I remember.

(via sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

The Illinois Fighting Illini have had shocking ups and jarring downs the past three years. This comes as a surprise to few who have followed the career of Ron Zook, a coach who is known more for his constantly-motivational-to-the-point-of-inanity rhetoric ("we're improving, getting better and improving better") than for his ability to competently coach a division one football team. I have harshed the Zooker's mellow in the past, but have come to realize that one more good year is all that he needs to stick around in Champaign for just a little while longer, and that that is probably for the best. Illinois last year was about as wonky as teams come. Allow Dr. Saturday to elaborate:

Even Juice Williams, somehow, has bona fide numbers that refutew my certainty in his incompetence as a passer... Juice Williams, while greatly improved, is not an accurate quarterback... The running game, despite its complete lack of a central star, was alright -- 38th nationally for a team that gained more yards and scored more points than its Rose Bowl-bound predecessor.

But the '08 team didn't go to the Rose Bowl, or any bowl; it was held to 20 points or less in four losses over the last five games, one of them against Western Michigan. Something about the Illini, something baffling and unquantifiable, was missing last year

and again:

But the net result of a more pass-based offense last year was a very slight increase in both yards and scoring; on the whole, Illinois lost nothing in shifting the focus onto Williams, and both his efficiency rating and touchdown:interception ratio significantly improved. The defense gave up fewer yards per game than in '07, and that's including Missouri's opening night romp. As a matter of fact, Illinois improved to some degree in almost every major facet -- except one: [turnover margin]

Last year, Illinois was in the middle of its aforementioned death spiral when Ohio State rolled - or ambled, perhaps - into Champaign. The Illini ran for 214 yards in the game, and went for 455 (!) yards overall against a stout, senior-lead Ohio State defense. They had no problems whatsoever moving the ball when they wanted to. What killed the Illini in that particular game were the little things:

• A fumble by quarterback Juice Williams deep in Illinois territory, and an interception with the goal line in range.

• A punt blocked by Malcolm Jenkins for a safety.

• A punt and kickoff into the wind that went nowhere, giving the Buckeyes great field position.

Which led to a 10-point Ohio State win that would have been 17 points had the Illini not tossed a late touchdown against the second-teamers. I remain convinced that Jim Heacock is clueless as to how to defend the Illini offense; given that they also had  400 yards of offense in the 'Shoe the year prior en route to the upset. Will the Illini pull off a similar shocker next year in the 'Shoe, this time in late September? Read on to find out.

Fighting Illini you should care about:

It goes without saying that the offense is run through quarterback Juice Williams. Williams was their leading rusher last year, mostly because there wasn't any other consistent rushing threat. Williams tossed 22 touchdowns in 2008, three of which went to Arrelious Benn, who has been the leading Illini pass-catcher for two years running. Arrelious is not much of a threat to score, going on his first two years: he has five scoring grabs in two full years a starter, and did not benefit in quite the way expected when Zook shifted the offense to more of an aerial attack following the departure of Rashard Mendenhall. Defensively, Martez Wilson is back for his junior season, and will be looking to live up to the hype he came in with; he was the third leading tackler for the Illini last year. Wilson will be playing middle linebacker this year, so the tackles probably won't have to worry about him coming off the edge.

Interesting / Relevant Statistics and facts: ( numbers garnered from College Football Stats and the NCAA Statistics Website)

So what was missing with 2008 Illinois? Same thing that was missing with 2007 Illinois, Pinky: defense. The common meme of Illinois' 2008 season was that Illinois simply wouldn't survive losing someone like J Leman on defense, and while the loss of such a patriot is understandly huge, Illinois handled it pretty well: After finishing 55th in total defense in 2007, the Illini plummeted all the way to... 56th in the 2008 season. Sure, they plummeted from 26 to 67th in scoring defense in giving up 5 more points per game, but really, they fared rather well despite a 200 percent overall drop in American Pride.

As Dr. Saturday mentioned, Illinois' offense actually improved following the loss of Rashard Mendendall, the Illini had the country's 19th-best attack after having the 34th-best in 2007; though by comparison the rushing game went from ZOMG UNSTOPPABLE 5th-best in the country to ZOMG UNSTOPPABLE [/Heacock] at 38th.

In 2009, the Illini offense promises to be freaking scary again:

- They return everyone who got a meaningful ball-touch (hey-o!) on offense outside of Will Judson, last year's second leading receiver

- They lose Xavier Fulton and Ryan McDonald to graduation and the NFL, and this Rivals depth chart has them starting two freshmen at left tackle and left guard. To this, Thad Gibson says yummy.

- They lose three of their top five tacklers, returning the aforementioned Wilson and Tavon Bellamy

Illinois scored four or more touchdowns in three games last year: Eastern Illinois, Michigan and Indiana were on the receiving end of those efforts. They only had one touchdown apiece against Iowa, Western Michigan, Penn State and Northwestern. Only one team, Northwestern, held them without a passing touchdown.

Illinois' pass defense last year was bad. Four teams completed 70 percent or more of their passes against the Illini, and only one team all year, Indiana, didn't pass for a touchdown against the Illini.

Early prediction:

Ohio State's defense is going to look genuinely bad again in this game. Ron Zook has the mojo on Jim Heacock, simple as that. Like last year, the Illinois attack will get off to a hot start before fizzling in a flurry of turnovers early in the second half. Ohio State will never really consistently stop the Illini (i.e. forcing a punt), but they will frustrate Williams into at least one interception and generally make life a living hell for the quarterback. Herron will be limited by an athletic Illinois linebacker corps, so Pryor is going to be forced to grow up and throw the ball downfield - consequences be damned - against a sub-par Illinois secondary. Ohio State will barely escape with a 33-24 win that is ultimately sealed with a late Illinois turnover.

If we win: Wipe the sweat off of our brows and relax; it should be smooth sailing for a week heading into the inexplicable night game at Indiana.

If we lose: Well, young team, senior Juice Williams and all that. This is really the fourth-most forgiveable loss on the entire schedule, behind USC, Penn State and Iowa. Illinois will be a respectable team. A loss to them, which will almost assuredly result in the destruction of an innocent household appliance, wouldn't be horrible.