I Absolutely Love Missouri Vs. Illinois! Any Opinions?

[jayhawkkyle]

I Def. Think Missouri Is A Top 10 Team This Year And Dont Think Illinois Is Even A Top 25 Team! Dont See Them Having The Same Success As Last Year, Even W/ The Big 10 Being The Worst Bcs Conf. In College Football! The Have A Decent Chance To Lose 5-6 Games This Year!

Missou L
@ Penn St. L
@ Michigan L
@ Wisconsin L
Ohio St. L

Iowa 50-50
W. Mich(bowl Team) Should Win But Wont Be Easy
Indiana" "

And 3 Cupcakes

Not Sold On Juice! I Will Be Dropping My 1st Big Bet On Missou!

What Ya Think?

 

[sdf]

Illy will be better than people say but think they will struggle vs Mizzou

 

[Chenmen]

juice?

 

[OTK]

juice?

Juice Williams, the QB for Illinois is who he means by "not sold on juice."

 

[Chenmen]

Juice Williams, the QB for Illinois is who he means by "not sold on juice."

didn't read OP. my bad

 

[bootman_66]

I Def. Think Missouri Is A Top 10 Team This Year And Dont Think Illinois Is Even A Top 25 Team! Dont See Them Having The Same Success As Last Year, Even W/ The Big 10 Being The Worst Bcs Conf. In College Football! The Have A Decent Chance To Lose 5-6 Games This Year!

Missou L
@ Penn St. L
@ Michigan L
@ Wisconsin L
Ohio St. L

Iowa 50-50
W. Mich(bowl Team) Should Win But Wont Be Easy
Indiana" "

And 3 Cupcakes

Not Sold On Juice! I Will Be Dropping My 1st Big Bet On Missou!

What Ya Think?

Lost by 6 last year and had a huge 14 point swing on a fumble on the 1 that turned into a td the other way. Missouri O-line will be a huge question mark. I think illinois gets revenge this year

 

[Conan]

Missouri will win but Illinois will give them a game. I disagree with you about Illinois. Zook seems to have found a new home. I don't think last year was a one-shot wonder. Maybe the B-10 will be down this year but that's an opportunity for the Illini to take advantage and wind up one of the higher placed B-10 teams again in '08.

 

[bootman_66]

Missouri will win but Illinois will give them a game. I disagree with you about Illinois. Zook seems to have found a new home. I don't think last year was a one-shot wonder. Maybe the B-10 will be down this year but that's an opportunity for the Illini to take advantage and wind up one of the higher placed B-10 teams again in '08.

Conan the B10 as im sure you will agree may be town from top to bottom however who would want to line up across from ohio st? michigan? I still think it will be a tough conference and i look for illinois to compete quite well in the conference

 

[CrapGame]

juice

One thing I have learned any Cat name Juice usually makes plays.

That also works with guys that go by the name Cadillac

 

[TOOTIGHT]

I will actually take the other side on this one. Juice threw the ball a lot better toward the end of the year and improved quite a bit despite not having anyone to throw to (Benn was a fr. and injured most of the season). This year is completely diff. when it comes to the Illini wideouts. Lots of targets there as well at TE which was not the case last year. I think Juice will conitue to improve his accuracy. Illinois as a whole doesn't have many weaknesses this year. Good O-line, Great D-line, shut down corners, talent in the back field, mobile QB, good LB's, and watch out for OC Mike Locksley to make more of a name for himself this year. Last year the Illini were still developing a lot of young raw athletes; this year their recruiting success will show up even more.

Missouri may win in a close one but 8-9 pts in this game is a gift

People will have a totally different opinion on the Illini after this game.

Also, for the record, the Big 10 should be better than last year. BIG 12 and SEC will be the best conferences but after that I think the PAC 10 and BIG 10 will be will battle out for 3 best conference.

