BallHype - Latest Illinois Fighting Illini News Articles

Michigan Fades Fast Against Illinois

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 17:12:11 +1900

You see what happened was...I don't know what happened. I'm so mad right now there's steam coming out of my ears. Michigan looked dominant in the first quarter, but sputtered its way through the second and third quarters and ended up with the worst home loss since Florida State in 1991. Juice Williams absolutely destroyed the Wolverines. He made them look foolish; he even fooled me on a number of occasions. He broke a Michigan Stadium record with 431 yards of total offense. It was incredible watching him on Saturday dissecting the Michigan defense. The only thing that cools the steam coming out of my head is knowing that Michigan and Rich Rodriguez's offense will one day look like what Illinois displayed in its 45-20 win. And it will, folks; just be patient. There has already been a lot of grumbling from friends of mine and other Michigan fans that Rich Rodriguez was not the right hire and he needs to go. It's been five games! If anyone comes to me with that talk on here I will destroy ...

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Michigan Has Chance to Turn Corner Against Illini

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 18:50:11 +1900

Illinois Fighting Illini (2-2, 0-1) at Michigan Wolverines (2-2, 1-0) Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EDT at Michigan Stadium Line: Michigan -3.5 It's homecoming at Michigan Stadium and you know what that means. Some mediocre Big Ten team is coming to town. Minnesota and Illinois are the two most common opponents during homecoming weekend and this will be the Illini's 14th appearance in which they are 4-9 against Michigan on homecoming. The Wolverines have dominated Illinois over the years which might lead some to believe that the Fighting Illini are due for a win. They haven't won at the Big House since a 35-29 win in 1999. Michigan is 9-1 against Illinois in the last 10 meetings and hold a 66-21-2 advantage in the all-time series including a 28-9-1 record at Michigan Stadium. Last time these two met in the Big House, Illinois was handed a 56-14 whoopin in 2003 by John Navarre, Chris Perry and Braylon Edwards who all had big days. Of course, things are different nowadays, much different in ...

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Illinois-Michigan: Why the Illini Will Beat the Wolverines

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:27:28 +1900

Michigan starting running back Sam McGuffie is averaging 3.8 yards a carry. As a team they are averaging 4.0 yards per carry on the ground, and that will not get it done against the Illini. Michigan starting quarterback Steven Threet is completing 48 percent of his passes and is averaging 100 yards a game. That too will not get it done against the Illini. Michigan is ranked 114th in total offense, 106th in passing, and 82nd in rushing. They also rank 98th in scoring. Michigan has been outscored 39-10 in the second quarter of games this year. Look for a big second quarter for the Illini. Michigan has outscored their opponents 39-13 in the fourth quarter, so the Illini must be ready to finish the game strong. Michigan is strong on run defense, only giving up 88 yards a game on the ground, but they give up 220 passing yards per game. On paper this should be no contest, but we all know the game must be played. Wisconsin was caught sleeping and was beaten by Michigan last week. Michigan held ...

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Nittany Lions Are Inconsistent, but Still Win Convincingly

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:49:34 +1900

After being in Happy Valley and witnessing a very exciting game, I have been able to draw a few conclusions about Penn State. Penn State played inconsistently, Tom Bradley cannot figure out how to play defense against a no-huddle offense, D-Will is starting to break out, and we can win against a good team even if we don't play well. Our first offensive and defensive drives were horrendous. We were stalled to one first down on our first drive, and then Illinois was able to drive down the field and score. Then, our offense exploded and our defense was still pretty weak over the next few drives. I was pretty happy to go into half with a 21-14 lead, after a mediocre first half. In the second half, our defense started to step up. The defense was able to cause turnovers and hold Illinois to minimal yardage in the third quarter, while our offense struggled to get going in the second half. In the fourth quarter, our offense and defense both played very well. ...

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Penn State-Illinois: Inconsistent Nittany Lions Still Win Convincingly

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:49:34 +1900

After witnessing a very exciting game in Happy Valley, I have been able to draw a few conclusions about Penn State. Penn State played inconsistently, Tom Bradley cannot figure out how to play defense against a no-huddle offense, D-Will is starting to break out, and we can win against a good team even if we don't play well. Our first offensive and defensive drives were horrendous. We were stalled to one first down on our first offensive drive, and Illinois was able to drive down the field and score. Then our offense exploded and our defense was still pretty weak over the next few drives. I was pretty happy to go into half with a 21-14 lead after a mediocre first half. In the second half, our defense started to step up. It was able to cause turnovers and hold Illinois to minimal yardage in the third quarter, while our offense struggled to get going in the second half. In the fourth quarter, our offense and defense both played very well. There was one play, ...

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B/R Top25 Illinois Comments Week Five

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:17:53 +1900

Phil Aiello No.18 Who doesn't love Juice (no pun intended)? Arrelious Benn ain't too bad either. This team was playing with Mizzou and is capable of challenging for the Big-10 title if juice and company can stay consistent. The defense needs to step it up a notch once conference play rolls around this weekend or the Illini could get bounced out of here as quickly as they came in. Will Devlin No.18 David Rung No.19 Clark Nelson No.19 Ben Lee No.19 It should be a shootout at Penn State this week. Juice Williams is vastly improved. Brook Bristow No.19 Jimson Cuenta No.19 Chris Flanagan No.20 Isaac Elyacharshuster No.20 12 No.20 Penn State will have their way with the Fighting Illini. Mike Vorkunov No.20 Looks like the Illini are not a one year fluke David Morgan No.20 The Juice is loose, now if they only had a defense. Alex Farrer No.20 andrew johnston No.20 RedRaider Red No.20 Nick Shepkowski No.20 Dan Boss No.21 Brad Shipley No.21 Michael Lemaire No.21 Nate Stafford No.21 They had ...

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Penn State Football: Week Four Review and Week Five Preview

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:07:37 +1900

Week Four Review Penn State continued their dominance of non-conference foes this season by routing Temple 45-3. In my article from early on in the summer, I had predicted PSU to win this game by a score of 49-7, and last week I changed that predicted score to be 59-12. It looks like I should have stuck my first prediction, but the game was a blowout no matter how you look at it. For readers that have read my other weekly articles, I predicted a slow start one game too early for the Nittany Lions. I thought PSU would struggle at the beginning of the game at Syracuse last week, but it was this week against Temple that they struggled in the first quarter. Penn State had zero points in the first quarter, and Daryl Clark also threw his first interception of the season. The offensive drought did not last for long though. I can’t think of a better way to respond to a sluggish first quarter than by putting up 31 points ...

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