Instant Analysis - Sept. 5
Missouri 37 ... Illinois 9
Pete
Fiutak
All Illinois talked about all offseason was how 2008
was an aberration. The mindset was supposed to be
right, the fire was there to do the work needed to
be an elite team, and the talent was in place to
come up with a special season. It still might be a
great year, but the team appeared to inexplicably be
missing a spark against Missouri. It was like the
loss of star WR Arrelious Benn to an ankle injury
took the wind out of the team, and it wasn't able to
recover. Now the Illini has to get its energy level
up and it can't go into the tank. Mental toughness
hasn't been a hallmark of the program, and after a
clunker like this, it'll have to get its house in
order against Illinois State next week or the season
can be over in a hurry with at Ohio State, Penn
State, and Michigan State to follow.
To be fair, Missouri had a lot to do with the
problems as Gary Pinkel and his staff might have
shown, even though it's just been one game, that the
program can quickly reload. The Tigers have
playmakers, speed, and even after the loss of great
players like Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, and Chase
Coffman, a world of talent. That's a good Illinois
team Mizzou just thrashed, and now there's reason to
believe that another Big 12 North title is more than
just possible; it's expected.
Richard
Cirminiello
What do you know? There’s going to be life after Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin at Mizzou after all.
Go ahead and include the Tigers in the grouping of Big 12 North contenders following their dismantling of an Illinois team in disarray. While everyone was dogging Missouri in the offseason because of the offensive holes it had to fill, the program put in its ear plugs and prepared as if it was still entering the season ranked. It paid off. Young Blaine Gabbert was sharp in his debut as Daniel’s successor, the receivers were fantastic, and the Sean Weatherspoon-led D knocked the snot out of an Illini offense that was supposed to be the Big Ten’s best. Sure, it didn’t have to contend with WR Arrelious Benn, but don’t expect any apologies for allowing just nine points and playing unusually well in pass defense. With winnable games upcoming over the next three weekends, the Tigers ought to be hitting their stride by the time Nebraska visits Oct. 8 for a key divisional showdown.
Matt Zemek
1) Yes, Arrelious Benn went down on the very first offensive series, a terrible way to start the season for the Illini. College kids will experience an emotional letdown when a key cog on a team is felled by injury, so in that sense, one shouldn’t be too harsh on Illinois. Then again, Juice Williams is an experienced dual-threat quarterback who is supposed to be a towering leader in key situations. After last year’s disappointing campaign in Champaign, Williams figured to be a lot better in 2009. He wasn’t, and even though more receivers dropped like flies in St. Louis, the Juice has to bear a lot of the burden for this blowout loss to Missouri.
2) Before Chase Daniel came along, Missouri football under Gary Pinkel had not crossed a number of thresholds for performance, quality, consistency, and reliability. Today, in the first game following the Daniel era, the Tigers acted the part of a transformed program that now expects to win. Mr. Daniel wasn’t on the field in the Edward Jones Dome, but it’s clear that No. 10 instilled a special spirit into Pinkel’s pupils, a mindset that bore much fruit against Illinois. Changing the subculture of a program unleashes the talents trapped inside very young bodies and their fragile minds; it’s clear that Missouri has experienced this culture-change, and that Illinois’s 2007 Rose Bowl season is looking more and more aberrational by the minute.
Michael Bradley
If Ron Zook hasn’t bought some asbestos underwear, he had better go out and get some. All the pre-season talk about how Illinois had turned things around after living off their 2007 Rose Bowl loss last season sounded pretty tinny after the Illini got drilled by Missouri Saturday afternoon. Juice Williams told us how much he wanted to be an accurate, reliable QB, but that didn’t happen – again – against the Tigers. Missouri was supposed to be rebuilding offensively, but Mizzou didn’t look like it had any construction projects underway. QB Blake Gabbert looked good, although that may be a product of the poor Illini defense, which hasn’t been worth very much since ’07. Illinois looked nothing like a contender in the Big Ten, while Missouri might just have enough to challenge Kansas and Nebraska in the Big 12 North. It’s early, but the teams’ futures appear to be quite different.