 

[GoSooners]

I'm really pretty much on the fence with this game. Illinois basically didn't have Juice Williams in this game last season. But they did have RB Mendenhall, which they don't this year.....But one thing I would want to know is which team is going to be able to run the ball better? Mizzou will also miss Tony Temple some this year. He missed a few games last year due to injury. But when he was healthy he was very good..I think he had something like 250 yards rushing against Arkansas in their bowl game. But his replacement Washington, averaged over 5 ypc in a backup/starter role last season. Mendenhall rushed for over 1,600 yards last season (6.4 average) for Ill. and Tony Temple averaged a little over 1,000 yards for MU..So they're is going to miss Mendenhall more than Mizzou misses Temple. Will Juice Williams have to carry a bigger rushing load on his own without Menedhall? And will it help defenses to key on him more without being overly concerned about the pass. Has his pass game gotten any better? He was only 57% with a 13-12 ratio last season. I can tell you that despite what I think will be a better Mizzou defense this year, I would have taken Illinois this year if they still had the offense with Mendenhall that they had last season...But that's the big question with me. Does Illinois have enough offense this year to keep up with Mizzou?

 

[straightcashhomie]

IMO, Illinois takes this one.

 

[AlwaysKeen]

sooners,

or should the question be is the Missouri defense really good enough to shut down the Illinois offense?...

 

[GoSooners]

sooners,

or should the question be is the Missouri defense really good enough to shut down the Illinois offense?...

Pags...It was mainly the big plays that burned Mizzou last year in this game..And that was from another QB who was a better passer...I suspect the Mizzou defense learned alot from that game..They gave up very few big plays the rest of the season. I think what we're going to see is a more defensive game this year..Illinois is improved on defense...Not on offense..Missouri is improved on defense...I suspect probably not on offense this early in the season. The reason I'm having problems with this game is because it is traditionally a close game, and I feel the final score could fall pretty close to this number..If these two teams were playing in the third or fourth game of the season instead of the first, I would have no problem taking Missouri... But right now the Tigers are breaking in two new offensive lineman. And they'll be up against a pretty good Illinois defensive front...It could be a mexican standoff for awhile until their offenses get going.

 

[TOOTIGHT]

I'm really pretty much on the fence with this game. Illinois basically didn't have Juice Williams in this game last season. But they did have RB Mendenhall, which they don't this year.....But one thing I would want to know is which team is going to be able to run the ball better? Mizzou will also miss Tony Temple some this year. He missed a few games last year due to injury. But when he was healthy he was very good..I think he had something like 250 yards rushing against Arkansas in their bowl game. But his replacement Washington, averaged over 5 ypc in a backup/starter role last season. Mendenhall rushed for over 1,600 yards last season (6.4 average) for Ill. and Tony Temple averaged a little over 1,000 yards for MU..So they're is going to miss Mendenhall more than Mizzou misses Temple. Will Juice Williams have to carry a bigger rushing load on his own without Menedhall? And will it help defenses to key on him more without being overly concerned about the pass. Has his pass game gotten any better? He was only 57% with a 13-12 ratio last season. I can tell you that despite what I think will be a better Mizzou defense this year, I would have taken Illinois this year if they still had the offense with Mendenhall that they had last season...But that's the big question with me. Does Illinois have enough offense this year to keep up with Mizzou?

GS,

This is not a rebuttle I just know you appreciate good information. Mendenhall didn't do much in terms of rushing last season against Mizzou and it wasn't because the D was keying in on him. Honestly, nobody really knew who Mendenhall was last year to start the season. In fact, the only Illini RB that did well last year in the Mizzou game was Daniel Dufrane, who ran 6 times for 58 yds. His avg for the season was 6.3 yds/carry which was about the same as Mendenhall. Dufrane was a JUCO transfer with no D1 experience last year so there was no way he was going to compete for the starting job but he did awesome as a back up. Troy Pollard was a FR. RB last year who played real well until he went out for the season with an injury. Both these guys along with a couple talented freshman will fill the void Mendenhall left. If there is one thing the Illini do well, it's run the football. I think from a betting stand point there is value in the Illini this year because their offense will be hands down better than last year, especially now that there are actually some receivers and TE's to catch the football. I'm not saying they will beat Mizzou because I think Mizzou will be rediculous this year but 9 points in what is becoming a good rivalry game, is a gift.

