out.

Juice Williams complete only 39.5% of his passes as a freshman quarterback, but Ron Zook is still going with the kid and think he has a big upside. It didn't help that he didn't have anyone to throw to last season, and the team went out and recruited him some help. This group will be young, but the unit and the quarterback come hopefully grow together into something great. Illinois was 10th in the nation when it came to rushing last season, but that was with a three-back attack in which only one returns. It will be up to Rashard Mendenhall to stay healthy, but if he does they he has big play potential he showed in rattling off a 86-yard jaunt against Northwestern in the last game of the season.

J Leman is the best player on this defense, and he's one of the best linebackers in the Big Ten. Last year he was third in the nation with 12.67 tackles per game and had a 19 tackle effort against Ohio State. He'll be joined by returnees Brit Miller and Antonio Steele. The line should be better this year which should keep the blockers away from Leman and company. Three of the four starters return from a year ago, and Chris Norwell should do a good job of taking up space. The secondary is an area that the coaches feel shows some promise, despite a pair of sophomores starting at corner.

Illinois could very well go the entire Big Ten season without a win if Juice Williams doesn't get up to par at quarterback. However, if things go Illinois's way then wins could be possible at Indiana and Minnesota then in their finale, a home game against Northwestern. Getting more than three conference wins would be a minor miracle for this team as they fade to the back of the Big Ten, more because of away games against the beatable teams.

July 18th, 2007