Touchdown Times Sept. 12, 2013

A publication of THE DAILY ILLINI Thursday, September 12, 2013

TouchdownTimesUp in the air

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Two wins have given the Illini high hopes for the

season. Will they fall back to earth in Chicago?

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Thursday, September 12, 2013 THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com2

Washington Illinois

PassingKeith Price

PassingNathan Scheelhaase

RushingBishop SankeyDwayne Washington

RushingJosh FergusonDonovonn Young

ReceivingMartize BarrRyan LankfordJosh Ferguson

DefenseJohn TimuShaq ThompsonWill Shamburger

DefenseJonathan BrownMason MonheimEarnest Thomas IIIAustin Teitsma V’Angelo Bentley

C-A-INT23-21-1

C-A-INT54-73-1

Yards 324

Yards 728

TD2

TD6

TD102

Long42

Long55

Long305253

Carries2513

Carries1822

Catches976

Tackles1397

Tackles23181696

Sacks000

Sacks.51.0000

TFL0.50

0.5

TFL1

2.50

0.51

INT000

INT00000

Yards16152

Yards9670

Yards108125158

Avg6.44.0

Avg5.33.2

TD21

TD02

OffenseNathan Scheelhaase 2 QB

Josh Ferguson 6 RBRyan Lankford 12 WR

Miles Osei 8 WRSpencer Harris 80 WR

Evan Wilson 89 TESimon Cvijanovic 68 LT

Michael Heitz 74 LGAlex Hill 52 C

Ted Karras 69 RGCorey Lewis 70 RT

DefenseTim Kynard 59 DEJake Howe 95 NT

Austin Teitsma 44 DTHouston Bates 55 LEO

Jonathan Brown 45 WLBMason Monheim 43 MLB

Mike Svetina 34 STARV’Angelo Bentley 2 CBEarnest Thomas 9 SS

Taylor Barton 3 FSEaton Spence 27 CB

OffenseKeith Price 17 QB

Bishop Sankey 25 RBAustin Seferian-Jenkins 88 TE

Kevin Smith 8 WRJaydon Mickens 4 WRKasen Williams 2 WRMicah Hatchie 72 LTDexter Charles 76 LG

Mike Criste 78 CColin Tanigawa 64 RG

Ben Riva 59 RT

DefenseHau’oli Kikaha 8 DE

Danny Shelton 71 DTEvan Hudson 80 DTCory Littleton 42 DE Travis Feeney 41 LB

John Timu 10 LBShaq Thompson 7 LBGregory Ducre 18 CB

Sean Parker 1 SSWill Shamburger 13 FSMarcus Peters 21 CB

Schedule Games in bold are at home

Sat., Sept. 14vs. No. 19 Washington (Soldier Field)

5 p.m. | Big Ten Network

Sat., Sept. 28vs. Miami (Ohio)

TBD

Sat., Oct. 5@ No. 23 Nebraska

11 a.m.

Sat., Oct. 19 vs. No. 20 Wisconsin


Sat., Oct. 26 vs. Michigan State

2:30 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 2 @ Penn State

TBD

Sat., Nov. 9@Indiana

TBD

Sat., Nov. 16 vs. No. 4 Ohio State

TBD

Sat., Nov. 23 @ Purdue

TBD

Sat., Nov. 30vs. No. 17 Northwestern

TBD

Sat., Aug. 31 vs. Southern Illinois

W 42-34

Sat., Sept. 7 vs. Cincinnati

W 45-17

ReceivingJaydon MickensKasen Williams

TD01

Long2638

Catches93

Yards10968

THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com Thursday, September 12, 20133

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Quick offense, strong defense will test IlliniBY STEPHEN BOURBONSTAFF WRITER

The biggest game will be under the big-gest lights.

The surprisingly upstart Illinois football team (2-0) will be facing its first ranked opponent of the season when the team fac-es off against No. 19 Washington (1-0) at Soldier Field on Saturday.

The Illini are coming off of a 45-17 vic-tory against Cincinnati, a game in which the Illini broke the Bearcats’ back in the third quarter. A goal-line stand by the Illini defense, supplemented by a 99-yard drive the other way, turned the game from poten-tially 21-17 to 28-10.

Washington didn’t play in Week 2 but was more than impressive in its only con-test of the season. The Huskies opened the year against then-No. 19 Boise State, and the game didn’t live up to the hype. Even though the score was just 10-3 at halftime, the Huskies offense tore up the Broncos for 28 second-half points on the way to a 38-6 victory.