Trust me, Zook and Co. want everyone to think they are going to be lost without Mendenhall but ever since Mike Locksley came in as OC, the Illini have led the Big 10 in rushing, not OSU or Wisconsin which is who most would guess.

 

[GoSooners]

GS,

This is not a rebuttle I just know you appreciate good information. Mendenhall didn't do much in terms of rushing last season against Mizzou and it wasn't because the D was keying in on him. Honestly, nobody really knew who Mendenhall was last year to start the season. In fact, the only Illini RB that did well last year in the Mizzou game was Daniel Dufrane, who ran 6 times for 58 yds. His avg for the season was 6.3 yds/carry which was about the same as Mendenhall. Dufrane was a JUCO transfer with no D1 experience last year so there was no way he was going to compete for the starting job but he did awesome as a back up. Troy Pollard was a FR. RB last year who played real well until he went out for the season with an injury. Both these guys along with a couple talented freshman will fill the void Mendenhall left. If there is one thing the Illini do well, it's run the football. I think from a betting stand point there is value in the Illini this year because their offense will be hands down better than last year, especially now that there are actually some receivers and TE's to catch the football. I'm not saying they will beat Mizzou because I think Mizzou will be rediculous this year but 9 points in what is becoming a good rivalry game, is a gift.

Trust me, Zook and Co. want everyone to think they are going to be lost without Mendenhall but ever since Mike Locksley came in as OC, the Illini have led the Big 10 in rushing, not OSU or Wisconsin which is who most would guess.

Tootight....I appreciate the info...My mind is by no means made up for this game. 9 points is alot of points between what was two BCS caliber teams last season. I think that once Mizzou gets going this season they're going to be hard to stop. But the problem I have early with them is trying to break in two offensive lineman that will be protecting Chase Daniel's blindside. And Mizzou losing two good receivers to graduation..Especially Rucker..It could take Mizzou a few games to get up to speed this year. What bothers me about Illinois is Juice Williams passing ability. They may have good receivers, but he's got to be able to get it to them..And his offensive line will not be as good as last year after losing a couple very good OL and having to break in a couple sophomore's with no previous experience...At least they won't be as good this early in the season. This is why I feel this could be more of a defensive game than people think.

 

[rolltide]

i love missouri this year and took them 20/1 to win the title so most likely they'll lose to Illinois

 

[FairWarning]

Conan the B10 as im sure you will agree may be town from top to bottom however who would want to line up across from ohio st? michigan? I still think it will be a tough conference and i look for illinois to compete quite well in the conference

Many teams will love to line up against Michigan this year. Illinois is the circled game on many a schedule too.

 

[MattMillen+]

I believe the key match-up in this game will be Vonte Davis vs Jeremy Maclin. Maclin is a tough cover for anyone but if anyone can do it it's Davis. But the way Mizzou uses Maclin with sweeps and motion he will get a few key mismatches. Also Illinois just can't replace Mendenhall. Overall I think Mizzou is way to strong for Illinois.

Mizzou - 31
Illinois - 20

 

[AlwaysKeen]

gosooners,

I agree with a lot of your analysis but I think Illinois offensive line may have more success than you would think in creating holes for the running game...I also think that Williams has continued to develop as a passer...I mean he's no Chase Daniel, but I see the linebackers having to commit to the run (and them even walking up their SS), leaving the corners on an island...does Missouri truly have a DB that can cover Benn one on one?...I know the free safety is pretty good for Missouri but I watched Oklahoma push Missouri's defensive line around twice last year and Zook's got some big boys up front that may not do near the damage they did, but the key to attacking Missouri's D is being physical...Missouri has the speed on defense to compete...