Magnetic Curses

I don't think I am. Mendenhall got nearly 300 touches last year and averaged over 6 yards a carry. That's more than PJ Hill, Knowshon Moreno, or Jamaal Charles. Juice was the QB and only got about 430. Juice's completion percentage and INTs were not appreciably better as the season progressed, and he'll likely be facing more passing downs without Mendenhall. I don't doubt the ability and athleticism of the Illinois receivers, I doubt the ability of Williams to consistently get them the ball. I think counting on marked improvement from Juice without as strong a running game is pretty optimistic. pierre thomas was the starter in 06, and averaged 6 ypc splitting time with mendenhall. i'm not worried about the running game. we have dufrene (6.3 ypc last year), pollard (over 6 before he got injured), and jason ford (remember the name) who will all get time and offer their own different looks as running backs. the illini won't struggle for yards on the ground. juice only rushing for 430 last year isn't really the point. in the big games where they needed him to run, he got the tough yards. against the vaunted defense of ohio state, he sat on the ball the entire 4th quarter in a hostile environment because that's what they needed him to do. he may break the 500 yard mark this year, but he'll run just enough to be threat while the other backs get enough carries to lead the conference again, behind the big wall up front. in his last 4 games last year, down the stretch, he put up very good numbers, and 2 of those games were aginst top 5 competition. if the running game isn't as strong, he'll throw more, and the illini will be fine. in his first 5 games he posted completion percentages 50 or below, then only once the rest of the way. in those last 4, he had one game below 60, and that was aginst osu, where he threw 4 tds and then parked it in the 4th. as far as not expecting him to progress from his sophomore to junior campaigns, well, i can't really offer anything more than what i've heard and what i've seen. i'm telling you that the kid is getting it and ready to go.

seriously? no, the jamaicans complained about being bloodtested 3x a day leading up to trackandfield as they should be tested. they're from jamaica, there's virtually no kind of enforcement there. Weed shouldn't male them any faster. it's not the weed, it's a third-world country.

seriously? no, the jamaicans complained about being bloodtested 3x a day leading up to trackandfield as they should be tested. they're from jamaica, there's virtually no kind of enforcement there.

not at all, but that doesn't stop people from finding it odd that an american woman is representing another country where she primarily competes. personally, i think it speaks to the level of competition that this country provides for athletes from all over the world.

seriously?

he might have forced him to run through the finish, though.

didn't even run through the finish. wow.

anybody notice that ian thorpe looks like he's sitting with phelps's mom?

and that's a record. phelps won that race, making it impossible for sullivan to com eback in the final leg.

here's gay blowing bolt away in 200 at the world championships.

of course you do. but seriously, i think mizzou wins in a close one again. I think it's going to be a back and forth shoot out this year, with one team getting a late score to win by 14 or so to make it look not as close as it really was -- unlike last year, which was all Mizzou until the 4th when Illinois made a frantic comeback. It should be a great game. I can't wait. take into account that their starting qb was out for most of the game, and the offense is largely based on what juice does, i think the illini win last year's game. but it's conjecture. i'd like to see the illini fly under the radar again this year, it will just make it that much sweeter when we win. To be honest, and this is just from the little I've seen out of Illinois, I think McGee is the better QB. Juice might be a bigger threat with his legs, but his arm isn't good. juice has a stronger arm. why mcgee was successful in that game was because he was allowing the receivers to run under the passes and they were beating the mizzou secondary. in actuality, mcgee is faster and the better runner, juice has a better arm but is more powerfully built and can absorb more contact. juice will have good passing numbers this year, bank on it.

that's the cubs vs. the marlins that we've all come to know and love. i hope we never ever have to play these lucky a-holes when it means anything again.

we should have scored more runs tonight. the marlins got extremely lucky.