The Huskies offense, led by three-year starting quarterback Keith Price, com-piled 592 yards and played at a very quick tempo when it has the ball. That tempo will once again test a young Illinois secondary, whose depth is filled out by mainly fresh-men and sophomores.

“Everyone is going to have to have a role,” defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. “Especially up front, if those guys get tired, there goes our pass rush.”

Defensively, the Huskies held down a traditionally explosive Boise State offense, holding the Broncos to just 3.8 yards per pass and only 175 passing yards. Despite this, offensive coordinator Bill Cubit says his own personnel should be able to match up.

“Our kids are really smart guys,” he said. “It reminds me of when I was at Stanford, and we could do a lot of different things with kids and they can understand what we’re trying to get done in a small period of time.”

One aspect of the offense Cubit might still be looking to get in rhythm is the run-ning game. The team racked up 210 yards rushing against Cincinnati, but starting running back Donovonn Young is averag-ing just 3.2 yards per carry this season, including a game against Southern Illinois

in which he netted just six yards. New this week on the depth chart was adding Josh Ferguson to the starting lineup at running back, as he and Young are both listed as starters.

Ferguson has had a solid year, averag-

ing 5.3 yards per carry but also has been a major asset in the passing game with 158 receiving yards through two games.

“We know we have to prepare even hard-er this week,” head coach Tim Beckman said. “Not everyone gets to do this ... to

play a game in Chicago at Soldier Field. It’s the experience that college football gives a young man.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.

JOSEPH LEE THE DAILY ILLINIIllinois’ Josh Ferguson runs the ball during the game against Southern Illinois at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 31.


Mike Bellamy hasn’t been back to Soldier Field since he was a mem-ber of the Chicago Bears in 1994. The first time he drove down Lake Shore Drive past the stadium on his way to Illini Day at Wrigley Field

in June of 2012, he was awestruck.“It gave me goose pimples,” the Illinois wide

receivers coach said. “To see the change.”The stadium, a Chicago landmark, was ren-

ovated in 2002. Home to the Bears since 1971, the doric columns rising above the entrance — which date back to the stadium’s construction in 1924 — were preserved while the new $632 million renovations were added.

For that 2002 season, while the stadium was under construction, the Bears played home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

Saturday, the Illini will take the field in the Bears’ house. And Bellamy will be back.

Bellamy, a native of New York, lived in Chi-cago’s south side during his high school years and went to Kenwood Academy near Hyde Park.

He dreamed of playing for the Bears in Sol-dier Field.

That dream was realized, to some extent. After playing for the Illini in the early ‘90s and various other NFL and European teams, Bellamy was a member of the Bears for nine months during the 1994 season. He never played in a game.

“The thing about it is I’ll be just as excited and nervous as the players,” Bellamy said. “It’s an opportunity for all of us. It’s a sense of pride, a sense of playing in front of your home fans.”

A home away from homeThe story goes that Bears founder and long-

time owner and coach George Halas modeled his team’s colors after those of his alma mater, Illinois.

The Bears are Chicago’s team. The Fighting Illini are Illinois’ team.

When Illinois takes the field against Washing-ton on Saturday, it will be only the eighth time the Illini have played in Chicago in more than 120 years of football.

They played Northwestern at Wrigley Field in 2010, but the last time they played at Soldier

Field was in 1994, a one-point loss to Washing-ton State. Before that, one would have to go all the way back to 1931 to find an Illinois football game played in the Windy City.

Luca Serra, director of sponsorship and media at Soldier Field, says talks of bringing the Illini to Chicago were in the works for a while, but not finalized until a little more than a year ago.

He says the move makes financial sense both for Soldier Field and for Illinois.

“There used to be a mentality that a lot of schools didn’t want to give up their true home field advantage by going to neutral sites like ours,” said Serra, who’s worked at Soldier Field for more than 10 years. “It’s a matter of re-ener-gizing the alumni base that exists (in Chicago). You can do that through a winning season or by bringing the game to them.”

The Illini have done both. So far, anyway.Serra says last week’s win over Cincinnati

has caused daily spikes in ticket sales for this weekend’s game at Soldier Field. The stadium is approaching 40,000 tickets sold and hopes sales to be in the mid-40,000s by game day.

