Illinois Preview: Part 1

When Illinois has the ball:

This portion of the preview gets more and more depressing to write with each passing week so I figured I would get it out of the way earlier in the week this time around.

First, in a continuing saga of bad news, JT Floyd will be out for the rest of the season after suffering ligament damage in his ankle.  For those not keeping score at home, the 2010 Michigan secondary is now down the following secondary members either via injury, transfer, non-admission, NFL Draft, etc.:

-       Troy Woolfolk

-       Demar Dorsey

-       JT Floyd

-       Donovan Warren

-       J.T. Turner

-       Vlad Emilien

-       Jared Van Slyke

-       Boubacar Cissoko

-       Brandon Smith

The secondary is a lost cause at this point and will have to make due with James “I still think I’m a wide receiver” Rogers, Cam Gordon, and a host of true freshman in Avery, Tallbott, Vinopal, and Christian.

Given the tenuous position of the secondary, we will start with Illinois passing offense.  The Illini have turned the reigns over to freshman Nathan Scheelhasse this season and Scheelhasse has responded well by getting better and better with each game he has played.

This past weekend against Purdue, Scheelhasse went 16-20 for 195 yards and four touchdowns against Purdue.  Scheelhasse has yet to break 200 yards passing in Big Ten play but who would be willing to bet against Scheelhasse having his first 200-yard Big Ten game this weekend?  Scheelhasse will have plenty of time in the pocket and his ability as a runner (rushed for nearly 500 yards this season) is bound to give a terribly un-athletic Michigan defense tons of problems. 

A.J. Jenkins has been the big play receiver for the Illini on the outside while averaging over 13 yards per reception.  Look for Michigan to have some mental breakdowns in the secondary that even a youthful Scheelhasse will be able to exploit for big yardage on Saturday.

The Michigan run defense will prepare to face one of the better running backs in the Big Ten this weekend in Mikel Leshoure.  In his junior season Leshoure is averaging nearly five yards per carry and has had plenty of success in Big Ten play.  Leshoure is a powerful and physical back who is bound to give Michigan’s tackling-challenged front seven plenty of issues.  If Mike Martin does not play at 100% this weekend, which is looking more and more likely, Michigan’s run defense goes from mediocre to startlingly bad.

I would normally list all the stats for each unit going into this weekend, but after watching Michigan make an anemic Penn State offense look like a high-octane machine I think it’s safe to just assume that the Illini will find a way to put plenty of points on the board Saturday.   Michigan has yet to truly stop anyone and this weekend will represent more of the same ineptitude that we’ve routinely seen through the seasons first 8 games.  I’ll hope for the defense to create a turnover or two but considering that hasn’t happened since the Indiana game I see no reason to hold my breath.