of course you do. but seriously, i think mizzou wins in a close one again. I think it's going to be a back and forth shoot out this year, with one team getting a late score to win by 14 or so to make it look not as close as it really was -- unlike last year, which was all Mizzou until the 4th when Illinois made a frantic comeback. It should be a great game. I can't wait. take into account that their starting qb was out for most of the game, and the offense is largely based on what juice does, i think the illini win last year's game. but it's conjecture. i'd like to see the illini fly under the radar again this year, it will just make it that much sweeter when we win. I don't think Juice makes some of the throws that McGee made in that game. He may not have fumbled the ball away for a TD at the 1, but overall I don't think the end result would've been terribly different. When it comes to this year's game, especially as an opener, I think Mizzou returns more than Illinois, and they were a better team last year as well. Illinois lost their best player on both sides of the ball, and as such I think it's fair to be unsure of their ability to return to last year's levels(especially offensively where Mendenhall took a ton of pressure off Juice). To contrast, Mizzou returns 10 starters on defense, and the most vital pieces to their offense. The biggest concern for me is the O-Line playing together as it is for the first time against the Illini D-Line, but that's mitigated by the fact that Williams tore his ACL, Mizzou runs a lot of quick hitters, and they're deeper in the gun to begin with(your favorite Sulley). I guess it boils down to the fact that I like Daniel running the show with what he's got(or doesn't have) against the U of I defense a lot more than Juice running the who with what he's got(or doesn't have) against the Mizzou defense. sirod williams isn't a gigantic loss for us. lindquist and brent will be fine. behind them we have ballew and liuget, who are young, but very physically gifted. i'm excited to see what liuget can do, actually. as far as de's, will davis, derek walker, and jerry brown are quite a rotation. davis will put pressure on daniel, no matter how far back daniel decides to stand behind center, the coward :wink:. sure, we lose leman, but miller will be fine, and he'll looker better next to the defensive poy in the big ten (i'm calling it, now), martez wilson. at cb, we're a year better. vontae davis, dere hicks, and miami thomas are three talented players. at safety, we add donsay "big time" hardeman--maclin might find out why they call him that soon enough. we're better on defense, despite losing leman, and outsiders will discover that. i think you're overestimating the loss of mendenhall on the offense, as well. he'll be missed, but the qb is the focal point, the rbs play off of his success, and juice can run the offense. he also came on in the passing game late last season, he can make the throws, and he's developed as a passer over the past year. are you aware of the receivers that the illini have? they may have the deepest and most talented receiving core in the big ten. i think we'll surprise you with the pass. cumberland will probably miss the game and it won't even matter, benn, duvalt, scott, jenkins, willis, and james can play. it will be fun to watch them. the fighting illini football team has never ever been as athletic as they are this year.

marlins are awesome at this.

2 fastballs on the inner=third.

don't make everyone else suffer because you're too stupid to get a righty up until the last second, freddie you pos.

kerry must have taken a few hours this morning to visit the face of the sun.

we already pitched our #5 starter.

so we weren't satisified with almost losing last night, we have a lineup in there that can seal the deal? ballgame.

yeah, marshall is going to get rocked tonight. why is he pitching again?

he really wanted to pick of soriano and soriano really wanted to get picked off. it worked out well for both of them.

They were 7-9. It may have felt worse than that, but they were hardly dominated. This is a huge test. A 9 or 10 win season is going to look really good on Lovie's resume, bringing his overall record to 45-35 or 46-34. Considering where this team was when he came on, that's not bad. A sub .500 season, however, is going to bring his overall record closer to .500 and mean 3 of 5 seasons of losing records. I think getting 10 wins out of this team is going to take a tremendous coaching job, or at least that's how it's going to be perceived. i look at the first 8 games and i see 1-7.

of course you do. but seriously, i think mizzou wins in a close one again. I think it's going to be a back and forth shoot out this year, with one team getting a late score to win by 14 or so to make it look not as close as it really was -- unlike last year, which was all Mizzou until the 4th when Illinois made a frantic comeback. It should be a great game. I can't wait. take into account that their starting qb was out for most of the game, and the offense is largely based on what juice does, i think the illini win last year's game. but it's conjecture. i'd like to see the illini fly under the radar again this year, it will just make it that much sweeter when we win.

i think you really really underrate illinois, or you just don't know much about them. i wouldn't be totally surprised if one team won big, but i think it's going to be very close.