The Cincinnati game was originally going to be played at Soldier Field, Serra said. But talks

fell through and they settled for Illinois-Wash-ington — a viable power conference matchup between two teams, each without a loss.

Soldier Field has hosted a number of college football games in recent years, including two last season (Northern Illinois vs. Iowa on Sept. 1, 2012, as well as Notre Dame versus Miami on Oct. 6). Serra said they are always looking for potential college games and wouldn’t be opposed to bringing the Illini back in the future.

“We’d love to have a college football game annually,” Serra said. “We wouldn’t want the same team every year. You’ve got to change things up. But to have Illinois’ state school repre-senting the Big Ten playing every couple years, that would be fantastic.

“It would make sense for (Soldier Field) to be a home away from home considering they’re the orange and blue, and the other orange and blue team from Illinois also plays here.”

Selling ChicagoMiles Osei has never been to Soldier Field.

The fifth-year senior from Mt. Prospect, Ill., has played at Wrigley Field and has played at Northwestern. But neither of those are quite

COMING HOMESoldier Field provides unique experience for Chicagoland Illini

BY SEAN HAMMONDSENIOR WRITER

THE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com Thursday, September 12, 20135

fell through and they settled for Illinois-Wash-ington — a viable power conference matchup between two teams, each without a loss.

Soldier Field has hosted a number of college football games in recent years, including two last season (Northern Illinois vs. Iowa on Sept. 1, 2012, as well as Notre Dame versus Miami on Oct. 6). Serra said they are always looking for potential college games and wouldn’t be opposed to bringing the Illini back in the future.

“We’d love to have a college football game annually,” Serra said. “We wouldn’t want the same team every year. You’ve got to change things up. But to have Illinois’ state school repre-senting the Big Ten playing every couple years, that would be fantastic.

“It would make sense for (Soldier Field) to be a home away from home considering they’re the orange and blue, and the other orange and blue team from Illinois also plays here.”

Selling ChicagoMiles Osei has never been to Soldier Field.

The fifth-year senior from Mt. Prospect, Ill., has played at Wrigley Field and has played at Northwestern. But neither of those are quite

the same as playing in the home of the Bears. “I know a lot of the Chicagoland guys are real

excited,” Osei said. “It’s the first time we get to play amongst family. We’re in the heart of Chi-cago playing at Soldier Field. It’s an experience that no one can take away.”

It’s that experience on which the Illini are trying to sell recruits.

High school recruits will be in the stands Sat-urday. Because the game’s not on campus, the Illini coaching staff cannot interact with them. But they are still able to give out three tickets to each recruit.

Presumably many recruits will use those two extra tickets on family members. And that’s what recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Golesh has used as a staple in his recruiting pitch.

“To be able to tell kids that we’re going to play a game a year up there, whether it’s against Northwestern or at U.S. Cellular Field or at Sol-dier Field or wherever it may be, I think that’s huge,” Golesh said. “(They) are going to play at home, as far as the Chicago area.”

Illinois currently has 47 players on its ros-ter from Illinois, many of whom come from the Chicago area. The chance to play close to

home, with a guaranteed game in the Chicago area at least every other year, is enticing for a high school athlete.

And the territorial battle this creates only reinvigorates Illinois’ rivalry with “the team up north,” as head coach Tim Beckman calls them.

Golesh made it no secret that Illinois would like to model what it’s trying to do with the job Pat Fitzgerald has done with the Northwestern football program.

“You can’t hide that Coach Fitz has done a great job,” Golesh said. “For us to go up there and recruit against them has been somewhat of a challenge. But the tradition and what this program has been for the last 100 years doesn’t compare.”

Golesh was a graduate assistant with North-ern Illinois in 2007, when the Huskies played Iowa at Soldier Field. He will be back alongside that historic grass field once again on Saturday.

And so will Bellamy. The stadium may not look like it did in 1994, but the history remains.

“It’s exciting for me,” Bellamy said, “to be coaching the state team and play in the stadium of our professional state team.”

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and @sean_hammond.

COMING HOMESoldier Field provides unique experience for Chicagoland Illini

PHOTO BY BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

“It’s the first time we get to play amongst family. We’re in the heart of Chicago playing at Soldier Field. It’s an experience that no one can take away.”MILES OSEIWIDE RECIEVER


BY MICHAEL WONSOVERSTAFF WRITER

Matchups to watchIllinois, Washington set for battle

of pass-heavy offenses

Sean Parker vs. Nathan Scheelhaase

Austin Seferian-Jenkins vs.

