(Update: here’s my segment from this morning discussing Illini football on 1620 The Zone KOZN)
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement pioneered by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. Cubitism (trademark The Sports Bank.net) is what Illini offensive coordinator Bill Cubit does with quarterbacks. He took a very mediocre signal caller in Nathan Scheelhaase and shaped him into a Picasso style masterpiece. Now Cubit has a really talented QB in Wes Lunt and through two games he’s put up ridiculous numbers.
He threw for a career-high 456 yards Saturday, which ranks second on the all-time Memorial Stadium passing yardage, just six yards shy of the school record 462 yards set by Juice Williams vs. Minnesota (Oct. 11, 2008). Lunt’s performance stands fourth, meanwhile, on the Illini all-time single-game passing yardage list. All in just his second game at Illinois, which earned him the Big Ten Player of the week award.
TV: FOX | Announcers: Joe Davis, Joey Harrington and Kris Budden
Spread: Washington -13
Hashtags: #Illini #ILLvsWas #B1G
Illini analysis:
The 2014 Illini football team doesn’t have much going for it, but they do have a quarterback, and that really means something. It’s the most important position in sports and if you have a true, strong QB you can go places. At least in this Big Ten, which reached a new low Saturday.
“Wes Lunt is a big, strong kid. throws the ball pretty much effortlessly,” said Illini Tight end Jon Davis.
Like I said, Lunt has a really poor supporting cast, but the league itself is as poor as it has ever been. With the Illini having such a soft schedule, and a QB as good as Wes Lunt is, they can truly be mediocre this year. Maybe.
Aside from Christian Hackenberg and Connor Cook (probably also the guy from Rutgers) who is a better Big Ten QB than Wes Lunt?
Not many. And given how broke the Big Ten truly is, this Illini football team can go somewhere. Maybe. Illinois’ home schedule is incredibly weak this year and the entire conference is eliminated from a playoff berth…and we’re not even at week three yet.
Only 36,000 and change paid to see the 2014 Illini football opener versus Youngstown St. Of course, the true number of butts in the seats was much lower, meaning that Memorial Stadium was essentially close to half empty. Of all the teams in the five power conferences, Memorial Stadium had the second worst percentage of tickets purchased to tickets available. (Purdue came in last)
Of all the teams in the five power conferences that had hosted a game, only four schools had a worse turnout than Illinois. Only 38,000 showed up in week two.
Tim Beckman Hot Seat Reading: (0=Coach for Life, 100=Nuclear reactor core): 80.
That’s a huge problem for the job security of Tim Beckman and the state of the Illinois Fighting Illini football program. Yes, winning cures everything, and winning would solve this issue. Yes, Beckman’s 5-18 vs FBS opponents, 1-15 in conference record has a lot to with why people aren’t showing up. However, ultimately, it’s probably revenue at the gate, more than winning percentage in the standings that will force the hand of Athletic Director Mike Thomas.
Washington Huskies analysis:
Tim Beckman On Washington’s offense:
“They’re huge up front. Their offensive line is huge, as big as we’ll probably face. Reminds me a lot of a Wisconsin offensive line, size-wise. (Cyler) Miles came in at quarterback and had a good football game last week running that offense. They have numerous running backs. They’re going to play with four or five running backs in that football game. You can see the depth, you can see that the program is heading in the right direction and they’ve got some great depth.”
Last week a guy named Wonderful Terry on Western Kentucky returned a fumble 95 yards for a touchdown against Illinois. That’s kind of like Western Illinois WR Hi-C Scott or Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.
Now this Illini football team faces Psalm Wooching and Washington.
In 2014, I fully expect the Washington football team to keep sailing along like a schooner on Puget Sound as they make a change in the wheel house. Even though tthe first two wins were hideously ugly. Nine starters return on a defense that was a lot better than what we’ve been accustomed to in Seattle lately.
It had seemed like dominant Husky defenses went out of style around the same time as Grunge music, but this unit had more hits than Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden combined in 2013. Led by Danny Shelton, Shaq Thompson and Hau’oli Kikaha (please don’t ask me to even try to pronounce that name) they will be SOLID! The offense will be as noisy as music driving a mosh pit in a Seattle rock club too. Sure they lost their biggest weapons in Mike Price, Bishop Sankey and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, but seven starters return to a unit that was top 20 in all the major categories.
Husky football is still a couple pegs below the Quack Attack and Stanford in the Pac 12 pecking order. However, I think they’ll contend for the Pac 12 North title, and continue to convey that this is a program on the rise. After a fast start, and then a mid season slide, the 2013 Huskies finished strong to complete a nine win season. They need to match or exceed that this year. After all, they don’t want their fans to have a sense of “buyer’s remorse” given that all that money was invested in a shiny, new expensive stadium.
Brutally honest prediction: Washington 41, Illinois 27
For the first time in the Twitter era, I logged on during an Illini Football game and saw zero, and I’m not exaggerating, ZERO Illini football tweets in my timeline. That’s alarming when you consider how many people in the Chicago sports media and Illinois sports media I follow on the micro-blogging platform. This Illini football team isn’t the worst that we’ve seen (I seriously think they finish 5-7; which is mediocre, not terrible). However, the general interest level in Illini football is probably the worst that it’s been in a very long time. And no, I wasn’t alive for the 6-24 Gary Moeller era.
Look for UW to beat Illini football like UW grad Hope Solo beats……….
……any opposing striker who tries to score on her! LOL!
Paul M. Banks owns and manages The Sports Bank.net, in partnership with Fox Sports and Yahoo. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)
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