anywhere from fifth to ninth. But nobody in their wildest dreams could have predicted that Penn State would lose back-to-back games to start their Big Ten season, or that Iowa would be 2-4 and winless in conference halfway through the year. Wisconsin isn’t as good as a lot of people thought they would be, and Michigan struggled early with two losses to open their season. The time is right for the Fighting Illini to make their run, and a lot of those same people who said ninth place are now talking Rose Bowl. Zook’s team still has some tough games left, including a night game with Michigan, an in-state rivalry matchup with surprising Northwestern and a dangerous road trip to the third-ranked team in the country, Ohio State. Can the Illini pull it off and make the school’s first trip to Pasadena since 1984? First they have to take care of Iowa this Saturday, and coach Zook doesn’t think it will be easy. During his weekly media conference, the coach said of the Hawkeyes,
“Obviously, we’re going there, to a hostile environment, a team that you might say is backed up against the wall a little bit. Any time you get someone
that’s backed into the corner, you know they are going to come out fighting.” Will the Illini be able to handle the fight? Considering Iowa ranks a
dreadful 115th out of 120 nationally in scoring (17.3 points per game), all Illinois needs to do is give the ball to Mendenhall and get out of the way. Though the Hawkeye defense isn’t too bad, they will have no answer for the Illinois running game - much like the rest of the Big Ten. Thanks to Zook’s recruiting, the Illini can match up talent-wise with almost anyone; and because nearly every team in the conference is on a down year, it looks like that will translate into a January bowl game, perhaps even the Rose. Mendenhall is the real deal, and so is the entire team. Eli Kaberon is a 2005 graduate of Evanston Township High School and currently is attending Columbia College in the loop, majoring in print journalism. A life-long fan of the Cubs, Bears and Bulls, Eli also works as a seat vendor at Wrigley Field and has sold hot dogs to everyone ranging from Bears tight end Greg Olsen to Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. His blog, the Hot Dog Guy, can be seen at http://wrigleyvendor.blogspot.com.
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October 22, 2007
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