Illinois defense

Keith Price vs. Illinois secondary

Scheelhaase followed up his career-high 416-yard passing performance against SIU with 312 passing yards and four touchdowns against Cincinnati, placing him sixth in the nation is passing yards (728). Scheelhaase will have to face the 23rd-ranked passing defense from last season in Washington, led by senior safety Sean Parker. Parker, who was an honorable men-tion all-Pac-12 last season, finished second on the team with 76 tackles after starting every game for the Huskies for the sec-ond consecutive season. Parker picked off Boise State quar-terback Joe Southwick in Washington’s 38-6 win on Aug. 31.

Preseason All-American tight end Seferian-Jenkins was sus-pended during Washington’s only game so far this season after he was charged with a DUI over the summer. Seferian-Jenkins, who was a third-team AP All-American last season, will return to face Illinois after finishing with 852 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season. Illinois allowed 83 yards and a touch-down to SIU’s MyCole Pruitt on Aug. 31, who is also a heralded tight end, being named to the FCS preseason All-American sec-ond team by The Sports Network. Linebackers Jonathan Brown and Mason Monheim may have to drop back into coverage to help contain the Huskies 6-foot-6 tight end.

Washington senior quarterback Price has already broken several records during his first three seasons in Seattle. Entering this season, Price holds the school records for completion percentage in a season (.669 in 2011), career competition percentage (.631), passing efficiency for a season (161.9 in 2011) and career passing efficiency (138.9). Price threw for 3,063 yards and a school-record 33 touchdowns during his first season as a starter in 2011, but dropped off to throw for just 2,728 yards and 19 touchdowns in last year’s up-and-down campaign. Illinois has struggled defending the pass so far, as both Southern Illinois (341) and Cincinnati (308) threw for more than 300 yards against the Illini this season.

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

Nathan Scheelhaase has been one of the best quarterbacks in the nation through two games, but he will face his toughest test yet in Washington’s secondary, led by Sean Parker.

DARYL QUITALIG THE DAILY ILLINI

Illinois’ defense struggled against a top tight end in it’s first game and will have a challenge on its hands once again in Seferian-Jenkins.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSHUA BESSEX THE DAILY

Austin Seferian-Jenkins, one of the nation’s top tight ends, will be itching to get back on the field after missing Washington’s first game.

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

V’Angelo Bentley and the rest of the inexperienced secondary have struggled so far this season.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANASTASIA STEPANKOWSKY THE DAILY

Keith Price (17) has set records during his four seasons at Washington. He could have a big day against Illinois’ struggling secondary.

PHOTO COURTESY OF

CANASTASIA STEPANKOWSKY THE DAILY

Sean Parker (1) is the anchor of Washington’s top-25 passing defense.

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Eliot SillSports editor

36-24

38-28

59-38

44-17

41-24

35 - 31

28-21

49-14

54-45

24-17

37-34

32-26

60-17

41-29

31-28

35-21

42-28

49-14

28-21

21-14

24-21

23-17

52-17

31-14

17-10

35 - 28

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45-17

38-35

35-17

Illinoisvs.

No. 19 Washington

No. 1 Alabama

vs.No. 6 Texas

A&M

No. 16 UCLA

vs.No. 23

Nebraska

Tennesseevs.

No. 2 Oregon

No. 20 Wisconsin

vs.Arizona State

Sean HammondSenior writer

Stephen BourbonStaff writer

Torrence SorrellAssistant sports

editor

Erik PradoOn-air reporter

Michael WonsoverVideographer

OUR PICKSTHE DAILY ILLINI | www.DailyIllini.com Thursday, September 12, 2013

7

Saturday, Sept. 14Bowling Green @ Indiana 11 a.m. | ESPNU

No. 16 UCLA @ No. 23 Nebraska 11 a.m. | ABC

Western Illinois @ Minnesota 11 a.m. | Big Ten Network

Youngstown State @ Michigan State1 p.m. | Big Ten Network

Iowa @ Iowa State 5 p.m. | Fox Sports 1

Central Florida @ Penn State 5 p.m. | Big Ten Network

No. 19 Washington vs. Illinois 5 p.m. | Big Ten Network

No. 4 Ohio State @ California 6 p.m. | FOX

No. 21 Notre Dame @ Purdue 7 p.m.| ABC

Western Michigan @ No. 17 Northwestern


No. 20 Wisconsin @ Arizona State 9:30 p.m. | ESPN

Akron @ No. 11 Michigan11 a.m. | Big Ten Network

(7 - 3) (6 - 4) (7 - 3) (8 - 2 (7 - 3) (8 - 2)

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A fter last week, anything is possible.Rose Bowl, right? Why not?Enter the Washington Huskies, the

team whose job it is to knock some sense into Illinois fans before they go and get their hopes up.

A win in this game, and the ceiling shatters. Illinois is clearly a team that’s improving. Illinois has shown it can be the aggressor and keep opposing defens-es on their heels. Illinois is the rag-ing underdog — once counted out, now fearsome.

Cincinnati was only one game. I think the team knows that. I think head coach Tim Beckman knows that. But if the Illi-ni topple Washington, well, that’d be two games. Two good wins over two good opponents. And a third win, which was only close because it was a fl uke.

Oh, but how Illinois could lose. Picture the turnovers, the lapses on defense from a young secondary. The offense running out of tricks, using wrinkles that back-fi re and gadget plays that go nowhere.

Picture the special teams horrors. The shanked punts!

Picture it coming down to the wire.

Nathan Scheelhaase barking orders to his receivers as the lights grow bright in Soldier Field and the clock winds down, the crowd, unsure when the game started, now drawn in and committed to the Orange and Blue. He takes the snap, drops back and rolls out of the pocket; will he fi nd his man and throw or see a crease and run?

Picture a last-second fi eld goal attempt. Washington’s kicking. Illi-nois had edged out a 30-29 advantage, but Washington’s offense methodical-ly worked clock as it drove downfi eld. A late tightening by the Illinois defense helps somewhat, but a 40-yard fi eld goal is in the works, and the difference between “Rose Bowl or Bust” and Cin-cinnati being the true fl uke is rising, end over end, toward the uprights. The ball arcs, heads downward, does it have enough distance? The kick is...

Picture Illinois dominating. The defense takes another step forward, the offense continues to be impossibly vast, the special teams dazzle. Donovonn Young gets rolling early and doesn’t quit. Josh Ferguson strikes knockout blow after knockout blow as an unfathom-able pace-changer. Aaron Bailey blows through a soft Pac-12 defensive front with his Big Ten bulk. The Illini have Soldier Field in their clutches.

Picture an overtime thriller that lasts long into the night.

Picture a game that’s decided by the end of the fi rst quarter.

Isn’t it weird how you can see it all? Two weeks ago, you couldn’t picture a touchdown pass. You actually forgot what an Illinois touchdown pass looked like.

And here we are — we still remember the ter-rible, but fresh on our minds is the great per-formance the Illini put on last week. There’s no way to know what to think.

Washington is the best team Illinois has faced this season, and it’s not really close. The Huskies decimated a Boise State team that was needing a win to prove itself, 38-6. They had a bye week last week, so they’ve been preparing for Illinois for two weeks and may have had some luck digesting Bill Cubit’s ridiculous offense.

It’s entirely possible that they’re prepared and ready to dominate an inferior team.

Running back Bishop Sankey was a stud in Week 1, netting 161 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns. Quarter-back Keith Price threw for 324 yards without preseason All-American Austin

Seferian-Jenkins, who returns from a one-game suspension.

Illinois’ defense has been carried by its linebackers, as the defensive line has done a so-so job of pressuring quarter-

backs and the second-ary has done a pret-ty rough job keeping receivers covered. The Illini allowed 400 yards in both games so far, and Washington should provide the big-gest challenge yet.

None of this, how-ever, lends us a con-crete insight into what to expect from Saturday’s game. It will be in Chica-go, so it’s important for Illinois to put up a good showing. It will defi nite-ly be better than the one fans were expecting in the preseason.

But for now, let’s tamper our expecta-

tions. Anything’s possible in this one, but I think Washington will outplay the Illini and bring things back to reality by send-ing them home 2-1.

Eliot is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @EliotTweet.

Washington game is full of possibilitiesELIOT SILL

Sports editor

Picture an overtime thriller that lasts

long into the night. Picture a game that’s decided by the end of the fi rst quarter. Isn’t it weird how you can see it all?

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Touchdown Times Sept. 12, 2013